This research aims to identify the stage, readiness, barriers, and drivers of digital transformation (DT) in the local private sector in Brunei. It also aims to analyse whether or not the private sector is ready to transition towards a green economy. The result shows that the readiness of DT in Brunei's private sector is not affected by digital literacy and information use. The three most common barriers to DT are lack of employee rewards, lack of superior incentives in the adoption of digital transformation, and lack of leadership and control in digitalisation. It is found that the factors that drive DT include shifts in the competitive landscape and in policies, the shift of behaviour and expectations of customers and shifts toward digital transformation in the industry. In terms of the green economy, it is found that the government of Brunei has yet to integrate its digital economy to be greener and sustainable as it can position Brunei at a disadvantage in the green economy.
TopIntroduction
On 24th February 2022, The Sultan of Brunei highlighted in his 38th National Day speech regarding the need for acceleration of DT (DT) to recover from the impact of COVID-19 (Bibie Roslan, February 24th, 2022). The economy of Brunei has been affected both in public and private sectors, hence raising the importance to adopt information technology (IT) that is aligned with the objective of the Digital Economy Master Plan (DEMP) 2025 of having unity and agreement in any decision-making activity (Bibie Roslan, February 24th, 2022). In the recent Legislative Council (LegCo) Meeting, the Minister of Transport and Infocommunications (MTIC) quoted that the masterplan is a key reference and roadmap for DT planning and implementation with the vision of Smart Nation (Rokiah Mahmud, March 3rd, 2022). Moreover, he also quoted that DT in Brunei includes and supports the utilisation of digital technology for the ministry and industrial sector, and a total of 10 DT Plans have been submitted to be reviewed (Rokiah Mahmud, March 3rd, 2022).
In the 2022 LegCo Meeting, most of the discussion about DT revolved around the implementation in the public sector. However, there are several issues that have yet to be addressed and assessed for the acceleration of the DT in the private sector. In the Brunei Mid-Year Conference and Exhibition (MYCE) 2021, the permanent secretary of MTIC highlighted that every stakeholder has an important role in innovation and believed that the private sector is able to initiate innovation while the government can facilitate (Bibie Roslan, June 19th, 2021). He also stated that the key drivers of DT are jobs and skills, productivity, innovation, and export-oriented approach (Bibie Roslan, June 19th, 2021).
Moreover, the Chief Executive Officer of Dynamik Technologies Sdn Bhd also shared that it is necessary to have an intergenerational collaboration in pushing emerging technology and ensuring the framework, tools, and policy are effectively implemented. She also stated that trusting a system or transaction is a key driver to get more people to use the system, especially for traditional services that need to be digitalised in order to survive in the long run (Bibie Roslan, June 19th, 2021). However, there are several barriers to digitalisation in Brunei that need to be identified so that the readiness and phase of DT can be assessed. According to Satvinder Singh in the ASEAN Business and Investment Roundtables: Skills for a Digital Age, adaptation of digital technology in ASEAN has not been fully adopted during the pandemic (Azlan Othman, September 30th, 2021). Meanwhile, there are several development progress and challenges that are stated in the AITI Strategic Plan 2020-2025 such as increasing capacity demand for international connectivity and better telecommunication infrastructure; noncompetitive environment among local service providers that requires segregation between wholesale and retail market segments; and slow digitalisation progress in government services thus eDarussalam was established (Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry, 2020).
In addition, to make sure a transition to a greener digital economy, the DEMP 2025 can be integrated with Brunei Darussalam National Climate Change Policy (BNCCP) and Protokol Hijau (Green Protocol). In the foreword of the DEMP 2025, the Ministers mentioned that there should be a stronger collaboration of private sectors with the Government sector, higher education institutions, and non-government organisations. However, the term ‘private sector’ is only mentioned in the foreword of the Master Plan. The private sector is indirectly categorised under ‘Industry’ in the ecosystem of the digital economy. Apart from that, the DEMP does not include the context of ‘green economy’ in the policy. Thus, it is impossible to conclude that the plan is conducive for the transition of the country and its private sector into a green digital economy. According to European Commission (2006) as cited by Bantrancea et al. (2021), there are several policies that can be done such as governments can incentivise green investment; reduce taxes and fiscal discounts to increase green innovation; and create a framework to measure the successfulness of the sustainable development goals (SDG).