(Borneo Post; October 28, 2010)

KUCHING: Information communication technologies (ICT) will become efficient tools in people's life only if they are used meaningfully and wisely.

Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said in this modern world, ICT was something that people could not afford to do away with if they want to compete with others.

As such, he said, by now everyone should have realised the importance and the role of ICT in their daily lives and should try to catch up with others as fast as possible or else they would lag behind.

He said Sarawak was fortunate that it had started its computerisation initiative way back in 1988 and at this stage it had won half of its ICT battles.

"It is not easy to foresee what is going to happen in the future, but fortunately we have started our ICT development quite early and today we already can see the results.

"Of course the person who had shown great optimism in this was none other than Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr. George Chan and now he is proven right," he said.

He was speaking at ICT Media Night launch of Sarawak ICT Development and Media Network and presentation of Chief Minister's Annual ICT Awards at Pullman Hotel on Tuesday night.

Taib said following the efforts made by the government through Sarawak Information Systems Sdn Bhd (SAINS) and other relevant agencies, even some remote parts of Sarawak now have Internet access.

"This has made the lives of many people easier. Students also find learning through the Internet more interesting," he said.

He said the state civil service was also not left out and that most government departments and agencies were linked with SarawakNet.

Taib said ICT would be playing even more vital roles in 10 years.

He suggested that the only agent that could effectively disseminate any related information on the subject would be the ICT practitioners and the media.

He cited the role played by the media in reaching out to the people at large when he first introduced his concept of politics of development.

This time he urged the media to do the same in order to encourage more people to use the Internet.

In this respect, he requested the ICT players and media organisations to see how they could work together towards achieving the common objective, adding that the formation of the Sarawak ICT Development and Media Network was therefore very timely.

At the event, he also launched the Sarawak ICT Development and Media Network logo.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, Dr. Chan, Assistant Environment Minister Datuk Peter Nansian Ngusie, State Secretary Datuk Amar Mohd. Morshidi Ghani, AZAM CEO Datu Aloysius Dris and SAINS CEO Dato Teo Tien Hiong were among those present at the function.