Fei Phoon

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
17-Jan-07

HOLDING globally-recognised IT certifications awarded by professional bodies could improve future prospects for Bruneian students, careerists and SMEs alike.

Representatives from various local SMEs were invited to a talk at the TelBru headquarters yesterday morning, which introduced an IT skills certification system best known as ICDL, or the International Computer Driving Licence. The course aims to equip individuals with general IT knowledge, ranging from the basic operation of a computer, to the application of more complex common office softwares.

Mohd Mahathir Abdullah, the CEO of Bitex Sdn Bhd, explained that having a standardised system for the recognition and verification of IT competency could greatly benefit certificate-holders themselves, as well as their organisations.

"IT-savvy staff will be able to use office software more effectively in their work, and it will reduce the cost on employing extra administrative and support personnel," said Abdullah.

Guest speaker Kamsani Zak Wahid, a business development manager from ICDL Asia Pacific Ltd, said that technological advancements had to be accepted as part of daily life, and that digital literacy is a vital foundation in driving economic success and country infrastructure.

In the past few years, semi-private local company BAG Networks made it mandatory for all its employees to be ICDL-certified, to ensure that their IT skills were up to standard. ICDL training and testing programmes are open to both organisations and individuals, and the courses are available in the Brunei-Muara and Belait districts.

Bitex announced that two more centres would soon be set up in the Tutong and Temburong districts.

The guest of honour at the talk was Ahmad Abdul Rahman, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

The ICDL standard has been adopted by governments in other countries such as Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, and most recently Indonesia, to civil servants.

Currently, there are at least 6million people across the globe who carry the ICDL certification. Large organisations such as the United Nations, Nokia, British Petroleum, and the National Health Service in the United Kingdom require all their employees to be ICDL-accredited.

Chan Siang Wei, a network administrator at the Centre for British Teachers in Brunei, said that he had found the talk extremely useful. "It's something to look into, in the interest of improving office productivity in an organisation." He said that most of the employees at his company relied heavily upon computers in their daily work.

The Brunei Times