Knowledge on IT use still low: Yee

KOTA KINABALU, August 5 (Daily Express) -- Resource Development and Information Technology Minister Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai said an Information Technology (IT) literate society will help boost the sales of IT-related products or services.

At the moment, however, the knowledge on IT use is still low and this is evident in the State registering only about 6.9 per cent of households having a computer, he said.

For that, he said, his Ministry will continue to train and raise awareness among the people, especially in the rural areas on that particular field, adding the Ministry to date has trained around 21,000 people in the State on the use of IT.

Yee was responding to a question posed during a dialogue with representatives from IT-related companies held at the Ministry's office, here, Saturday. Kenny, a computer salesman, had enquired on what were the Government's efforts to get more people in Sabah to be computer owners.

The Minister had also said the Government was cooperating with associations such as the Sabah Computer Society (SCS) to provide IT training to students in the rural areas.

To a question on whether the Government would form a committee to look into the problems of students playing truant from school to frequent cyber cafes, he responded that though the Government took the matter seriously, the local authorities were already enforcing by-laws regarding the matter.

He said cyber cafes had been issued directives from the local authorities to bar students in uniform to be inside the premises during school hours, adding closing down cyber cafes to deal with such problems was not a wise move.

He also responded to a question from a participant about the need for the State to have its own PC Fair which was run and organised by locals, as currently the present expo in town was brought in by peninsula-based companies.

He said to organise a well-received expo such as the on-going PIKOM PC Fair here, the organisers had to have the support from big names for the event and that was one of the main setbacks for local organisers.

Nonetheless, he said the Government together with SCS would discuss the possibility of organising such event in the near future.

Meanwhile, Director of State IT Advancement Unit, Bruno Vun, said they were targeting to set up 111 'E-Desa' communities in Sabah before the end of the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) term.

E-Desa is a programme where a village is equipped with IT products such as computers for the benefit of the villagers. This is among the moves to bridge the digital divide between the rural and urban areas.

Currently, the E-Desa has been set up in four villages, namely Kampung Bundu Tuhan in Ranau, Kampung Muhibbah in Sandakan, Kampung Karanaan in Tambunan and Kampung Indai in Tuaran.

This year, Vun said, the unit expects to set a further six E-Desa communities.

He also listed several challenges the State faced in developing its IT sector such as the lack of facilities, the high cost of telecommunication, the limited market of the industry as well as the State's reliance on imported technology.

He said these challenges must be overcome if the State was to attain MSC-status in the field of IT, adding Sabah has the potential to develop its IT in the sectors such as tourism, finance as well as logistics.