AVOIDING “TRAGEDY OF COMMONS” SYNDROME

ADDRESS BY Y.BHG. TAN SRI SIDEK HASSAN
CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF MALAYSIA

AVOIDING “TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS” SYNDROME

MICROSOFT’S EXECUTIVE TALK & KNOWLEDGE SHARING EVENT

25 MAY 2010, TUESDAY, 3.00 – 4.00PM
PUTRAJAYA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE

Bismillahir rahmanir Rahim

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Salam 1 Malaysia and a very good afternoon.

Mr Steve Ballmer
Chief Executive Officer of
Microsoft Corporation

Mr Emilio Umeoka
President of Microsoft Asia-Pacific

Mr Ananth Lazarus
Managing Director of Microsoft Malaysia
Secretaries General and Heads of Department

Tan Sri-Tan Sri, Datuk-Datuk, Datin-Datin

Distinguished GuestS

Ladies and Gentlemen

Sometime back I received an e-mail from a service provider. They gave me three options to activate my service that they offered: do it via e-mail, SMS or by telephone. I chose to confirm by e-mail, the most convenient for me. I promptly got back an e-mail message asking me to confirm my confirmation via, SMS and telephone. I am relaying this incident ad nauseam because in my heart of hearts, I am convinced, and empirical data would suggest the same – – that Service hinges on the pendulum of ease, common sense and utility for the USERS, not for the PROVIDERS.

2. On that note, allow me to thank Microsoft Corporation for inviting me to this prestigious occasion. On behalf of the Government of Malaysia – – a warm welcome and “SELAMAT DATANG” to Mr. Steve Ballmer and Mr. Emilio Umeoka. I understand it’s your third visit to Malaysia, Mr. Ballmer. Thank you for choosing to stop in Malaysia on your Asia Pacific visit. It is an honour and privilege indeed.

Ladies and Gentlemen

TOOLS AND BEHAVIOUR BRIDGING

3. It has been said and I quote – – “Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected”. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesise new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences, or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

4. Malaysians have a real fad for technology. Specifically in our service industries, we will find an admirable leap towards digitisation and the use of technology. But as with any new contraption, it must be complemented with behavioural change. Providing a new tool, does not mechanically sanctify a behavioural and attitudinal change. In such things like technology and sciences, one always finds that as complexity rises, precision loses its place, and the objective of the purpose loses its vain because the focus moves from objective to invention in its form.

5. I am told that Bill Gates once said: “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”
Ladies and Gentlemen,

TRADEGY OF THE COMMONS

6. The surge of technology in our current world of entwined destinies and dependability is forcing businesses and governments to invest in areas that will have them stand apart from their peers and competitors – – to have that SOMETHING, that EDGE over others.

7. But what often happens in one’s haste to compete is the belief that “the tool itself will replace all else, including the mind”. As a result, we create the “tragedy of the commons” dilemma described by Garrett Hardin. We create situations in which multiple individuals, acting independently, consulting only their own consensus, ultimately deplete a shared limited resource. Hardin describes this syndrome by relating it to a pasture “open to all.” Imagine the grazing of animals on this common ground. Individuals are motivated to add to their flocks to increase personal wealth. Yet, for every animal added to the commons, the commons itself degrades. From an individual perspective, the degradation is small relative to the gain in wealth to him. But if all owners follow this pattern, the commons will ultimately be destroyed. Alas that which was to make gains for the common good, loses its use for the common good.

8. I hope and trust that from this year, in the 10th Malaysian Plan period and beyond, MAMPU as the custodian of the Malaysian Government’s ICT Commons will ensure that every ‘animal’ introduced by Ministries and agencies does not deplete the coffers and debase the objective of the common good.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR I.T AND INNOVATION?

9. Most if not all organisations are susceptible to tragedy of the commons. Could it be that with the surge of technology, we no longer know who is responsible for innovation? Who is responsible for technology? When asked, most people would readily point to the Information Technology department in an organisation; or the R&D department for Innovation. That probably isn’t a bad first guess. But I would be concerned that if such was the case all the time.

10. Given the workings of the world today, would we really want to stake everything on just one part of an organisation? How would this bode to our competitiveness as a business, as a market and a nation? Can one part of the organisation understand the needs of the customers outside of their direct purview? Can they understand the needs of the customer through a third party interpretation? For instance, can an Immigration Officer manning the counter, who knows little or no tech lingo, translate the frustration of his customers to the tech-ed up IT division?

11. Shouldn’t the development of new technology models be made so simple, that even those manning the front desk could very quickly jot a layman code for change which could then be translated into actual tech lingo by the experts, with no misinterpretations? A complaint jotted in simple data, automatically translated into a technology upgrade? I wonder if we are already in this space today.

WINNING THE BATTLE, LOSING THE WAR

12. The challenge for an evolving service industry such as ours in the public sector is – how do we bridge the island of rapidly changing customer demography and our understanding of their needs? How do we make it as simple and useful, yet slick and sophisticated in our delivery? Sometimes in trying to be slick, we end up making what started off as easy, into ultra mind boggling in its operation! The net result – an irate and thoroughly enraged customer experience.

13. I am always inclined to take the path which says, we should all be responsible for improvement. We should all be responsible for innovation. We should all be Chief Information Officers, Chief Innovation Officers responsible for advancement of technology. I believe that we can all make technology change happen – – from the janitor to the Secretary General. The role for improvement, improving and progress must be the “sleep losing” pill of everyone. If not, we would be running a ship full of “winning battles and losing the war” casualties.

14. I am sure as a Service provider yourself, Mr. Ballmer you would have come across endless companies, and government institutions that spend their energy in a web of futile internal bureaucracies. We expend such inertia into internal boundaries of where our responsibilities start and stop, rather than focusing on the common purpose of winning the war of competition. From the sales team to operations to product teams, when each dig their heels on boundary positioning, they may each have won their battles, but the organisation would have lost its war – – lost its sales, and maybe even lost its client.
MALAYSIA AND ICT

15. I bring these behavioural issues up today because over the years, the Public Sector of Malaysia has invested much in technology. As one of our service providers, Microsoft Corporation’s contribution to Malaysia is visible especially in our Information and Communication Technology initiatives. You have been an invaluable panel member of Malaysia’s Multimedia Super Corridor International Advisory Panel or IAP since its inception in 1996. Thank you.

16. It has been 50 years since we introduced usage of technology in the Malaysian Public Sector. It started on the humble footings of a tool for processing high volume data such as those for utility billings, censor and examination results. In the 1980s, we evolved our usage to application of passport, driving licenses and vehicle road taxes. Today the Government of Malaysia has earmarked E-Government as one of the seven flagships of the Multimedia Super Corridor. The use of technology has seeped into Human Resource Management to Electronic Procurement, Bill Payment to License Applications and Project Monitoring System, to name a few.

17. In works currently is the launch of e-Land system that will soon modernise all activities related to land administration, Local Authority System (ePBT), AgriBazaar for rural agricultural community to enhance their productivity, e-Syariah on Syariah court management system; and school management system. There are many more initiatives which we are working on which extends into all sectors, economic, social, infrastructure and security. The essence to these initiatives is for Government to be accessible and mobile.

MOBILE FOR WHO?

18. Mobile Government essentially means, customers can transact with us from where THEY are, not where WE (the provider) are. Hence the need for a new kind of technology understanding. A technology and an innovation that can be so simple, that you don’t even notice that you have just been served. That to me is the ultimate Service. It’s not about the 5-Star Hotel pampering; it is about getting done what you need done in the simplest, shortest, and most efficient manner.

19. If we can do that, at all and every level of our internal and external transactions, using the best that technology and innovation combined can bring, we would have taken Public Service delivery to a whole new level altogether, not only in Malaysia, but globally setting new benchmarks.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

BALANCING SECURITY AND ACCESS – – CAN WE REALLY?

20. With increasing cyber attacks and security fears, another entrapment of technology is the rise of protectionism and firewalls. As a result we fall back yet again into the “Tragedy of the Commons”. Rampant email bouncing, servers reject mails, legal addresses are seen as spam – all of which affects the very thing technology is suppose to effuse i.e. speed, ease, accessibility and connectivity. Even as we read the privacy issues faced by creators of Facebook and Google, we are still pondering if one can truly balance the integrity of privacy with rapid access to technology? Or has technology redefined the entire meaning of privacy? Can speed and access only come at the price of security and privacy? These are some fundamental questions businesses and governments need to start facing as we invest more and more into digitising service, raising access to information and broadening connectivity of societies and communities.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

21. Our Government is committed to ensuring even a computer illiterate seemingly can get onto a computer to do the simplest of transaction. When we can do that as a society, we would have arrived; for technology is no longer seen a fad, only designed for an elite, spunky crowd. Technology is deserving of anyone anywhere – – so long as he/she has business to do with the Government.

I believe Mr Ballmer will be addressing some of these issues in his talk on “Cloud Technology”.

22. Let me emphasise that part of the Government’s economic vision is to transform the Malaysian economy into high income economy with more knowledgeable human resource. A major part of that transformation process would see the use of ICT, which forms a key part in the Government Transformation Programme and the New Economic Model.

23. What we owe to the people of Malaysia is value for money, practical and functional usage of technology which serves the USERS, not the PROVIDERS. This said, we need to collectively overcome some of the issues I raised earlier. They are real issues. It is with that in mind that you have such commitment from the highest ranking public officials and across the ranks here today. Collectively, we need to develop technology for the common good of all, to avoid the tragedy of the commons for Malaysia.

On that note, I thank you again for being here today.

Wabillahittaufiq walhidayah Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.