Reaching Out to District Level

Phased for installation at the turn of the 20th century, the District Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) was conceptually planned to extend the reach of SarawakNet, the State Government Intranet, to the District governance level and consequently bring greater Information Technology (IT) to the rural population.

The aim of this exercise is to network together all 18 Districts throughout the State. These Districts are Marudi, Lawas, Song, Belaga, Matu, Daro, Mukah, Dalat, Lubok Antu, Simunjan, Julau, Kanowit, Saratok, Tatau, Bau, Serian, Lundu and Betong. The Departments planned for connection in each District are the District Office, Department of Welfare, Department of Agriculture, Public Works Department and Department of Forestry.

With these many sites to reach, the 18 Districts were thus split into 2 more manageable groups namely, Group I and II. Group I consist of Julau, Kanowit, Saratok, Tatau, Bau, Serian, Lundu and Betong Districts while the rest make up Group II.

Group I districts have all been connected to the SarawakNet and Group II implementation is scheduled for completion this year. With this infrastructure in place, officers at the District level are thus able to communicate with their counterpart in the state Civil Service through application such as Webmail (State Government Email System.)

Moreover, electronic applications such as Personnel Management System (PMS) and Leave Management System (LMS) which were previously enjoyed by their counterparts at HQ and Divisional levels are now just a mouse click away.

Adapted with permission from Jendela IT, SAINS.

Young and old, rural or urban. The State Government is wasting no effort in making the population ICT savvy.

Communication enhanced... SarawakNet is linking all 18 districts in Sarawak via a common electronic super highway.