Burmese Government Goes Digital

缅甸政府走向数码化

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

The government in Burma carries out much of its business the same way it has for years. It uses large books to record marriages, business taxes and even official documents between government agencies. But this paper-based system is going away, as ministries make the move to computers.

缅甸政府多年来以同一种方式处理它们多数的业务。它使用大账簿记录婚姻、营业税甚至是政府机构之间的文件。但这一基于纸张的体系即将离我们而去，各部委转向了计算机。

Myint Kyaw is head of the information department in Burma's Ministry of the Information. He is responsible for the program that aims to bring all 36 ministries online by 2015. Under the plan, each ministry will have its own web-portal and administrative software programs.

Myint Kyaw是缅甸信息部下属信息部门的负责人。他负责这个旨在将所有36个部委上网的项目。根据规划，各部委都将有自己的门户网站和管理软件程序。

Myint Kyaw says social networks like Facebook will make it easier for government officials to connect with the public.

Myint Kyaw表示，像Facebook等社交网络将会使得政府官员和公众沟通更容易。

"So many people from our country use Facebook, very easy way to get information. To put the more information, they can distribute, they can contribute personal information and organizational information." he said.

他说，“因为我国有这么多人使用Facebook，它可以很方便地获取信息。为了传播更多信息，他们可发布更多的个人信息和机构信息。”

Facebook is the most widely used tool for communicating online in Burma. Only about one percent of Burma's population has an internet connection, but most of those users are believed to have Facebook accounts.

Facebook是缅甸使用最广泛的在线交流工具。缅甸只有大约百分之一的人口可以上网，但据信其中多数用户拥有Facebook账户。

This year, only an American-based group Freedom House described the Internet in Burma as "not free". It noted barriers to availability and poor infrastructure as major problems. However, restrictions have been eased on many websites that formerly will blocked, and the most severe sentence for a violation of the electronic transactions act has been reduced from 15 to 7 years. Yet observers say Burmese officials still have a long way to go to create a free Internet environment.

年，只有一家总部位于美国的机构自由之家(Freedom House)称缅甸的互联网“不自由。”它指出可用性的重重障碍和技术设施落后是主要问题。然而，对很多此前会被屏蔽的网站的限制放松了，同时违法电子交易法的最重判决从15年降低到了7年。

Nay Phone Latt is a blogger and former political prisoner. He once was charged with crimes under the electronic transactions act. Now that he is free, he is advising the government on its communication policies. He says the government is now using the Internet to ask the public for comments, a big change from even a few years ago.

Nay Phone Latt是一位博客和前政治犯。他曾被控违反电子交易法。现在他已经释放，并就传播政策为政府提供建议。他说，缅甸政府现在正使用互联网征求公众意见，同几年前相比变化巨大。

"In the earlier days, the government think they are in the higher ranks and they can decide everything; they don't need [the] people's advice...actually in a democratic society the key player is not only the government," he said.

他说，“早些时候，政府认为自己高高在上，可以决定一切。他们不需要人们的意见。其实在民主社会，关键角色不仅是政府。”

Internet service first came to Burma in 2000, at first it was offered only to the military. Service expanded slowly and remained much too costly for most Burmese. But now people are using smartphones to go online, that helps to explain the recent jump in the number of Internet users.

互联网服务于2000年进入缅甸，最初只提供给军队使用。互联网服务发展缓慢，对多数缅甸人来说一直过于昂贵。但现在人们使用智能手机上网，这有助于解释为何互联网数量最近剧增。