VOA慢速英語:Burmese Government Goes Digital

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語科技報道。

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.

緬甸政府多年來以同一種方式處理它們多數(shù)的業(yè)務(wù)。它使用大賬簿記錄婚姻、營業(yè)稅甚至是政府機構(gòu)之間的文件。但這一基于紙張的體系即將離我們而去，各部委轉(zhuǎn)向了計算機。

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是緬甸信息部下屬信息部門的負責(zé)人。他負責(zé)這個旨在將所有36個部委上網(wǎng)的項目。根據(jù)規(guī)劃，各部委都將有自己的門戶網(wǎng)站和管理軟件程序。

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等社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)將會使得政府官員和公眾溝通更容易。

"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.

他說，“因為我國有這么多人使用Facebook，它可以很方便地獲取信息。為了傳播更多信息，他們可發(fā)布更多的個人信息和機構(gòu)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是緬甸使用最廣泛的在線交流工具。緬甸只有大約百分之一的人口可以上網(wǎng)，但據(jù)信其中多數(shù)用戶擁有Facebook賬戶。

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.

今年，只有一家總部位于美國的機構(gòu)自由之家(Freedom House)稱緬甸的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)“不自由。”它指出可用性的重重障礙和技術(shù)設(shè)施落后是主要問題。然而，對很多此前會被屏蔽的網(wǎng)站的限制放松了，同時違法電子交易法的最重判決從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。他曾被控違反電子交易法?，F(xiàn)在他已經(jīng)釋放，并就傳播政策為政府提供建議。他說，緬甸政府現(xiàn)在正使用互聯(lián)網(wǎng)征求公眾意見，同幾年前相比變化巨大。

"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.

他說，“早些時候，政府認為自己高高在上，可以決定一切。他們不需要人們的意見。其實在民主社會，關(guān)鍵角色不僅是政府。”

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.

互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)于2000年進入緬甸，最初只提供給軍隊使用?；ヂ?lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)發(fā)展緩慢，對多數(shù)緬甸人來說一直過于昂貴。但現(xiàn)在人們使用智能手機上網(wǎng)，這有助于解釋為何互聯(lián)網(wǎng)數(shù)量最近劇增。