New opportunities and challenges open to IT industry

October 31, 1998

The greatest business opportunities for the Information Technology (IT) industry lie in the development of sophisticated Chinese Internet applications and innovative content, as well as services related to electronic commerce, the Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mr K C Kwong, said today (Saturday).

Addressing the annual conference of the Hong Kong Institution of Science on the subject of "Opportunities for Hong Kong's Information Technology Industry in the Information World of Tomorrow", Mr Kwong said Hong Kong possessed the competitive edge and some distinctive comparative advantages which were not available to many of its competitors.

He said Hong Kong, being a bilingual city, was able to communicate with and obtain information from most regions of the digital world where English is the lingua franca.

Hong Kong can also use Chinese to promote and develop the application of Chinese content in the digital world, to co-operate with other Chinese communities, and to act as the digital intermediary between the Mainland of China and other parts of the world, he added.

"Such capability is particularly important in view of the increasing number of Internet users in Chinese-speaking communities, and the ever-growing demand for Chinese Internet applications and content all over the world," he said.

In addition, he continued, Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city which accepts different cultures in the world and Hong Kong people are quick to assimilate the latest knowledge and technology.

Hong Kong has also a free and market-based economy where there is a free flow of information, and the community can freely co-operate and make association with any other place in the world.

To assist local industry and business to exploit these opportunities, Mr Kwong considered that the Government should take the lead in using IT to demonstrate the potentials, create the necessary environment to facilitate the development of content and applications, and raise awareness and confidence in electronic business.

"This is precisely what we are aiming to achieve with the Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) scheme, our plan to deliver online government services," he noted.

"Through ESD, the public will be able to transact business with Government online and, in a seamless manner, by means of Internet, interactive telephone, TV or other electronic means of access.

"In parallel, we are working on a number of supporting issues including the establishment of certification authorities to ensure security of electronic transactions, and the introduction of a legal framework which will provide the necessary backing for electronic commerce.

"More importantly, we anticipate that the open and common information infrastructure which we are going to develop for ESD will also serve as a platform which the private sector can make use of in conducting electronic commercial transactions."

Mr Kwong added that the Government would also adopt a vigorous outsourcing strategy for the provision of IT services within Government so as to create a market of sufficient size to encourage the development of and further investment in the IT industry.

To this end, he said, the Government would continue to provide direct support to the industry through various funding schemes and related supporting facilities.

These include the Industrial Support Fund, the Applied Research Fund, and the development of a Technology Centre and a Science Park.

He added that on top of these on-going initiatives, the Chief Executive, in his recent Policy Address, had announced two additional initiatives, namely, the establishment of an Applied Science and Technology Research Institute and the setting up of an Innovation and Technology Fund.

"All these show our commitment to making Hong Kong an innovation centre for the region," Mr Kwong stressed.

Mr Kwong reminded the conference that the advances in technology had given rise to both opportunities and changes and that Hong Kong people were well-known for their responsiveness to changes.

"And we must act now to take advantage of the changes," he urged. "This is not a mere question of profitability. This is a question of survival."

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