Hong Kong International Computer Conference '98 Opening Ceremony
Opening Address by Mr K C Kwong, Secretary for Information Technology & Broadcasting

16 September 1998

Mr Lai, Mr Cheng, Professor Li, Ladies & Gentlemen,

It is my honour to make the opening address for the Hong Kong International Computer Conference '98. Organised by the Hong Kong Computer Society as an annual event, this Conference has become one of the highlights in the calendar of the local IT industry. It provides a valuable opportunity for IT professionals and business executives to obtain first hand information about the latest developments in the IT field. At the same time it serves as a useful forum for exchange of views and sharing of experience within the IT sector.

The theme adopted for the Conference this year is " Ready for the Electronics Society". This is a good reminder to us that the Information Age has arrived and we have to well equip ourselves for the advent of electronic transactions, which would substantially transform our way of life and the way we operate our business.

To keep Hong Kong in the forefront of IT development and to exploit the full potential of advanced IT, Government is now actively planning for the introduction of on-line delivery of public services in the year 2000. Electronic Service Delivery, as the scheme is called, aims to provide Government services to the community electronically through an information infrastructure accessible throughout the territory. In the not too distant future, we will be able to transact business with Government on-line and on a seamless basis through the use of information kiosks installed in convenient public locations, personal computers at home or in the office, telephone through interactive voice response system or interactive television. Public services will be available 24 hours a day and seven days a week. In short, the scheme will transform the way public services are delivered. We anticipate that the scheme will serve as a catalyst to pump-prime the development of electronic commerce in the private sector, and the open and common information infrastructure adopted for the scheme can also be readily used by the private sector for the conduct of electronic transactions at a later stage.

To gauge the interest of the private sector in the provision of Electronic Service Delivery, we conducted an expression of interest exercise in the past couple of months. The response was very encouraging and we received a total of 44 submissions. They came from both local and international companies and some of them have solid experience in implementing similar Electronic Service Delivery projects elsewhere. We are now examining these submissions. Our plan is to call for tenders for operating the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme by the end of the year, award the contract in mid 1999 and launch the first phase of the scheme within 2000.

To support the implementation of the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme and to facilitate the development of electronic commerce in Hong Kong, we consider it necessary to have locally established certification authorities to provide security and trust in the conduct of electronic transactions under a public key infrastructure. While we shall leave it to the market to decide on the number of certification authorities to be established in Hong Kong, we accept that Government should take the lead in the establishment of the public key infrastructure. In this regard, the Hongkong Post's agreement in principle to set up a public certification authority in support of our Electronic Service Delivery scheme is a most welcome development.

Another area we are looking into is whether there is a need for a legal framework to enhance certainty in the conduct of electronic transactions. If this is confirmed, we will ensure that the necessary legislative steps are completed ahead of the launching of the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme. Our objective is to provide favourable conditions for electronic transactions to take hold in Hong Kong.

To make Hong Kong a leader in the information world, we need to raise our IT profile in the region. Contacts and communication with our IT counterparts in the Mainland are a significant element in our overall strategy. In this context, I would like to compliment the Hong Kong Computer Society for developing the ingenious concept of "One Conference Two Cities" in organising the Hong Kong International Computer Conference. Last year, the first leg of the Conference was held in Hong Kong and the second leg was held in Beijing. It was a great success and helped strengthen the ties between the local and the Mainland IT industry. I am very pleased to see that similar arrangements have been made this year, with the second leg of the Conference to be held in Dalian in October. I hope that through such activities, IT practitioners in the two places will be drawn closer together.

Finally I would like to thank the Hong Kong Computer Society for its relentless efforts in promoting IT development in Hong Kong in the past twenty years and all the efforts its members have made in organising the International Computer Conference '98. I wish the Conference every success.

Thank you.

- END -