ISO 9001 Certification Award Ceremony for the Information Technology Services Department
Speech by Mr K C Kwong, Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting

10 February 1999

Dr Lo, Mr Lau, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am glad to have this opportunity to celebrate with you the award of the ISO 9001 Certificate to the Information Technology Services Department. This award is a clear recognition of the quality of service which ITSD has been providing to the rest of Government throughout the years.

Quality is, of course, the key to success in today's marketplace. And, by striving for quality, management efforts are focused on improving control over the processes with which products are produced and services are delivered. This in turn would bring improvements in productivity and deployment of scarce resources. The end result is customer satisfaction.

This is also the objective of our "Serving the Community" initiative. When the initiative was launched a few years ago, the community which ITSD served was essentially other government departments. The community has now broadened substantially to cover the public, in line with the Government's recently articulated strategy on IT - the Digital 21 strategy.

In this regard, the ISO certification for ITSD has multiple benefits. First, as is required under the ISO certification and as an integral part of ITSD's work, the department will look more carefully into its customers' needs and tailor its services to them. Second, the documented procedures required under ISO 9001 will lead to more effective and efficient delivery of quality services. Third, the early application of quality assurance in the processes can minimise costs of abortive or duplicated work. Last but not least, the ISO-endorsed procedures encourage continuous improvement in the processes, thereby improving the department's competitive edge. As the Chief Executive said in his Policy Address, we wish to make Hong Kong a leader, not a follower, in the information world of tomorrow. Quality is one of the key criteria for achieving that vision.

The ISO certification is not only a formal recognition of the quality of the services provided by ITSD. I hope that it will act as a trend setter and help to raise the awareness of Hong Kong's IT industry on the need for quality assurance in everything that the industry does. This is the only sure way to enhance productivity and efficiency so as to maintain one's competitiveness. And I am sure that the investment that we make today in quality management will help to build a solid foundation for our future growth and to pave the way for a better tomorrow.

In closing, I would like to congratulate ITSD on the ISO 9001 certificate award. I am sure ITSD will keep up its efforts and continue to improve its services to Government and to the community.

Thank you.

- ENDS -