Government supports development of local IT industry
08 - 06 - 2000

The Government supports the development of the local information technology (IT) industry by offering more business opportunities to the private sector.

Outlining the Government's recent initiatives to a gathering of IT professionals and practitioners today (June 8), the Director of Information Technology Services, Mr Lau Kam-hung, assured them of the Government's full support to the local IT industry.

The IT professionals and practitioners met senior staff members of the Information Technology Services Department (ITSD) in a gathering entitled "ITSD Networking Hour" today.

The event is one of the regular functions organised by ITSD to maintain close contact and communication with the local IT industry.

Outsourcing of government IT services is one way in which the Government is helping the local IT industry, Mr Lau said. Another is by publishing information on IT projects and tenders on the government web site to facilitate potential suppliers in bidding for the projects.

"We believe that with the implementation of our outsourcing initiative, a sufficiently large IT market will be created to encourage further development of the IT industry locally, and to attract more investment to the industry," said Mr Lau.

Since April 1999, new IT projects in the Government have been implemented through outsourcing as the preferred option.

The estimated total expenditure on outsourced projects would amount to $1.5 billion by the end of the 2000/01 financial year.

ITSD also adopts a proactive approach to provide useful information to the IT industry by publishing government IT projects and tenders on the "Digital 21" web site (www.digital21.gov.hk).

A mechanism has been established by the department to notify the enrolled parties of the open government IT tenders through e-mail.

"In order to encourage more IT suppliers to bid for government IT tenders, we have implemented several measures to make bidding easier," said Mr Lau.

"The measures are: waiving tender deposit, lowering contract deposit or performance bond, and making partial payments," he continued.

To enable subscribers to download government tender documents and to submit their offers for major IT systems through secure electronic means, the Government implemented the Electronic Tendering System in April this year.

Hong Kong is among the first few places in the world to launch this dual flow interactive scheme which is convenient and efficient for IT suppliers.

Apart from facilitating and promoting the development of the local IT industry, the Government also finances technology development projects and researches undertaken by the industry and academia through various funding schemes, such as the Innovation and Technology Fund.

Stimulating more collaboration between the IT industry and academia is another key initiative adopted by the Government to support the industry.

Mr Lau said, "Last year, we organised a Tripartite Forum to bring the IT industry, the venture capital industry and academic researchers together to promote the commercialisation of IT research results."

"This year, we will again organise this meaningful event which will be held on June 29," he noted.

The Government also works closely with the IT industry, professional bodies and other community organisations to promote the use of IT in the community, which in turn will bring more opportunities to the IT industry.

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