Government geared up to go on-line
27 - 09 - 2000

The Government has been implementing a number of infrastructural initiatives to adopt electronic means to conduct its business in order to become an electronic government (e-government) in the 21st century.

Speaking at an international computer conference today (September 27), Assistant Director of Information Technology Services, Mr Stephen Mak Hung-sung, said,"The Government will continue to develop e-government initiatives among bureaux and departments."

"We will put in place the necessary information technology (IT) programmes to facilitate the widespread adoption of electronic transactions for intra-government operations and also the delivery of public services."

The Government will expand the breadth and depth of its IT infrastructure. A consistent and widely accessible infrastructure is considered a key enabling factor under the e-government initiative.

Mr Mak pointed out that departmental networks and central services are interconnected via the Government Network (GNET).

The capacity of the GNET and the Government Communication Network (GCN), a building block for internal electronic mail exchange, will be doubled next year. The capacity will also be scalable to cater for future demand.

In August this year, the Central Cyber Government Office (CCGO), an intranet platform to facilitate government-wide electronic services and information dissemination, was put into production.

Apart from portal services, the CCGO will be further enhanced to support digital libraries, information databases, inter-departmental transactions and a web-based training environment.

Mr Mak also noted that the capacity of the Central Internet Gateway system, a centrally managed gateway enabling bureaux and departments to gain access to the Internet safely and securely, will be expanded next year in line with the expected growth in the number of users.

Another major initiative to develop into an e-government is the further adoption of the Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) scheme.

The Government is going to roll out the first phase of the ESD scheme later this year. Under the ESD scheme, members of the public are able to obtain a wide variety of public services 24 hours a day and seven days a week through the Internet and other electronic means.

Mr Mak said,"New ESD transactions will be added on an on-going basis. The Government's long term goal is to include all public services which are amenable to the electronic mode of delivery under the ESD scheme."

"The ESD scheme and other infrastructural projects will complement each other under the e-government initiative."

The Government is also transforming some of the forms which are downloadable from the Government Information Centre web site to facilitate electronic input and processing, thereby reducing the need for subsequent data entry and processing time.

"With the increasing use of electronic transactions, the Government has also developed a Government Public Key Infrastructure (GPKI) strategy to manage its use of digital signatures, encryption and directory services," said Mr Mak.

The Government attaches great importance to information security in the move towards e-government. The Information Technology Services Department (ITSD) has issued extensive internal guidelines to bureaux and departments in respect of the proper handling of information security in electronic transactions and the development of IT systems.

As the government's IT advisor, ITSD will continue to promote and facilitate the wide adoption of IT; nurture the management capability of bureaux and departments in the use of IT; and facilitate them in the sourcing of IT products, services and expertise.

Through the various e-government initiatives, the Government expects to deliver improved and citizen-centric services to the public, enhance operational efficiency and value creation, as well as engender a more IT-empowered civil service.

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