Speech by Mr K H Lau, Director of Information Technology Services at the International Telecommunication Union Forum "Asian E-Government: Framework and Experiments" on 07 - 12 - 2000

Dr. Lewis, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Introduction

Hong Kong is very privileged to be the host city, for the ITU's fifth regional event for the Asia-Pacific region which is the first major ITU event to be held in China. I wish to extend my warmest welcome to all of you, particularly the delegations of all the participating countries.

Today, I would like to share with you the various initiatives of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in developing an e-government strategically, adopting e-commerce in public service delivery proactively, and setting a leading example for the private sector to follow in the adoption of information technology (IT).

New Dimensions of the Internet World

The topic I would like to talk about today is the "Role of Government in the Internet World". The Internet is connecting people all over the world. We can now communicate with our business partners, families, friends, and colleagues over long distances more easily and at lower costs.

The Internet also has a real great impact on our economy. Dr Andrew Grove, Chairman of Intel, said that in five years' time, there won't be any "Internet companies" as such, because all companies will all be Internet companies.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Information Technology Strategy

The Hong Kong SAR Government has been at the forefront in the adoption of IT and the Internet to help Hong Kong retain its competitive edge and drive its overall economic expansion. In "Digital 21", an IT strategy formulated in November 1998, we have already set out our vision to make Hong Kong a regional Internet hub in the Asia-Pacific region and a leading digital city in the globally connected world. When our Chief Executive, Tung Chee Hwa delivered his Year 2000 Policy Address in October this year, he reiterated that in gearing up Hong Kong for the knowledge economy, innovation and technology are essential to enhance productivity for our sustained economic growth.

Telecommunications Infrastructure

To meet the challenges of the knowledge-based New Economy, we have adopted a series of measures to improve our information infrastructure.

A fundamental infrastructure for the Internet is telecommunication links. We have liberalised our telecommunications market to the point where it is arguably the freest and cheapest in the world. To facilitate the rapid development of an innovative and high capacity telecommunications infrastructure for the Internet and e-commerce, we encourage competition and innovation under an open, fair and predictable regulatory framework.

Our broadband networks now cover all the commercial buildings and over 90% of the households in Hong Kong. Our external network is amongst the highest in Asia.

We also have one of the most vibrant mobile telecommunications market in the world with a mobile phone service penetration rate of about 70%, amongst the highest in the world. The licensing framework for the 3G services would be finalised around end 2000/early 2001 and 3G licences would be issued in 2001.

Clear Legal Framework

Another key initiative of developing our e-commerce infrastructure is the introduction of a clear legal framework to provide a secure environment for the conduct of e-commerce in Hong Kong.

In January this year, we enacted the Electronic Transactions Ordinance which gives electronic records and digital signatures the same legal status as that of their paper-based counterparts. Besides, the Ordinance establishes a framework to promote and facilitate the operation of recognised certification authorities (CAs).

Public Key Infrastructure

The HKSAR Government has taken the lead in the establishment of a public CA through the Hongkong Post to enable an early implementation of a public key infrastructure (PKI) in Hong Kong.

Through the PKI, participants of electronic transactions can now establish the identity of the other party engaged in electronic transactions; ensure the integrity and confidentiality of data exchanged electronically; and safeguard the non-repudiation of electronic transactions.

Common Chinese Interface

The HKSAR Government also promotes and adopts common standards. In particular, we have established a common interface based on international standards for the use of Chinese in electronic communication and data exchange among the Government, businesses and individuals.

Developing a Chinese language interface is crucial to the development of e-commerce in Hong Kong, as Chinese is the mother tongue of the majority of Hong Kong people. It also helps to strengthen Hong Kong's position as an information gateway to the Mainland of China.

Electronic Service Delivery (ESD)

Our ultimate goal on developing an e-commerce infrastructure and framework is to drive our community in the early adoption and integration of digital technology into their daily life at home, work and leisure.

To lead by example, we will launch the Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) scheme before the end of this year. The ESD web site is our flagship Government-to-Citizen (G2C) and Government-to-Business (G2B) web site, through which the public can acquire a wide range of services on the Internet and public information kiosks, twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. Services from various Government departments and public agencies will soon become available online. They include submission of tax returns, bill payment, renewal of driving and vehicle licences, application of business registration, etc.

The secure, reliable and open information infrastructure developed for the ESD will become available for use by the private sector for the conduct of e-commerce. This will act as a catalyst to pump-prime the development of e-commerce in Hong Kong.

Electronic Tendering System (ETS)

The HKSAR Government also sets a leading example for the private sector in the area of e-procurement, which will improve efficiency and bring down costs in the government procurement process. More importantly, it helps pull small to medium-sized enterprises into the e-commerce world. We have taken a significant step in implementing e-procurement through the Electronic Tendering System (ETS) which has been put into operation since April this year.

Being one of the first government e-procurement systems in the world, the ETS allows suppliers from all over the world to receive notification of tenders, submit tender offers and receive notification of contract award through the Internet. The ETS not only achieves savings in time and cost in the issue and despatch of tender documents and submission of tenders, it also makes full use of the Internet to significantly extend the reach of tender invitations to potential suppliers from all over the world.

Central Cyber Government Office (CCGO)

To pave the way for providing more interactive services, we have implemented the Central Cyber Government Office (CCGO) in August this year.

The CCGO is a portal on an Intranet platform to facilitate government-wide electronic services and information dissemination. Apart from portal services, the CCGO will be further enhanced to support digital libraries, information databases, intra- and inter-departmental transactions and a web-based training environment.

E-commerce Promotion to SMEs

The HKSAR Government is also actively promoting IT awareness to different sectors of the community. For example, in order to enhance the awareness and understanding of e-commerce among small to medium-sized enterprises, we organize various seminars on e-commerce. Success stories of e-commerce applications are publicised in the seminars.

In addition, we work closely in partnership with industry support bodies to provide seamless solutions to support the adoption of e-commerce by small to medium-sized enterprises.

E-commerce Promotion to General Public

To reach out to members of the public, promotional materials in different media and forms such as CD-ROMs and pamphlets are produced and distributed at many outlets and exhibitions. This helps to educate and provide guidance to the consumers on the proper use of the Internet.

Community Cyber Points

We have established community cyber points with PCs installed at over 60 different convenient locations which are open to the public free of charge, including free access to the Internet.

Some of these PCs have also been installed with facilities to enable accessibility by the visually impaired. Our aim is to raise computer literacy among all sectors in the community to support the development of a knowledge-based economy.

Community IT Programmes

To further our efforts on IT promotion, we have launched the "IT Hong Kong" campaign in September this year. We have organised a wide range of activities for the general public in Hong Kong in order to encourage and enable them to use IT as part of their daily lives. These activities include a series of free IT awareness courses for the different community groups, including e.g. the elderly, housewives and the disabled.

Role of Government in the Internet World

Over the past two years, the Government has made a lot of progress in developing a digital society. The concept of e-government at its heart is the next generation approach to managing government through process re-engineering and developing a new culture of public service delivery. With the advance in the use of IT, the public will look upon us for the delivery of much better quality and a lot more efficient services in the Information Age. We have to meet this aspiration of the community.

Closing Remarks

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope I have outlined to you our understanding of the role of government in the Internet world. I wish you every success in your efforts in helping to build an e-society.

Thank you.

Click here to download PDF file of presentation

( To view and print the PDF document, you need to use an Adobe Acrobat Reader. Please click here to download if necessary. )

- END -