Government encourages adoption of m-commerce in Hong Kong
24 - 05 - 2001

The Government encourages local businesses to make use of the developed information infrastructure in Hong Kong to adopt mobile-commerce (m-commerce) to seize its huge business potential.

To help Hong Kong retain its competitive edge and drive its overall economic expansion, the Government announced the 2001 Digital 21 Strategy in early May.

The strategy sets out the vision to make Hong Kong a leading e-business community and a leading digital city in the globally connected world.

One of the key result areas of the strategy is to leverage Hong Kong's strengths in the exploitation of enabling technologies.

Speaking at a conference on m-commerce today (May 24), the Acting Director of Information Technology Services, Mr Cheng Yan-chee, said,"Our advanced telecommunications infrastructure is one of our key strengths."

"We have one of the most vibrant mobile telecommunications markets in the world with a mobile phone service penetration rate of 78 per cent, which is amongst the highest in the world," he said.

"Our broadband networks now cover all commercial buildings and over 95 per cent of the households in Hong Kong.

"According to a recent industry research, 60 per cent of Internet users will go on-line using mobile devices by 2005.

"However, only seven per cent of companies world-wide now have web sites that are accessible with these devices. You can see a huge business potential there," he said.

"We will continue to encourage competition and innovation under an open, fair and predictable regulatory framework to ensure that Hong Kong can have a world-class telecommunications platform sustainable to the rapid growth of e-commerce in the Information Age," he added.

Apart from the well-developed telecommunications infrastructure, the Government has also established the information infrastructure necessary for the development of m-commerce in Hong Kong.

"To instil the public's confidence in the conduct of secure electronic transactions, the Government has taken the lead in the establishment of a recognised public certification authority (CA) through the Hongkong Post to enable an early implementation of a public key infrastructure (PKI) in Hong Kong," said Mr Cheng.

"In January 2001, the Hongkong Post CA joined hands with a private company to develop and introduce PKI-based secure mobile certificates in an effort to support the development of m-commerce in Hong Kong," he said.

To encourage and support the IT industry to develop wireless technologies, the Government finances specific projects related to wireless technology through the Innovation and Technology Fund.

To promote the adoption of m-commerce and widen the accessibility to the Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) scheme, the Government will also explore the potential of mobile devices as an additional delivery channel so that the ESD could become an even more convenient way for obtaining public services.

The ESD is a flagship Government-to-Citizen and Government-to-Business web site, through which the public can acquire a wide range of services on the Internet and public information kiosks 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

As mobile computing devices are effective tools to facilitate information management, streamline workflow and ensure data accuracy on an anywhere-and-anytime basis, the Government has taken the lead to adopt mobile technologies in its business and operation.

For instance, the Information Technology Services Department has implemented a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) version of its web site to disseminate the latest computer virus alerts and forthcoming IT events to the public.

The Hongkong Post has been using hand-held devices in its Track and Trace System to capture the delivery status of express mails and registered posts.

The Government Supplies Department has employed mobile devices to ensure timely and accurate update of the inventory database between the warehouse and the host computer.

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