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Government commits to the promotion and adoption of e-business
12 - 09 - 2001
The Government is committed to the promotion and adoption of
e-business, both in conducting internal business operations
and in delivering public services to the businesses and community.
The Director of Information Technology Services, Mr Alan Wong
Chi-kong, said this at the opening ceremony of the Asian IT
Expo 2001 today (September 12).
Mr Wong said, "At present, 65 per cent of the government services
that are amenable to the electronic mode of delivery already
have an e-option under the Electronic Service Delivery (ESD)
Scheme."
"Our target is to increase the e-option for government services
from 65 per cent to 90 per cent by end 2003, that is about less
than two-and-a-half years from now.
"We believe this will encourage businessmen and citizens to
interact with the Government on the Internet to speed up the
e-government programme," he said.
The ESD Scheme was formally launched in January this year. Under
the ESD Scheme, members of the public can obtain a wide range
of public services such as submitting tax returns, registration
as voters, and renewing driving and vehicle licenses. They are
able to transact with Government online efficiently and securely
through Internet-connected computer facilities or public kiosks.
The Government will continue to roll out more ESD applications
such as booking of leisure and sports facilities, booking of
marriage appointment and registration for sitting public examinations.
Mr Wong said, "We will actively drive e-procurement initiatives
in order to encourage government suppliers to adopt e-business."
"We will also develop an electronic marketplace for government
purchases."
With the objective to speed up the implementation of the e-government
projects, the Government would actively pursue the outsourcing
strategy on the provision of IT services within the Government.
"To date, we have achieved our target of outsourcing two-thirds
of new government IT projects each year," said Mr Wong.
The Government will continue to pursue the outsourcing strategy
not only on new government IT projects but also on the application
maintenance activities currently performed in-house.
- ENDS -
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