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Speech by Mr Y C CHENG, Acting Director of Information Technology
Services at the IBM e-Government Seminar on
17 September 2001
Ms. CHUNG, Distinguished Speakers, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon. I am pleased and honoured to be invited here
to kick off the IBM e-Government Seminar.
The Hong Kong SAR Government is committed to leading by example
in the use of IT, both in conducting internal business operations
and in delivering public services to the community. In May this
year, we published a revised Digital 21 Strategy with a view
to positioning Hong Kong as a leading e-business community and
digital city in the globally connected world. One of the strategic
areas of the revised Strategy is to promulgate and implement
a comprehensive policy to build E-government.
So what do we mean by E-government? E-government means an on-going
process of transformation of Government towards the conduct
of internal operations and provision of services to the public
via electronic means so that Government services are provided
in an "anywhere, anytime" manner.
We use e-business solutions to modernise Government operations,
improve efficiency and optimise the use of limited resources.
We can improve the quality of providing services to the community.
We can also move away from the conventional approach of service
delivery and break down bureaucracy between departments to facilitate
the provision of more customer-oriented, value-added and user-friendly
one-stop Government services.
In order to build E-government, we have established a dedicated
E-government Coordination Office (EGCO) to drive and co-ordinate
E-government initiatives. The head of the EGCO is the E-government
Coordinator, Mr. Michael Stone, who will speak to you later
in this seminar. In each bureau and department, an E-business
Coordinator has been nominated to coordinate E-government development
in the organisation. A Steering Committee on E-government chaired
by the Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting
has also been set up to provide the overall steer for E-government
development.
Under the E-government policy, we have set a target of providing
e-option for 90% of those public services amenable to the electronic
mode of service delivery by end 2003.
We will implement E-government flagship projects in four areas
to serve as models for bureaux and departments to follow.
Government-to-Citizen (G2C): We will continue to introduce more
G2C services online under the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme.
Government-to-Business (G2B): We will actively implement and
drive e-procurement initiatives. Our target is to carry out
at least 80% of Government procurement tenders through electronic
means by end 2003.
Government-to-Employee (G2E): We have rolled out G2E projects
such as electronic leave application and processing system to
a number of bureaux and departments and will continue to do
so.
Government-to-Government (G2G): G2G transactions refer to inter-departmental
and intra-departmental operations. We are implementing a phased
programme for adopting inter-departmental and intra-departmental
electronic transactions which include putting the process to
prepare the annual estimates online, developing systems to allow
departments to place orders online for common store items and
for printing Government publications.
To help bureaux and departments implement the E-government policy,
ITSD provides them with a wide range of central support services
and facilities.
Robust IT infrastructure: Among those services and facilities,
the upholding of a robust IT infrastructure is the most essential.
We are planning a number of enhancements to the Government's
IT infrastructure which include improving the accessibility
to computer facilities in the civil service, upgrading to broadband
connections to the Government Backbone Network, establishment
of a common transaction platform for electronic service delivery
and G2E/G2G transactions, as well as an Interoperability Framework
to support future E-Government applications.
Speeding up the delivery of IT solutions: ITSD has invited tenders
earlier this month for the provision of professional services
to undertake IT projects in the Government under the Information
Technology Professional Services Arrangement (ITPSA). One primary
objective of this Arrangement is to accelerate the delivery
of IT solutions. Departments can make use of this means to quickly
acquire necessary services for the e-government projects.
Review of progress in IT development: We are now conducting
a review on the progress in IT development in bureaux and departments
to help individual bureau and department establish the appropriate
IT systems and capabilities that will be needed to support E-government.
The review will be completed by the end of this month.
Information Technology Management Unit (ITMU): We have recommended
to departments with substantial IT activities the establishment
of an ITMU within their organisations. Members of the Analyst/Programmer
Grade of ITSD will be posted to the ITMU of the departments.
An ITMU should help to enhance the departments' ability to integrate
the IT management and business operations in the delivery of
services. A number of departments, such as IRD, ImmD, CR have
set up their ITMUs recently. We will actively pursue with other
departments with a view to establishing their ITMUs early.
Successful development of e-government involves initiating cultural
changes within Government for championing the e-agenda, coordinating
with different departments, and addressing inter-departmental
issues arising from the implementation of cross-departmental
projects based on a customer-centric approach.
I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to you all to
support the various E-government initiatives, not only those
within your department but also those cross-departmental projects
which are essential to providing one-stop service to the public.
I would also like to encourage you to instigate culture change
among your staff to embrace the paradigm shift in this Information
Age in order to make our E-government a success.
Thank you.
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- ENDS -
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