Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mrs Carrie Yau, on duty visit to the United Kingdom

March 20, 2002

Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mrs Carrie Yau, met with the Rt Hon Lord Macdonald of Tradeston, Minister for the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom (UK) Government yesterday(March 19) to exchange views on the latest development in the delivery of government services, in particular the E-government initiatives.

Mrs Yau briefed Lord Macdonald, who reports directly to the Prime Minister on the work of the Delivery Unit, on the major initiatives of the Hong Kong E-government Co-ordination Office which was set up under the Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau in August last year. Like the e-Envoy of the UK, the E-government Coordinator has the responsibility to drive E-government initiatives and the implementation of "joined up" projects. Mrs Yau earlier met with e-Envoy Mr Andrew Pinder, who is responsible for the UK Government's UK Online Strategy, to share the UK's experience in implementing E-government.

Mrs Yau visited Channel 4, a television station, and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to understand the UK experience of rolling out multi-channel services with interactivity under the digital television environment. She was impressed by Channel 4's successful model of commissioning independent production houses to provide television programmes including innovative and experimental ones to widen viewers' choices. She also had a meeting with Ms Patricia Hodgson, Chief Executive of the Independent Television Commission and a briefing by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for updates on the broadcasting regulatory policies and the development of the broadcasting industry in the UK.

Mrs Yau took the opportunity to establish her contacts with Members of the Parliament, research institutes, businessmen and opinion formers at a luncheon hosted by Sir Peter Wakefield, Chairman of Asia House. She briefed Sir Anthony Cleaver, Chairman of UK eUniversities Worldwide on the Cyberport development and the establishment of the Cyberport Institute in Hong Kong. UK eUniversities Worldwide is a new e-platform to deliver high quality UK higher education to the global market. She also briefed Messrs Graham Richardson and Duncan Wrigley of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on the latest IT and telecommunications developments in Hong Kong and, in particular, the business opportunities arising from China's accession to the World Trade Organisation.

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (London) arranged a briefing for Hong Kong students studying IT-related disciplines in UK universities by Mrs Yau. She encouraged them to return to work in Hong Kong after graduation given Hong Kong's strong fundamentals as an IT hub in Asia.

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