SITB shares E-government experience in Shanghai forum

June 14, 2002

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's objective in E-government is to make use of IT to provide seamless electronic services in an efficient and citizen-centric way to the public, the Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mrs Carrie Yau Tsang Ka-lai, said today (June 14).

Addressing the 3rd Forum on City Informatisation in the Asian Pacific Region (CIAPR) in Shanghai, Mrs Yau also noted E-government was the major theme in this year's CIAPR.

She said: "Developing E-government has been one of the five key result areas in the Digital 21 Strategy - Hong Kong's blueprint of IT development.

"Through leading by setting a good example, we also seek to drive the adoption of IT in the business sector and in the community."

Stressing the importance of partnership with private sector in driving E-government initiatives, Mrs Yau said: "We wish to tap the expertise, experience and creativity of the private sector to deliver high quality public services to the community and business in an innovative and user-friendly way.

"This is really the major driver and we have used different partnership models to achieve our aim.

"Currently, over 80% of Government's new IT project development are carried out by the private sector. We will continue to outsource not only new Government IT projects, but also activities that are currently performed in-house."

Mrs Yau had also shared with the forum some of the successful cases of private sector involvement in developing E-government in Hong Kong.

These included the implementation of the Electronic Tendering System, the development of value-added services on digital maps, and the flagship E-government project, the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme (ESD) which provides a portal for both public and private sector electronic services. ESD's innovative business model has created a win-win situation for the Government, private sector and the general public, and led to its winning of the world-renowned Stockholm Challenge Award in 2001.

Incepted in 2000, the CIAPR has become an annual international forum which provides a platform for government officials, business leaders, experts, scholars and representatives of non-governmental organisations in the region to share their visions and experiences in city informatisation, with a view to enhancing inter-country and inter-city cooperation as well as public-private partnership in city informatisation and bridging the global digital divide.

Besides attending today's forum, Mrs Yau also visited Shanghai Jiaotong University (SJTU) where she met with its President, Professor Xie Sheng-wu. Professor Xie briefed Mrs Yau on the latest IT developments, including some research and development projects in collaboration with multinational companies.

Founded in 1896, SJTU is one of the oldest universities of science and engineering in China. It is also a key university of China whose projects are accorded top priorities by the Ministry of Education and the Shanghai Municipal Government. Its Science and Technology Park is the only one in Shanghai formally approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology as well as the Ministry of Education.

"The visit to Shanghai has provided me with a useful update on IT research and development in higher institutions in China. We will continue to develop the network between the Hong Kong and Mainland institutions/IT parks, and explore collaboration opportunities in the context of the Cyberport," Mrs Yau said.

In the past, Mrs Yau has visited other overseas renowned IT parks, including Bangalore in India, Innopoli in Finland, and Sofia-Antipolis in France.

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