More e-Business cooperation between Mainland and HK

At the meeting of the Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee (IIAC) today (December 17), members were informed that an E-Business Working Group had been established under the Mainland/HKSAR Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade to promote more exchanges and collaboration in e-business between the two places.

The Working Group aims to further enhance exchanges and co-operation in the area of e-business among the public and business sectors of the Mainland and Hong Kong as part of the overall efforts in promoting trade and investment between the two places. It will also work towards facilitating the promotion and application of e-business, as well as exchange of trade and economic information, experience, technology, and personnel.

Members noted that the work programme of the E-Business Working Group would cover, inter alia, cooperation in the areas of electronic transactions laws, e-commerce applications by businesses, e-commerce promotion, training, E-government and exchange of trade and market information. The two sides will shortly proceed to formulate the work programme for the coming year.

A representative of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) also briefed the IIAC on a survey conducted by HKTDC on Mainland China users' perception of Hong Kong's IT service providers.

At the meeting, members also noted the two surveys conducted by the Census and Statistics Department from April to July 2002 on IT usage and penetration in the household and business sectors in Hong Kong respectively. This was the third round that the two annual surveys were conducted.

According to the surveys, installation of personal computers (PC) and Internet connection continued to become increasingly common in the community. Household PC penetration increased to 62 per cent in 2002, while household Internet penetration had reached 53 per cent.

There was also a considerable increase in PC penetration and Internet usage in the business sector. The percentages of business establishments using PCs and having Internet connection had reached 55 per cent and 44 per cent respectively in 2002.

Members were also briefed on the latest developments of Internet2 in Hong Kong. The next generation of Internet technology will significantly improve the performance of the Internet in order to enable the operation of advanced applications, such as video-conferencing, transmission of large volume data, e.g. weather information.

To promote the development of this advanced technology in Hong Kong, the Government has established the Working Group on Internet2 Development(I2WG) under the auspices of the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau to deliberate on measures to drive the development. A 45 Mbps link has been set up between the Internet2 network of Hong Kong and the United States with Government funding and commercial sponsorship for use by local universities to carry out academic research.

To raise public awareness on Internet2, a launching ceremony cum symposium will be held in February 2003. Representatives of the US and the international Internet2 community as well as Mainland experts will be invited to speak at the symposium. Members of the public can visit a dedicated website (www.internet2.edu.hk) for more information and useful links on the Internet2 initiatives in Hong Kong.

Chaired by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, the IIAC is an advisory body established since August 1998 to advise the Government on how to drive IT development in Hong Kong. The committee comprises three other official members and 15 unofficial members appointed by the Chief Executive from the IT and business sectors and the academic field.

Tuesday, December 17 2002

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