Government makes steady progress in electronic transformation
18 - 10 - 2002

The Government has been making steady and sure progress in providing electronic public services to the Hong Kong community in the process of building an E-government.

It has already provided services on-line for 78 per cent of public services that are amenable to the electronic mode of delivery. It has set a target of providing e-option to 90 per cent of such services by end-2003.

Speaking at an international expo and forum on information technology (IT) innovation held in Jinan in the Mainland today (October 18), the Director of Information Technology Services, Mr Alan Wong Chi-kong, told his audience that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government was committed to building an E-government and promoting the wider adoption of e-business in Hong Kong.

Mr Wong said that the HKSAR Government had set up an E-government Co-ordination Office to drive and co-ordinate E-government initiatives since 2001.

Besides, he added that his department, the Information Technology Services Department, had been assisting and supporting bureaux and departments to establish their own IT Management Units in order to encourage them to assume greater ownership of IT and blend IT with their core businesses.

The HKSAR Government is developing the E-government in three directions:
- to establish appropriate leadership, governance, strategy, objectives, information infrastructure and culture;
- to develop e-business application systems so as to improve the quality of service delivery and enhance efficiency; and
- to lead by example in adopting e-business and to encourage the community to transact business with the Government through electronic means.

Mr Wong said, "The HKSAR Government has successfully implemented one of its flag-ship E-government initiatives, the Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) Scheme (http://www.esd.gov.hk) through which members of the public can obtain over 130 types of public services on-line around-the-clock."

"The response of the ESD scheme has been very encouraging. Since its launch in December 2000, the ESD web site has recorded more than two million transactions," he said.

Mr Wong also noted that the HKSAR Government would bring in new computer systems and would in stages replace citizens' identity (ID) cards with multi-application Smart ID Cards from mid-2003.

This new Smart ID Card is able to support value-added applications such as library card and digital certificate. The latter is meant to provide an option for cardholders who wish to use it to support secure electronic transactions.

To promote and encourage the wider adoption of e-business, the HKSAR Government has also developed one of the world's first ever web-based electronic tendering system which enables itself to issue tenders and receive bids securely through the Internet.

Mr Wong said, "Our target is to carry out the majority of government procurement tenders through electronic means by end 2003."

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