E-government experience shared with neighbouring countries
25 - 09 - 2003

The Director of Information Technology Services, Mr Alan Wong Chi-kong, shared Hong Kong's experience of the development of e-government in a business round table today (September 25).

Staged in Hong Kong, the Asia Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Confederation Business Round Table has gathered industry practitioners and policy makers in Asia to exchange views on e-government development objectives and strategies, policies and incentives as well as ICT business opportunities.

"The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is committed to making Hong Kong a leading e-business community and digital city in the globally connected world," Mr Wong said.

Noting that the Digital 21 Information Technology (IT) Strategy had achieved encouraging progress in promoting the use of IT in the community, he introduced to the participants some recent initiatives launched by the Government.

A Working Group on the Promotion of Wireless Services and Technology was established under the Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee. The Working Group will look at ways to enhance the adoption of wireless technology at the enterprise level.

The Government is also setting up a Wireless Solutions Development Centre at the Cyberport to promote the development of mobile and wireless applications in Hong Kong.

Another important IT initiative in Hong Kong is the Smart Identity (ID) Card replacement exercise recently rolled out.

"We believe that the Multi-Application Smart ID Card has great potential to help business sectors, public organisations and government departments to deliver electronic services in a more secure, efficient and cost-effective manner on a common and convenient platform," Mr Wong said.

The round table is being held concurrently with the Hong Kong International Computer Conference 2003.

Organised by the Hong Kong Computer Society, the conference closed today and was attended by more than 500 IT experts and practitioners.

The theme of the conference this year was "IT - Impetus to Economic Prosperity". Mr Wong, who was also the chairperson of the conference, said IT was a powerful engine for revitalising enterprises and empowering individuals to achieve higher productivity and greater efficiency.

Various topics were covered in the conference, including IT in Education and the Integration of IT in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta.

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