Government supports improving software engineering practices
19 - 11 - 2003

The Government supports the information technology (IT) industry in enhancing software engineering practices to produce high-quality software, the Director of Information Technology Services, Mr Alan Wong Chi-kong, said today (November 19).

At the opening ceremony of the Asia Pacific Software Engineering Process Group Conference 2003, Mr Wong said he recognised the importance of software quality as people relied more and more on IT and telecommunications services.

He said the Government fully supported the adoption of quality management systems and accreditation by the IT industry.

To assist local software vendors in improving their software development processes through adopting the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), the Government has allocated $5 million to launch a CMM Assessment Grant through the Innovation and Technology Fund.

The funding was awarded to 15 software vendors, which are expected to attain CMM Level 2 or above by early 2005.

The Trade and Industry Department has also provided, through the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund, financial support to IT professional bodies to conduct CMM training courses.

About $2 million has been approved so far for this purpose and the training courses have been well received by IT practitioners.

Mr Wong said that the Information Technology Services Department was also committed to improving the Government's software process and quality management.

The department has over 700 IT professionals involved in software-engineering projects or management of computer systems driven by software. To maintain their professional standards, regular training and refresher programmes are provided.

The department is also establishing a knowledge-management system to promote a culture of knowledge creation and sharing, including in the field of software engineering.

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