IT Services Department works to foster HK's IT development
01 - 12 - 2003

The Information Technology Services Department will continue to work closely with the IT industry to foster Hong Kong's IT development, the Director of Information Technology Services, Mr Alan Wong Chi-kong, said today (December 1).

Mr Wong briefed IT experts and practitioners on some of the department's major projects at a networking function hosted by the department.

Among the more than 300 guests were representatives of the Government - including the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr John Tsang - public organisations, IT associations and the private sector.

In line with the Government's vigorous outsourcing policy, Mr Wong said the department had adopted a Standing Offer Agreement approach to speed up the procurement of IT products and services.

Among these agreements, the Information Technology Professional Services Arrangement launched in June last year has substantially widened the choice of contractors and shortened the time needed for Government departments to initiate projects.

The IT outsourcing programme moved into higher gear two weeks ago with the signing of a contract for the Information System Hosting Service, which outsources the management and operation of new Government information systems.

The scope of the contract will be widened to embrace other computer and information systems currently hosted in Government data centres.

Noting that wireless and mobile technologies could provide new channels and platforms for enterprise applications, Mr Wong said the Government would actively consider integrating such technology into its information systems.

As the convenor of a task force involving the wireless technology industry, the IT industry and the Wireless Development Centre soon to be opened at the Cyberport, Mr Wong will take a personal lead to develop an action plan for the promotion of wireless technology and services and monitor the implementation of the plan.

Nearly 90% of public services amenable to electronic delivery will have an e-option by the end of the year, Mr Wong said. "The next stage of the e-Government programme will focus on joined-up projects involving horizontal integration of business processes and their underlying information systems across departments in service delivery."

Joined-up projects that the department is working on include the Integrated Criminal Justice System and the Business Entry Portal.

To pave the way for the integration of various government services, the department published the Interoperability Framework last year, which set out the interface and data exchange standards. Considerable progress has been made in aligning the data definition and representation of commonly used data elements into data standards.

Last week, the department launched the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Schema Design and Management Guide, setting out a methodology for designing XML-based data exchange interface and a framework for government-wide alignment of data definition and data representation.

The department, in collaboration with the IT industry, the wireless technology industry, IT professional bodies and industry associations, will continue to pursue the goals set out in the Digital 21 Strategy, Mr Wong concluded.

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