Speech by Mr. Howard Dickson, Government Chief Information Officer, at the International Conference on Biometrics 2006
05 - 01 - 2006

Prof. Poon, Prof. Jain, Prof. Chin, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning! It is my pleasure to be invited to speak at the International Conference on Biometrics 2006, and wish you a happy and productive New Year ahead.

As the number of security breaches and transaction fraud increases, the need for highly secure identification and personal verification technologies is more than apparent. Today, biometric-based secure identification and personal verification solutions constitute the vital components in many security systems.

While these biometric-based personal authentication systems are becoming more convenient and considerably more secure than those traditional password-based systems, the need for biometrics is growing in governments and the business sector, from law enforcement to e-commerce. Combined with other technologies such as smart cards, encryption keys and digital signatures, biometrics are set to pervade nearly all aspects of the economy and our daily lives.

In Hong Kong, biometric identification technology has been adopted in the region-wide Smart ID cards since its rollout in June 2003. The card infrastructure and biometrics technology have also paved the way for self-service immigration clearance. By employing fingerprint verification technology, the e-Channel application for passenger clearance was launched in December 2004 and its full rollout will be completed by mid 2006.

Following the September 11 incident in 2001, governments all over the world have been enhancing their capabilities in identifying suspect travelers. The Hong Kong SAR Government has planned to issue biometric passports in early 2007 to contribute to international efforts to counter terrorism. The live facial image of passenger at the immigration counter will be captured and verified with the stored photo in the passport. Apart from identity verification for immigration clearance, we also see biometric passport as an effective tool to counter passport forgeries.

Besides establishing the positive identity of persons for secure authentication and access control, there are enormous opportunities to apply the biometric technology. Some of the typical examples are banking, hotel security, medical and insurance, transportation, travel and telecommunications industries. Look ahead at some of the projections on technology developments, the further reductions in size and varieties of implementation approaches, it is to be expected that the use of biometrics will form an important ingredient in all ICT products and services to come. No doubt some of the implementations may give rise of privacy and morality issues, but this is all part of human progression and I believe researchers, investors and providers will take all relevant issues into account in due course.

In Hong Kong, we have already had considerable advantages in terms of our infrastructure, service economy and related domain knowledge. We have renowned academic institutions to explore, research and develop innovative technologies. We have also a vibrant, competitive and innovation driven ICT industry. To leverage on these strengths to enlarge a wider adoption of biometric technology in Hong Kong, we look forward to having more fruitful exchange of ideas, research exploration and development, as well as collaborative initiatives.

The Hong Kong SAR Government understands that the government's continued investment in researches and developments is essential to the development of innovative applications, content and services. The availability of funding is important, and so is the need for linking the industry to research organisations for more effective technology transfer and commercialisation arrangements. We will continue to work on this front and make the best use of public funding so that the industry can harness the results of public sector researches and developments. To this end, we will step up our dissemination and commercialisation efforts in order to ensure that the government-funded projects can benefit the industry and the community at large.

Before I close, I would like to congratulate the organisers for their success in organising the Conference. I would also like to extend a warmest welcome to our guests from overseas and wish you an enjoyable stay in Hong Kong.

Thank you.

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