Welcoming Remarks by Mr. Howard C Dickson, Government Chief Information Officer, at the Chinese Mainland - Hong Kong - Overseas Tripartite Partnership on Software Outsourcing Forum
14 - 04 - 2006

Dr. Shan, Mr. Zhou, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon! It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Chinese Mainland - Hong Kong - Overseas Tripartite Partnership on Software Outsourcing Forum.

The theme of today's forum, software outsourcing, is no doubt an internationally hot subject. I would like to share with you some of my thoughts on how the Hong Kong SAR Government positions itself in this arena.

The outsourcing market is evolving. We envisage that there will be an increasing integration between business and information communication technology, and an increasing trend for organizations to consider business process outsourcing. In this fast growing ICT services market, there are certainly opportunities as well as challenges.

The success of software outsourcing relies very much on customer satisfaction. Hong Kong people are renowned for possessing international exposure, practical experience in doing business in the global economy, and having management, as well as technical and operational expertise. Our ICT people offer promising attributes to help derive maximum customer satisfaction and achieve the business benefits of outsourcing. Furthermore, Hong Kong's strong information and communication infrastructure, solid foundation for the necessary rules and laws with good IP right protection, and free flow of information enable the Hong Kong ICT industry to further tap into the software outsourcing market.

Outsourcing is also fully embraced in the Hong Kong SAR Government. Over the years, we have been outsourcing different types of IT activities, including one-off application development, on-going system maintenance, data centre operation and facilities management. In the last financial year, we have outsourced about 90% of our new IT projects, which amounts to 95% in terms of contract value.

To generate further business opportunities for the private sector, we have opened up Intellectual Property (IP) rights of newly developed government IT systems for commercial exploitation. In March 2006, we announced a three-year pilot programme for contractors to own the intellectual property of government IT systems that they create, providing them with the incentive to participate in government IT projects as well as assets to be applied in future IT projects. We hope that commercialisation of IP could promote market innovation and enhance the transfer of technology. Government contractors can also explore further business opportunities locally and overseas leveraging on the IP.

I am sure that the Hong Kong ICT industry has the capability and competitiveness in the outsourcing market place. Our ICT experts are well recognized as they have won six top awards in the recent Asia Pacific ICT Awards (APICTA) two months ago. I call upon our ICT industry to keep up with the momentum and watch out for the evolving outsourcing approach to stay competitive.

The forum today has assembled experts from many government representatives. It provides an excellent opportunity to share experiences and exchange views. I wish you all a most rewarding and productive day. To our overseas guests, I wish you an enjoyable stay in Hong Kong.

Thank you.

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