Archive - Year 1998

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Hong Kong Computer Society Annual Dinner and Hong Kong International Computer Conference 1998 Dinner
Address by Mr K C Kwong, Secretary for Information Technology & Broadcasting

17 September 1998

Mr Lai, Ladies & Gentlemen,

It is my honour to speak to you on this auspicious occasion. The dinner this evening has brought together members of the Hong Kong Computer Society as well as friends from afar who take part in the ongoing Hong Kong International Computer Conference 1998.

Thanks in part to the concerted lobbying of the IT industry, including the Hong Kong Computer Society, Government has established a dedicated policy Bureau, the Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau, earlier this year to inter alia ensure that a more co-ordinated approach is taken in promoting the wider use of IT in the community. We have been working hard in the past few months on precisely that. But Government efforts alone would not be sufficient to keep us ahead in the race for IT excellence. We also need the support of the local IT profession. In this regard, I would like to pay tribute to the Hong Kong Computer Society for all the useful work it has done.

To cite a few examples. The Society has organised the Hong Kong International Computer Conference each year for the past 20 years. The Conference has become one of the most important events in the calendar of the IT industry. Adopting the concept of "One Conference, Two Cities", the event has now been further developed to promote exchanges and closer ties between IT practitioners in Hong Kong and the Mainland of China. To encourage the use of IT in schools, the Society organised last year the innovative software competition, the National Olympiad in Informatics, for secondary school students from various cities in China. More recently, the Society has launched the "IT Excellence Awards", an annual award scheme intended to pay tribute to successes in local IT innovation and applications.

We in Government are fully supportive of the Society's efforts to promote IT development in Hong Kong. For example, we have recently provided funds to the Society for the development of promotional materials to educate small and medium sized enterprises on the impact of the Year 2000 problem and what they should do to tackle it. To promote understanding of the benefits brought about by IT, the Society is working with the RTHK to produce a television series on IT applications in our daily life.

In closing, let me thank the Hong Kong Computer Society again for all the efforts it has made in organising the Hong Kong International Computer Conference 1998, and for hosting this delightful dinner.

Thank you.

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