Archive - Year 2001

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SITB sees Internet helping to improve government

January 27, 2001

Hong Kong should maximise the power and potential of the Internet to improve the quality of government for the betterment of society, the Secretary of Information and Technology Broadcasting, Mrs Carrie Yau said today (January 27).

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mrs Yau said the Internet was already changing the dynamics of the relationship between governments and their citizens.

Mrs Yau was a panelist at a Davos forum discussing the subject of "E-Government: the Next Revolution?"

She noted that the Hong Kong SAR Government's basic aim was to discharge its obligations to its citizens in an open and transparent way, which was seen by them as being responsive to their expectations and aspirations. She added: "This is easier said than done. It requires judgement, political sensitivity and a deep and sympathetic understanding of the community in which we all live. You can't download these essential ingredients from the Internet."

Mrs Yau emphasised that the Internet and the e-revolution must be seen as a tool to improve governance. "It cannot be a substitute for good government, nor a panacea for bad government," she said.

She noted that Hong Kong was a free society based on the rule of law.

"We have some of the highest urban population densities on earth. The lines of communication between people and between the government and people are therefore pretty short. That gives us an advantage that may not be found in other communities."

She pointed out that the government had already completed an internal government e-communications system, and had introduced an Electronic Service Delivery Scheme for the public.

"More importantly, we want to empower more of our citizens to become Internet-savvy," she said. "We have installed PCs in local government offices and community centres. We have established a chain of street-side e-kiosks for free public use.

"We want to give access to the new world which has been opened up by the Internet to the elderly, women, disabled and the less well-off, indeed anyone who cannot privately surf the world wide web.

"This not only broadens the scope and scale of service delivery, but means that both government and governed have enhanced two-way communications.

"That puts more pressure on public servants, but it can only be good for a government, so long as it is prepared to listen and take its decisions on the basis of a clear understanding of public views and requirements, a sensible balancing of the options within a framework of responsible public policy formulation, and a commitment to explain itself, especially when the community is skeptical or at times hostile," Mrs Yau said.

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