Speech by Ir. Allen Yeung, JP, Government Chief Information Officer, at the “10th Annual CIO Executive Summit 2017 Hong Kong”

Paul(Szeto), Scott (Likens), Fellow CIOs, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning! It is my great pleasure to join you at the 10th CIO Executive Summit. Over the past decade, we have witnessed stunning advancement in technology as well as a much-enhanced role of CIOs in both the private and public sectors. Our theme today, “Unlocking the Digital Future: Innovate, Strategise and Collaborate”, is both insightful and thought-provoking for CIOs in this era.

CIOs’ role is becoming more challenging and strategic. The focus has shifted from managing the corporate IT systems and infrastructure to developing new business strategies. In this regard, we need to embrace innovation as part of the strategic development.

The Government is no exception.

Instead of having isolated servers or server farms, we have adopted “Cloud First” policy. By moving to cloud, we can redeploy our resource on e-Government services, instead of managing machines.

Following the Policy Address in January 2015 to build HK as a Smart City, my Office engaged a consultant in last September to develop Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong. In June this year, we released the consultancy report, which proposes a strategic framework with short-term, mid-term and long-term measures in six major areas, namely “Smart Mobility”, “Smart Living”, “Smart Environment”, “Smart People”, “Smart Government” and “Smart Economy”, plus associated digital infrastructure and governance structure. The main policy objectives are to make use of innovation and technology to address urban challenges, thereby enhancing city management and improving our quality of living. At this time, we are inviting views from stakeholders and members of the public on the findings and proposals in the consultancy report until the end of September. Smart City not only improves citizen’s quality of living, but also brings business opportunities to the commercial sectors who can bring innovative solutions for the city. By demonstrating how it works and works well in Hong Kong, the solution can be re-exported to many other cities, like MTR which is now operating in Shenzhen, Beijing, Sydney, Melbourne, London, Stockholm. I welcome CIOs here to take an active part in our Smart City development.

Innovation and technology have transformed our business and economy. In order to keep our business community abreast of the latest trend and impact, my Office has launched our annual flagship event the Internet Economy Summit for the first time in 2016 to provide a platform that brings together top-notch experts from around the world to share their insights into the development trends and opportunities of the technology-driven economy. CIOs from various industries also shared their experiences in coping with disruptive changes and against competitors coming from not traditional trades but from nowhere. The next edition will be held on 12-13 April 2018 in this Convention Centre. Please mark your diary and I look forward to seeing you all again next April.

Before closing, I would like to express my gratitude to MIG for organising such a remarkable programme and bringing together an array of distinguished experts for the past ten years. I wish you all a very fruitful and enjoyable day. Thank you!

- ENDS -