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Following is the speech (English only ) by the Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mr K C Kwong, at St Paul's Convent School Speech Day today (Friday):
Sister Margaret, ladies and gentlemen,
I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to you today, not least because I am a graduate from your not-too-distant neighbour, Queen's College, and my wife is a graduate of St Paul's Convent. I am therefore particularly grateful to Sister Margaret for deferring your Speech Day by a day to make this possible.
As the Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, you would expect me to talk about IT and so I will. Rather than boring you with the technical details, perhaps I should outline for you what I see as the key features of the Information World of tomorrow.
Pace of Change
First, the rapid pace of change. This is made possible by the continuous improvement in the processing capability of computer chips coupled with the fall in prices in real terms. In the 1980's, Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Intel, once said that "the capability of a computer chip doubles every 18 months while the price stays the same". This is the famous Moore's Law in the information technology (IT) community. Despite repeated proclamation that this law will be dead as we push towards the limit of manufacturing, advances in production technology continues to maintain its validity. Indications are that Moore's Law will live on for quite a while.
What is the consequence of this? Put simply, we will continue to see IT products becoming more and more versatile with their prices coming down in real terms. The competitive pressure generated by this development will in turn force a faster pace of change than we have hitherto seen. Thus, the life cycles of many IT products are now counted in months. Also, products which one could only dream of - such as palm size computers with telecommunication capabilities - are rapidly becoming reality.
Flexibility of Application
That leads me to the second key feature of the Information World of tomorrow, namely, flexibility in the application of IT.
When we talk about IT now, many people will immediately think of the computer. And the most common manifestation of that is the personal computer (PC). But IT is much more than just the PC at home or in the office. IT is now applied practically everywhere we look. For example, embedded computer chips ensure the efficient running of our building services, such as our air-conditioning systems, in-building electricity distribution and lifts; they control the appliances that we use in our homes, such as our TV sets, audio-visual equipment, microwave oven; and they are, of course, indispensable and ubiquitous in the office environment.
Most of the applications up to now are single purpose and passive. But the scene is changing very rapidly. Looking ahead, we will see intelligent, interactive and multi-purpose equipment and devices as the norm. So, in addition to receiving TV broadcasts, your TV sets in the future will allow you to browse the Internet and to communicate with your friends and relatives through electronic mail; your refrigerators will tell you the state of freshness of the foodstuff you store in them and advise you to stock up when your favourite food items are about to run out; or your home security system will tell your cooker to warm up your meal at the appropriate time to await your return home after a long day's work.
In short, the only constraint on the application of Information Technology is one's imagination.
Connectivity
The third and defining feature of the Information World of tomorrow is connectivity. By that, I mean the connectivity to the virtually infinite pool of users via the Internet. To illustrate the importance of this development, I would like to quote some statistics. It took radio 38 years to reach an audience of 50 million globally; and TV 13 years. But it took the Internet only four years to cross that threshold. Traffic on the Internet has been doubling every 100 days. In Hong Kong, we have seen an equally impressive growth in the use of the Internet. For example, our Internet population has been growing at some 35% every six months in the past 18 months, and traffic on the Internet doubled in the 12-month period from September 1997 to August 1998.
Connectivity via the Internet will change in a fundamental way how we do business and run our lives. This is because -
* it will remove the constraint of physical distance as electronic communication is almost instantaneous;
* it will reduce communication barriers by providing a common interface for the exchange of information; and
* it will reduce the constraint of time zones as IT systems can work 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
Impact on us
What will all these mean to us? I would suggest that the obvious answer is that we must do all we can to master IT if we are not to be left behind. But is this a tall order for the fairer sex?
There used to be a stereotyping of girls as being less technologically oriented than boys. This has created a social barrier to girls who are in fact interested in science and technology. Worse still, the stereotyping has probably slowed down the uptake of technology applications by them. But advances in IT should change all that. This is because IT applications are now so user friendly that technology becomes transparent. And the user would not have to know anything about the underlying technology in order to use the applications. In a way, IT has become more like electricity. You do not have to be an electrician in order to use electrical appliances. Thus, what is more important insofar as technology is concerned is the creativity in its application.
This should be very good news for our educators. And, I am glad to say, many are quick to grasp the implications. Sister Margaret is a shining example of these far-sighted educators. Under her guidance, St Paul's Convent has been in the forefront in the use of IT in education. Of particular note are -
* first, the school is one of the pioneering schools in Hong Kong which will build a comprehensive IT infrastructure within the school to provide individual access to the Internet in each classroom;
* second, all subject departments in the school will be provided with notebook computers to enable them to better use IT in teaching and learning; and
* third, virtual classrooms have been set up for exchanges of teaching and learning experience with secondary schools in Australia and the United States.
I am sure that, through the effective use of IT, you will all have a richer school life, and be better prepared as you embark on your future studies and work. And I wish you all success in these future endeavours.
Thank you.
End/Friday, November 27, 1998
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