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OGCIO to set up on July 1

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A new Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) will be set up on July 1, 2004 through merging the Information Technology Services Department (ITSD) and the information technology-related divisions of the Communications and Technology Branch (CTB) of the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau (CITB).

The OGCIO will be an integrated entity in CITB responsible for formulating policies and strategies and implementing measures to drive information technology (IT) development in Hong Kong.

A one-rank post of Government Chief Information Officer (GCIO) will be created to head the OGCIO, which will be offset by the deletion of the existing Director of Information Technology Services (DITS) post.

The GCIO will assume the overall responsibility for the formulation and implementation of IT-related policies, as well as overseeing the day-to-day management of the 640-strong OGCIO.

A spokesman for CITB said today (June 27) that the merger will provide a streamlined government structure for delivering the IT function within the Government and in the community, and enable the Government to take a proactive, leading role in championing IT development.

"The OGCIO will benefit from the availability within the consolidated organisation of the necessary core competencies encompassing both public policy and professional input. It will also eliminate overlapping functions and duplication and facilitate better and more flexible deployment of resources.

"Moreover, the new entity will be able to provide a more visible and proactive leadership role for the Government and enhanced accountabilities for the Government's investment, strategies and performance in IT," the spokesman said.

Furthermore, to provide sponsorship for the E-government programme at the most senior level, a high-level E-government Steering Committee chaired by the Financial Secretary will be set up to set the strategic direction of the E-government programme.

"With the Committee's empowerment, the GCIO will be able to drive changes in bureaux and departments' business processes through IT and take a cross-agency leadership role in driving the E-government programme," the spokesman said.

In order to identify the most suitable person to fill the GCIO post, the Government will conduct an open recruitment exercise shortly, where both local and overseas candidates will be considered based on their merits. It is the Government's intention to fill this important position as soon as possible. In the interim, Mr Alan Wong, the incumbent DITS, will assume the GCIO post on 1 July.

The merger will give rise to savings of $7,405,000 in full annual average staff cost, including salaries and staff on-cost. There will also be a net deletion of three directorate posts in ITSD and CTB as a result of the merger, the spokesman added.

End/Sunday, June 27, 2004

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