******************************************
The Government's new one-stop portal – GovHK (www.gov.hk) – was launched today (September 6) to provide a comprehensive range of online government information and services to the community.
Introducing the new portal at a press briefing today, the Government Chief Information Officer, Mr Howard Dickson, said that GovHK had adopted a citizen-centric approach to provide the most popular online government information and services, focusing on the needs and interests of the public.
"The traditional approach of merely putting government services online is no longer adequate in meeting the needs of the community.
"With more than 1,200 government e-services and over 200 government websites available on the Internet, members of the public may find it difficult to access the online information and services they need if they are unfamiliar with the structure and division of labour of the Government.
"GovHK represents an important step forward in changing the way government information and services are delivered over the Internet. It organises information and services by user groups and subject areas. Its service clusters bring together related content provided by different bureaus and departments for convenient public access via a simple, user-friendly interface," Mr Dickson said.
GovHK initially serves three broad user groups, "Residents", "Business & Trade" and "Non-Residents". For the "Residents" user group, there are 11 subject-based clusters covering key areas of public interest among local residents. They are:
(1) Communications & Technology
(2) Culture, Leisure & Sports
(3) Education & Training
(4) Employment
(5) Environment
(6) Government, Law & Order
(7) Health & Medical Services
(8) Housing & Social Services
(9) Immigration Services
(10) Taxes & Duties
(11) Transport & Motoring
Content related to doing business in Hong Kong and the Mainland is available in the "Business & Trade" section of the portal, while non-residents interested in visiting, investing, studying, working and living in Hong Kong can find the information and services they need in the "Non-Residents" section.
In addition, GovHK offers an enhanced search service to help users search for government information and services. The portal also provides access to a variety of information frequently sought by the public, such as a government directory, news, weather and traffic conditions.
Mr Dickson noted that the development of GovHK was an interactive and progressive process, during which the Government would continuously enrich the content, taking into account feedback from the IT industry and the public.
"Please visit GovHK for a trial and let us know what you think about the portal. We treasure your feedback and suggestions, which will help us to continuously enhance the design and content of GovHK.
"When we are confident that GovHK is running smoothly and meeting the usability and accessibility requirements of most users, we will then proceed to decommission the existing Government Information Centre (www.info.gov.hk), tentatively in the first quarter of 2007," Mr Dickson said.
The GovHK Help Desk operates daily from 9am to 8pm to provide members of the public with assistance in using the new portal. Users are welcome to call its hotline at 183-5500 or send their enquiries by email to enquiry@1835500.gov.hk.
Ends/Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:25
NNNN
Windows Media format
Real Media format