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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr Joseph W P Wong, in the Legislative Council today (June 27):
Question:
Recently, many members of the public have complained to me that a number of government departments have not uploaded the forms provided by them onto their web sites for downloading by the public, causing inconvenience to the public. In this connection, will the Government:
(a) set out the names and reference numbers of the forms not yet available on the relevant web sites, the reasons for not uploading such forms, and the anticipated dates when such forms will be made available on the relevant web sites (if they will be uploaded), broken down by government departments; and
(b) inform this Council whether it will adopt measures to encourage various government departments to expedite uploading all of their forms onto their web sites for downloading by the public; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) There are about 2,600 Government forms, most of which are either downloadable or can be accessed via online services through the Internet. Only 79 of them are currently not yet available through the Internet.
The Government will continue to encourage the relevant departments to make available the remaining forms through the Internet where feasible. Among these 79 forms, 28 of them (listed in Annex A) will be made available in the Internet in the coming few months.
The remaining 51 forms (listed in Annex B) are mainly forms that are issued by departments to specific applicants/companies for operational reasons, mostly with pre-filled personal/company data; saleable forms that are not normally used by the general public (e.g. saleable forms of Trade and Industry Department for use by traders); and forms for which the feasibility of providing downloadable options are under review/will be reviewed by the departments concerned.
(b) To facilitate convenient access by the public, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer will liaise with relevant bureaux and departments to understand any difficulties they perceive in putting their forms online, and provide necessary advice to them in examining the feasibility of making available such forms through the Internet in ways which are consistent with their business and operational requirements.
Ends/Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:27
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