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LCQ15: Delivery of e-government services
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    Following is a question by the Hon Sin Chung-kai and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Frederick Ma, in the Legislative Council today (October 24):

Question:

     Regarding the implementation of the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) as the development of wireless technologies is increasingly mature and the Government will provide free Wi-Fi services at government premises in the coming two years, whether it has plans to introduce new technologies or measures, such as location-based applications, in order to deliver e-government services through wireless and mobile channels; if it has, of the relevant details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that;

(b) as the direction of Internet applications is moving towards Web 2.0, whether it has considered applying the Web 2.0 concept in government web-sites or in the process of delivering electronic public services, so as to enhance public interaction and participation; if it has, of the relevant details; if not, the reasons for that, and

(c) to facilitate the public's handling of various electronic public services provided by government departments and public organisations, whether it has considered establishing a dedicated electronic account system for people to configure, retain, manage and update the records and personal particulars in their own accounts; if so, of the relevant details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

     Regarding the question raised by the Hon Sin Chung-kai, my reply is as follows:

(a) The Government has been deploying mature wireless/mobile technologies in various IT initiatives for better electronic delivery of public services.  As of today, over 60 bureaux and departments have deployed wireless/mobile technologies in about 200 IT systems.  We will continue the deployment of such technologies in IT systems where applicable and suitable.  A list of wireless/mobile systems that are being planned or implemented is provided at Appendix A for reference.

     While we are working on the Programme of providing free Wi-Fi services for citizens, we are planning in collaboration with the ICT industry a proposal for encouraging the development of Wi-Fi applications for leveraging on the free services so provided.  It is expected that, through this collaboration initiative, more Wi-Fi applications would be made available for consideration by the Government and community in general for adoption, and better electronic delivery of public service would be facilitated.

(b) Web 2.0 brings about a substantial change in the mode of user interaction and service provision, with greater emphasis on collaboration, sharing, user-generated content and social networking effects.  Our one-stop e-government portal, GovHK, has incorporated Web 2.0 features like RSS feeds for citizens to subscribe the latest information available from the HKSAR Government and related organisations.  Other well-known examples include the blog sites of our Chief Executive and Financial Secretary as well as the online discussion board on the West Kowloon Cultural District set up by the Home Affairs Bureau.

     The adoption of Web 2.0 tools and associated modes of interaction is necessarily an evolutionary process.  Due consideration has to be given to the needs of citizens and the appropriate channels of communication.  The Government will continue to leverage Web 2.0 technologies in order to enhance our interactions with and receive feedbacks from the public.  We encourage individual bureaux and departments to follow the Web 2.0 development and make use of the applicable technologies to engage the public and improve public services delivery in their specific policy areas.

(c) The government attaches great importance to the user friendliness of the e-government services.  To make it more convenient and facilitate the public in using e-government services, the government has launched the GovHK one-stop portal for the delivery of citizen centric e-government services.

     Individual bureaux and departments handle different sets of citizens' information according to their business, legal, security and operational needs.  The management of personal data in the bureaux and departments is also governed by the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.  As such, currently we have no plan to provide dedicated electronic accounts to the public for using the various e-government services.

Ends/Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:27

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