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Following is a question by Hon Tony Tse and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, at the Legislative Council meeting today (April 24):
Question:
To promote the development and application of spatial data in Hong Kong, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) completed a study in 2007 on the need and feasibility of developing Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs). Subsequently, OGCIO collaborated with the Lands Department and established a geo-spatial information hub to provide geo-spatial information services to the public through GovHK. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the items which have been implemented and those which will be implemented among the recommendations made in the aforesaid study report, and the respective details, expenditure, implementation schedules and progress of such items;
(b) of the SDIs which have been developed and those which will be developed, broken down by the responsible policy bureau and government department, together with the respective details, annual expenditure and implementation schedules of such SDIs; whether the authorities will integrate the operation and management of the SDIs developed separately by various policy bureaux and government departments; if they will, of the details and implementation schedule; if not, the reasons for that;
(c) of the spatial data which are available for public use free of charge and for a fee; whether the authorities will consider digitising all spatial data and make them available for public use free of charge; if they will, of the details and implementation schedule; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d) whether it has formulated specific policies on establishing SDIs; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether OGCIO has provided government departments with guidelines for the development and application of spatial data; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The reply to various parts of the question is as follows:
(a) The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) conducted a study from 2007 to 2008 to examine the need and feasibility of developing Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs). In the light of its recommendations, OGCIO released the GeoInfo Map on the GovHK portal in 2010, consolidating spatial data from more than 10 government departments for free public consumption. OGCIO, Lands Department and relevant government departments have been constantly updating and upgrading this service to provide more spatial data to the public. Since 2011, we have also released geo-referenced data of commonly-used public facilities and other data through the Government's public sector information (PSI) portal (Data.One portal) (data.one.gov.hk). These data are available in digital format for free downloading and re-use by the public. The costs of these projects are around $10 million.
(b) There are a total of five SDIs, which are either completed or under development, including the GeoInfo Map mentioned above. Details are at Annex.
SDIs of individual departments are developed to meet their operational needs and therefore have different typologies and architectures. We have no plan at this stage to integrate them.
(c) and (d) Since March 2011, OGCIO has been providing geo-referenced data of 79 types of public facilities (e.g. government offices, leisure, cultural and sports facilities, hospitals, etc.) through the Data.One portal for free use by the public. Separately, Lands Department and various departments are providing an array of chargeable digital geographical data (e.g. topographic map, land boundary map, etc.) for such uses as town planning, development projects, etc.
OGCIO will continue to work with bureaux and departments to open up Government-owned PSI, including spatial data, progressively through the Data.One portal for public use. Meanwhile, OGCIO will, in the context of the current review of the Digital 21 Strategy, explore how to further facilitate government departments to open up PSI.
Ends/Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:40
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