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Following is a question by the Hon Charles Peter Mok and a written reply by the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, in the Legislative Council today (March 2):
Question:
Some members of the information technology industry have pointed out that with the growing popularity of smart mobile devices, members of the public expect the Government to enhance the quality, level of innovation and accessibility of electronic public services. Regarding the implementation of electronic public services, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the following in the past three years, (i) the number of accounts registered with "MyGovHK" web site at the end of each year, (ii) the number of times for which electronic general demand notes were issued by various government departments each year, and (iii) the utilisation of the electronic public services provided by various government departments each year (in descending order);
(2) of the respective numbers of payments made through different means (including (i) autopay, (ii) automatic teller machine, (iii) electronic bill presentment and payment service, (iv) e-cheque, (v) internet payment, (vi) phone banking, (vii) PPS, (viii) by post, (ix) convenience store, and (x) in person) for bills issued by various government departments in each of the past three years, and their respective percentages in the total number of payments made (set out in Annex 1 in Appendix 1);
(3) of the channels currently accepted for submitting applications for various allowances or subsidy schemes under the purview of the Labour and Welfare Bureau, the Education Bureau and the Community Care Fund (set out in Annex 2 in Appendix 1);
(4) of the public services that currently do not accept online applications, and set out such information by the bureaux and government departments providing such services;
(5) whether it has encouraged the Hospital Authority to establish a channel for online booking for public healthcare services, and publish the booking situation and waiting time of various services on a real time basis; if it has, of the details;
(6) whether it will make public the utilisation of electronic public services and government web sites so as to enhance transparency and accountability; if it will, of the timetable and details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(7) whether it has formulated any strategy to make use of big data to analyse the demand for new services and respond to public views, with a view to introducing new electronic services and enhancing existing electronic services; if it has, of the timetable and details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Through the launch of e-government services, the Government endeavours to deliver public services in an efficient and convenient manner with a view to bringing convenience to the people and enhancing their quality of living. The Government will continue to enhance online services by further digitising the process of online submission of government forms in order to meet rising public expectations and demand for e-government services, as well as improve internal efficiency.
Having consulted the relevant policy bureaux and departments (B/Ds), our reply to the seven-part question is as follows:
(1) In the past three years (i.e. as at end of each year from 2013 to 2015), the numbers of accounts registered with "MyGovHK" were 189 000, 233 000 and 335 000 respectively.
The General Demand Note System is a common billing system to facilitate government departments which do not have individual billing systems to issue demand notes (including electronic General Demand Notes). From 2013 to 2015, an average annual total of about 750 electronic General Demand Notes were issued by government departments through the system.
A list of the annual utilisation rate of the electronic public services, such as informational searches and electronic transactions, etc., is set out in Annex 1 in Appendix 2.
(2) The number of payments for major bills made through different means and their respective percentages in the total number of payments made by various departments in the past three years are set out in Annex 2 in Appendix 2.
(3) The channels currently accepted for submitting applications for various allowances or subsidy schemes under the purview of the Labour and Welfare Bureau, the Education Bureau and the Community Care Fund are set out in Annex 3 in Appendix 2.
(4) Among the 900-odd public services currently provided by government departments, more than 730 services already accept online applications. The public services that do not accept online applications at the present stage due to factors such as resources and internal operational process are set out in Annex 4 in Appendix 2.
(5) The Hospital Authority (HA) has, since January 30, 2015, uploaded latest waiting time information of eight major specialties of the specialist outpatient clinics (namely Ear, Nose and Throat, Gynaecology, Medicine, Eye, Orthopaedics & Traumatology, Paediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery) to its website to enhance transparency. The information facilitates patients to make informed decisions in their treatment plans. Moreover, the HA will launch a mobile application to facilitate patients' choice on cross-cluster new case booking in the specialty of Gynaecology in March 2016. Upon review, this application will be further rolled out to other specialties as appropriate in 2016/17. The HA will from time to time review the feasibility of using electronic means to provide information and services.
(6) The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) reports the latest progress on B/Ds' implementation of e-government services to the Legislative Council Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting annually. This includes the usage of e-government services, the utilisation of web sites and mobile e-government services, such as the numbers of government mobile applications and "MyGovHK" accounts, etc.
(7) The OGCIO will explore the use of big data analytics within the Government, and formulate data standards for the sharing and linking of data sources in order to launch more and better electronic public services.
Ends/Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Issued at HKT 19:10
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