***************************************************

The Government announced today (January 21) the appointment of Mr Howard C Dickson as the Government Chief Information Officer (GCIO). Mr Dickson will take up the appointment on February 1, 2005.

The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Joseph W P Wong said Mr Dickson possessed sound professional skills, solid working experience in both the public and private sectors, and proven administrative abilities.

"I am confident that Mr Dickson will provide the recently established Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) with the necessary leadership in promoting the development and application of information technology (IT) within and outside the Government."

Welcoming Mr Dickson's appointment, the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr John Tsang, said that the breadth and depth of Mr Dickson's experience and expertise, both in the public and private sectors, made him an ideal candidate for the GCIO job. "I am sure Mr Dickson will bring fresh perspectives to the work of the OGCIO, and inject new impetus into the IT and e-government development in Hong Kong," Mr Tsang said.

Both Mr Wong and Mr Tsang thanked Mr Alan Wong for his dedicated service as the Director of the then Information Technology Services Department before its merger with the IT-related divisions of the Communications and Technology Branch of the Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau, and for leading the OGCIO since its establishment on July 1, 2004.

Brief biographical notes on Mr Dickson are as follows:

Mr Howard C Dickson

-------------------

Mr Howard Dickson has had an extensive career in Information Technology and Business Transformation, having served some of Canada's leading organisations in Transportation, Financial Services, as well as the Public Sector.

Mr Dickson was born in the United Kingdom and graduated from Imperial College, University of London in 1966, in Electrical Engineering. Emigrating to Canada in 1967, Mr Dickson served as a design engineer in the power generation industry in Edmonton, Alberta.

Following a master's degree in Computer Science in the United Kingdom in 1970, Mr Dickson took up a management appointment with the Canadian National Railways which was undertaking a substantial business transformation of its operations.

Further engagements in systems executive roles included the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Guaranty Trust and Ernst & Young Management Consultants. His most recent private sector engagement was with National Trust (1992-1997) where his initial role as vice-president responsible for a range of change initiatives led to his appointment as senior vice-president of Operations and Technology in 1994.

In 1997, Mr Dickson was selected to be the first Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the Department of National Defence of the Government of Canada, and served as Assistant Deputy Minister, Information Management from 1999-2004. As the first executive to be invited from outside both the public service and the military, Mr Dickson had the challenge of establishing the role of CIO within the Department of National Defence, reporting to the Deputy Minister and also the Chief of Defence Staff.

Further to the completion of his second three-year term with the Department of National Defence and prior to his acceptance of the appointment from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government as GCIO, Mr Dickson has been an independent consultant advising clients from both the Federal Government of Canada and the Provincial Government of Ontario.

Ends/Friday, January 21, 2005

NNNN