Roundup: HK Strives to Be a World Leading Digital City

The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) is taking vigorous initiatives to develop the information technology industry to make Hong Kong an international city with an economy dominated by a combination of advanced technology and sophisticated services.

Donald Tsang, financial secretary of the Hong Kong SAR, predicted during his U.S. tour this month that Hong Kong could become the "cyber city for the cyber century."

As one small example of how quickly the Internet boom has taken off, Tsang said, in the past 12 months there has been an almost 800 percent increase - from 199 to 1,540 - in the number of companies incorporated in Hong Kong with the character string ". com".

The significant concentration of Internet service providers, now numbering nearly 200, has made Hong Kong one of the best ISP- served communities in the region, he added.

E-commerce transactions in Hong Kong are forecast to jump to some US$2.4 billion-worth in 2003 from 1998's US$60 million-worth, according to industry estimates.

IT professionals have fingered Hong Kong's excellent telecommunications infrastructure as a contributing factor in kick- starting the new economy. Hong Kong's broadband network covers practically all business buildings, and the residential coverage is expected to reach 85 percent this year.

Lau Kam-hung, director of Hong Kong's information technology services, said the government is fully committed to encouraging the development of e-commerce to maintain Hong Kong's competitive edge and to power its overall economic growth.

As a practical expression of its commitment, the Hong Kong SAR government promulgated the Digital 21 IT Strategy in November 1998, which sets out the vision and targets to enhance and promote Hong Kong's information infrastructure and services so as to make Hong Kong a leading digital city in the globally connected world of the 21st century.

In taking the lead to carry out the strategy, the Hong Kong SAR government has introduced the Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) Scheme to improve the delivery of public services and help familiarize the citizens with the e-commerce mode of delivery.

Under this scheme, public services will be provided over the Internet and through other electronic means via an open and common information infrastructure 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

The first phase of the scheme, to be launched in October this year, will enable the public to have access to a wide range of services provided by government departments. These services include the submission of tax returns, voter registration, application for renewal of driving and vehicle licenses, payment of government bills, booking appointment for ID card registration, information for tourists, etc.

Besides ESD, the Hong Kong SAR government is also working on other projects like the Interactive Government Services Directory and the Electronic Tendering System, that aim to familiarize the citizens with the electronic world and to promote the wider adoption of e-commerce in the community.

To address the current problem of using Chinese in electronic communications and transactions, which hampers the adoption of e-commerce by the local community, the Hong Kong SAR government published the Hong Kong Supplementary Character Set in September 1999.

The government is also taking an active role in discussions with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on the development of the ISO 10646 standard, which is intended to encompass all written scripts, including the Chinese characters commonly used in Hong Kong.

In the long run, the government is going to adopt the ISO 10646 standard as the open and common Chinese language interface in Hong Kong.

To ensure that electronic transactions can be performed effectively and efficiently over the Internet, the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong SAR enacted the Electronic Transactions Ordinance in January this year.

The ordinance provides a clear and supportive legal framework for the conduct of e-commerce in Hong Kong. Electronic records and digital signatures are given the same legal status as that of their paper-based counterparts.

Apart from facilitating and promoting the development of the local IT industry, the Hong Kong SAR government has also financed technology development projects and research undertaken by the industry and academia through various funding schemes, such as the Innovation and Technology Fund.

By implementing these various initiatives, the Hong Kong SAR government aims to create a user-friendly environment for the development of e-commerce to spur the SAR's economic growth, Lau Kam-hung said.



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