**********************************************************
The Government Chief Information Officer, Mr Daniel Lai, today (November 8) met with the Chief Information Officer (CIO) Board members of the Hong Kong Computer Society, and exchanged views with them on the Government's information technology initiatives and development of the information and communications technology (ICT) industry.
Eighteen CIO Board members participated in the exchange. They are all chief information officers (CIOs) of large organisations and corporations. Mr Lai and representatives from the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer briefed them on the office's focuses as well as the implementation of various major IT policies and initiatives, which included the government cloud initiatives, public sector information (PSI), development of mobile applications and promotion of web accessibility designs.
"The Government is working closely with the industry to promote the development of cloud computing. We are implementing a series of initiatives internally to facilitate cloud adoption by departments," Mr Lai said.
The CIOs learnt that the Government was setting up a Government cloud platform (GovCloud) and a cloud-enabled e-Government Infrastructure Service (EGIS). It was also developing public cloud applications and had established a mechanism to facilitate the procurement of public cloud services by bureaux and departments. The Government and the industry jointly formed the Hong Kong Cloud Computing Expert Group and the Hong Kong/Guangdong Expert Committee on Cloud Computing Services and Standards to drive cloud adoption and development in Hong Kong, and to promote exchanges between experts in Hong Kong and the Mainland.
On opening up PSI, it was noted that the Government's Data.One portal had received enthusiastic responses from the community. In particular, the popular traffic snapshot images recorded 700,000 daily downloads. At least 13 innovative mobile applications developed using PSI available on the portal had been launched in the market.
With the rising popularity of smartphones and tablets, the Government had developed 48 mobile applications and 35 mobile websites to cater for public needs. The recently launched "GovHK Notifications" mobile application, which sends alerts to users, was very well received. It had more than 370,000 downloads and had been one of the top 10 downloaded apps on both iOS and Android platforms.
On digital inclusion, the Government is actively promoting the adoption of web accessibility design in public and private websites to facilitate access to online information and services by different sectors of the community, including persons with disabilities. The Web Accessibility Recognition Scheme was launched last month to show appreciation to organisations and corporations for making their websites accessible and to provide free assessment and advisory services. Mr Lai called on the CIOs and the organisations they were serving to participate in the scheme and work together to develop Hong Kong as a digital city with no web barriers.
Mr Lai said that the Digital 21 Strategy Advisory Committee had recently formed a task force to explore the feasibility of setting up a certification system for ICT professionals in Hong Kong, with reference to the practices and relevant institutional frameworks in other economies.
The CIOs also shared their valuable experience. They agreed that such exchanges were conducive to enhancing their understanding of government policies and fostering government-industry collaboration in developing a knowledge-based society in Hong Kong.
Ends/Thursday, November 8, 2012
Issued at HKT 19:56
NNNN
