Speech by Mr. Jeremy Godfrey, Government Chief Information Officer, at the "Welcome Luncheon for GCIO Mr. Jeremy Godfrey" hosted by the Hong Kong Computer Society
22 April 2008

Mr. (Sunny) LEE, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good Afternoon.

First, I must thank Sunny and the other organisers for coming together to give me the opportunity to meet so many of our leading ICT professionals.

When I took on the role of Government Chief Information Officer, one of my friends asked me if I knew what CIO really stood for. Although I've been in the ICT industry for almost 20 years, it was the first time I'd heard the old industry joke that CIO really stands for "Career Is Over". However as a long-standing member of the industry locally, my view is that a better definition would be "Challenge, Interest and Opportunity".

Today, I would like to say a little about the opportunity and invite your views on how to overcome the challenges. I'll cover three of the areas which were highlighted in the Digital 21 strategy that was published at the end of last year: electronic government, industry development and building an inclusive information society.

First, E-government. This is highlighted in the Digital 21 Strategy action area of "Enabling the next generation of public services".

Following his re-election last summer, the Chief Executive's policy address set out the goals for his term of office. One of the key goals was "People-based governance". Specifically he said:

"Civil servants deliver public services in the front line. I am grateful to them for maintaining quality services at a time when they are required to achieve enhanced productivity. I take pride in them. They are Hong Kong's pride too. I will adhere to the "people-based" principle in public services planning. I will identify what our people need, so as to provide them with more efficient and convenient services."

We will know if our E-government activities have succeeded if the people of Hong Kong concur that the Government has identified what they need and has provided them with more efficient and convenient services. If we have done that, then people will regard dealing with the Government as a pleasure, an experience on a par with the most customer-friendly private sector organisations.

The launch of GovHK has made a major improvement in the accessibility of Government information and services. The launch of free WiFi in Government premises will soon be seen as a matter of common courtesy to users of our buildings.

But in the Internet world, nothing stands still. We would welcome views on where our E-government improvement priorities should lie and on how to engage most productively with private sector partners to enhance the E-government experience for Hong Kong people.

Turning now to industry development. This is highlighted in the Digital 21 Strategy action area of "Developing Hong Kong as a hub for technological cooperation and trade." Let me set out why I see this as a big opportunity.

First, the global market for IT products and services is growing fast. And there is increasing trade in services across national borders. The rise of the Indian software and outsourcing industry is a clear example of the importance of these trends.

Second, there is a growing Mainland market for IT services, as Mainland enterprises increasingly adopt world-class management techniques and increasingly compete internationally as well as domestically.

Third, Hong Kong is well placed to take advantage of these opportunities. We have world-class skills in creativity and innovation, in doing business internationally, in client service, and in project management. And in the Mainland, we have access to some of the world's most cost-effective and technically talented IT resources.

We can find evidence for Hong Kong's creativity and innovation from a number of success stories over an extended period of time:

We have made many innovations in telecommunications technology. The father of the fibre optic cable - Charles Kao - is one of Hong Kong's most distinguished innovators and an inspiration to us all. More recently, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology developed algorithms that have been conditionally included in the 802.22 standard for Wireless Regional Area Networks and Altai, a spin-off from the ASTRI research centre, has been enjoying global commercial success with its award winning A8 wide-area WiFi access point.

On the IT application side, we have world-beating innovations such as Octopus and the Immigration Department's e-channel deliver. These deliver everyday convenience to residents, they attract gasps of envy from visitors, they win awards from international bodies and they are studied by a steady stream of overseas officials and business people who would dearly love to replicate their success.

And on the creative side, our thriving entertainment industry enjoys global success providing special effects for local and international productions.

(As an aside, I am sure it will be important to market Hong Kong's success in ICT to the world. So suggestions of other success stories we can use to enhance Brand Hong Kong would be very welcome.)

And we have evidence from our success in sectors such as manufacturing and financial services that we are adept at mobilising Mainland resources to serve a global marketplace and in acting as a hub mediating between global and Mainland businesses.

My hypothesis is that there is a very large prize to be won, and that the Government's role should be to identify the barriers to success and help to remove them, rather than to attempt to direct the energies and enthusiasm of the private sector into particular market niches. I would be particularly interested to hear views from the industry about this hypothesis. What do you think the scale and the nature of the prize that could be won if we were able to fully realise the potential of these opportunities? What view do you take of the role that Government could play in facilitating the industry's success?

Finally, I should like to say a few words about another of the Digital 21 action areas - "Building an inclusive knowledge-based society"

ICT is already a big part of the personal and work lives of many in Hong Kong. Even people who would not consider themselves sophisticated users of technology benefit from using mobile phones, Octopus cards and their smart ID cards at immigration control points.

But ICT is a fast-moving industry and it is important that every individual and every business has the opportunity to benefit from ICT adoption. They should not be excluded for lack of knowledge, lack of funds, disability, age and so forth.

On the other hand, if people or businesses have the opportunity to use more advanced ICT but choose not to, their choice should be respected. They may require only very basic ICT to support their lifestyle choices or their business needs.

One initiative in this area is that we will be working with the industry and with community organisations to open district cyber-centres to provide access to advanced ICT for socially disadvantaged groups. We also aim to develop a more comprehensive strategy on digital inclusion, with the help of input from the industry and academia, and from representatives of other stakeholder groups. Ideas about the objectives for this strategy and the initiatives we could take would be very welcome.

In conclusion, I would like to say that I am honoured and excited to have the opportunity to contribute to the community in the role of Government Chief Information Officer. I hope that there will be a continuous and constructive discussion between the Government and the industry about the objectives and priorities within the Digital 21 strategy. I look forward to your input and hope that the excellent lunch we are about to receive will give us all the energy to spark some useful debate while we eat.

Thank you.

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