Briefing by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development and the Secretary for Innovation and Technology on the Chief Executive’s 2017 Policy Address
Promoting the Government’s use of innovation and technology to improve public services
Mr CHAN Chun-ying supported the Administration’s initiative of setting aside $500 million to assist Bureaux and Departments (“B/Ds”) in using technology to enhance the quality of public service. However, he noted that the usage rates of many of the mobile apps developed by B/Ds were low. Mr CHAN enquired about how the Administration selected projects proposed by B/Ds for funding support, and whether projects which exceeded the ceiling of $10 million would be considered.
Permanent Secretary for Innovation and Technology (“PS(IT)”) said that the objectives of this initiative were to enable B/Ds to enhance existing service quality, improve B/Ds’ operations, facilitate the public to assess public services and information, and allow better monitoring of the utilization of Government facilities. The projects that would be supported were not restricted to mobile apps. They could be any project that made use of technology to achieve the above objectives. The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (“OGCIO”) would be represented on the internal committee to be set up for vetting the technology proposals submitted by B/Ds. PS(IT) added that OGCIO had tightened the vetting and approval process for the funding application of projects concerning mobile apps.