Key strategies and initiatives for advancing E-Government services in Hong Kong
The Hong Kong government has been proactively implementing policy measures to facilitate the integration, application and sharing of data to drive smart city development through a data-driven approach.
In response to questions from Dr. Johnny Ng, Acting Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Lillian Cheong stated that it has been encouraging departments to apply design thinking in designing electronic services to enhance user experience and regularly collecting user feedback on electronic services for continuous service improvement.
Since 2019, relevant B/Ds have collected public feedback on more than 400 commonly used e-government services through the GovHK Portal and have continued to review and improve their e-government services.
The government has made good progress in the implementation of e-government services. Currently, electronic submission options are available for over 1,200 license applications and government services, while nearly 600 payment items and 880 applicable licenses and services have electronic payment of fees and documents pick-up options.
Meanwhile, over 3,250 government forms can be submitted electronically. The government is committed to driving the adoption of technologies by B/Ds to enhance operational efficiency and continuously improve public services. The target is to turn all government services online by 2024.
The government is actively driving the comprehensive upgrade of “iAM Smart” with the objective to provide one-stop digital services by “iAM Smart” in 2025 and realise the goal of “single portal for online government services.”
The government will adopt a more systematic organisation and categorisation approach to integrate the existing online services, simplify the access procedures and the overall operation workflow.
The government will also develop more services that are convenient and beneficial to the public through strengthening the sharing of data among different government services. Citizens can go through one-stop processing or application for various government services with “iAM Smart” anytime, anywhere.
The government is closely monitoring the latest developments in various technology domains, including metaverse, and the latest situation and application of e-government services in different places. It will formulate strategies and implement measures to enhance various e-government services with continuous adoption and introduction of new technologies so as to provide more convenient digital services to the public.
Regarding the “Global Data Barometer” report, which showed that Hong Kong’s overall score in “data governance” was just 37.5, the government is exploring devising open data policies and mechanisms that are more ambitious, with a view to facilitating the data sharing and application among various policy bureaux and government departments and playing well its coordinating and steering roles in the course of developing e-government services.
Finally, the government is considering further strengthening the relevant policy initiatives and expediting the development of digital infrastructure in Hong Kong, with a view to dovetailing with the relevant work of the country following the State Council Institutional Reform Plan proposal to establish a national data bureau.
