In order to enable the better development of innovative technological applications and services, as well as generate new business opportunities for the private sector, it is the common wish of the industry that the Government opening up the IP ownership of those IT systems originally developed by the contractors for commercial exploitation.

In response to my Policy Address Proposal 2005-06 which was submitted to the Chief Executive in Sep 2005, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Fred Ma, responsible for the Government procurement policy, stated that he has no objection to our suggestions if the fundamental procurement principles can be complied at the same time.

Stated in a press release issued by OGCIO in late Nov, the OGCIO will shortly announce that a pilot programme for opening up IP rights for a period of three years will be launched. I welcomed this move and will keep my effort on urging the Government to further relax the inherited barriers, such as the compliance on unlimited liability, so that more SMEs can be eligible for bidding government tenders.

Dec 2005

Possible outbreak of avian flu is the most concerning issue attracting people's attention. The Government released an information paper, Emergency Preparedness for Influenza Pandemic in Hong Kong on 5 Nov, and announced that the Alert Level Response has been activated.

Aware of personal and environmental hygiene and building good body resistance are the best way to prevent such high risk epidemic diseases. Other than preparing ourselves from the public health perspective, I believe that we should also think about the ways to minimize social and economic loss if outbreak of bird flu appends in Hong Kong. In my speech on policy address debate, I urged the government to facilitate the public and private sector to formulate guidelines and emergency plans for maintaining their services and business continuity via using IT, such as e-business, home office and e-learning.

Nov 2005

In Sep 2005, as I did every year, I submitted my policy address proposals on IT policies and development to the Chief Executive. Other than the Policy address proposal which I submitted together with The Democratic Party [IT related only / Full text] , I also prepared a detailed Policy Address proposal on IT Policies.

Sep 2005

Hong Kong has firmly established itself as a participant in the digital revolution. Broadband Internet penetration is extensive, making Hong Kong a truly wired society. However, the Internet has also brought new challenges, such as spamming, phishing and Internet piracy.

In order to educate users of the Internet on how to better protect them from such illegal activity, I and several IT bodies co-organized a seminar with the Business Software Alliance in late Sep 2005. With the teenagers, parents and the general public as the target participants, we had more than 90 peoples joined the event.

Sep 2005

In early June, I, together with representatives from Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association (HKWTIA) and various operators on ITS, met with the Transport Department and exchange views on the development of Wireless Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in Hong Kong.

As agreed at the meeting, the Transport Department held a briefing session on early July 2005 so that the IT industry could have an up-to-date understanding on ITS. At the session, representative from the Transport Department presented the latest update on the ITS Strategy. More than 40 IT professionals from various telecom operators, software developers and solution providers attended the event.

Mentioned by the Transport Department, companies or individuals are welcomed to submit their ideas on ITS from time to time. Interested parties can make appointments with the Department and arrange their own presentation session.

Jul 2005

Results of Hong Kong Information Security (IS) Annual Survey, the first survey of its kind in Hong Kong to collect IT professionals' views on the local development of Information Security, were announced at a press briefing session held on 4 July 2005.

The survey was jointly conducted by my office and five local information security related professional bodies. At the press briefing session, speakers urged the government to develop a pro-active information security strategy for upholding Hong Kong's information infrastructure. For the details, results of the survey and press release, please refer to the thematic page

Jul 2005

According to the government's plan on setting up R&D centers under the Innovation and Technology Framework, the ASTRI will operate the ICT R&D center in the coming 5 years, which will totally cost about 1.7 billion. However, the administration changed their plan when they seek for funding approval from the Finance Committee of the LegCo. They decided not to apply such huge amount of funding from the ITF but to sustain the R&D activities of the ICT R&D center though ASTRI's operating expenses.

Although the LegCo had no chance to scrutinize the budget and project proposal of the ICT R&D Center at the Finance Committee meeting, members can raise questions on ASTRI's budget and request the administration to report its performance to the Council because the institution is public funded. I will keep my eyes on this issue so as to ensure the R&D activities of the ICT R&D center could met the industry's needs.

Jun 2005

From time to time, I receive complaints from the public on the unsolicited e-messages and cold calls which will not only cause nuisances, but also incur a high roaming charges if the mobile user is out of town.

I share with the complaints as I also had similar experience to pick up those calls and paid roaming charges. As an effort to tackle this problem, I added an agendum at the ITB panel meeting in June, and requested the administration to speed up their work on anti-UEM (Unsolicited electronic messages) legislation.

Most of the cold calls are generated via FTNS number onto mobile numbers. Under the current interconnection charges regime, no matter who imitates the calls, the MNOs must paid all the interconnection fee of the calls between FTNS and mobile numbers. The charging regime is one of the important factors which indirectly encourage the caller to generate more calls, with minimal marginal cost. Therefore, the administration should conduct a comprehensive review on the charging mechanism and introduce "caller-party paid" principle.

Jun 2005

In order to have in depth understanding on the Applied Science and Technology Research Institution 's (ASTRI) plan on setting ICT R&D center and promoting commercialization of R&D deliverables, I arranged a meeting with several representatives from the IT sector to meet with representatives from the ASTRI on 15 June 2005.

At the meeting, the ASTRI management presented their business plan on promoting wireless technology and software development. I urged the ASTRI to consult industry's view when they formulate the themes and foci of R&D projects.

Jun 2005

The paper, which is jointly submitted by 4 wireless-related IT organizations, Hong Kong Retail Technology Industry Association, Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association, Internet & Telecom Association of Hong Kong, Wimax Forum Asia Pacific, and my office, is an effort of the Working Group on Wireless Technology.

The working group seeks to discuss the vision and roadmap, and identify measures at policy and regulatory level to promote the greater development of wireless technology in Hong Kong. On 26 April 2005, the paper was submitted and discussed at the meeting of the Digital 21 Strategy Advisory Committee. Please click here to download the paper.

Apr 2005

According to the normal procedure, the Central Government and HKSAR Government will start a new round of CEPA discussion very soon. To enable the HKSAR government officials to have a better understanding of industry's aspiration on CEPA3, I have submitted a CEPA3 wish list to Mr. John Tsang, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology on April 19, 2005.

In the paper, I listed out 9 IT issues that the HKSARG should address at the CEPA3 discussion with the Mainland. Please click here to download the paper. [Chinese only]

Apr 2005

I have joined the Global ICT Summit held in Bahrain in May. This international event has brought together 400 ICT (i.e. information and communication technology) experts and professionals from over 20 countries to share the best practices in e-content and e-creativity as well as to discuss and exchange knowledge and ideas that will shape the future of global ICT development and help bridge the digital divide on an international level.

Education and Manpower Bureau proposed to establish a Qualification Framework (QF) in the IT sector. I have two reasons to support this idea. First, QF helps both employer and employees to know what kind of skilful manpower that the former want to employ and what sets of skills that the later need to acquire. Second, the establishment of QF can help to speed up the progress in setting up an IT professional registration system which I have advocated two years ago. Still, there are various technical issues, such as scope of QF, qualification to be recognized and more others to be worked through. I urge the Government to work closely with members of the industry to discuss how the QF can be realised in IT sector.

On March 2005, OFTA has released a set of guidelines for the telecoms operators to alleviate their misleading sales tactics. OFTA also announced the resolution of a number of cases investigated under section 7M of the Telecommunications Ordinance regarding misleading or deceptive behaviour. Under the terms to resolve these cases, the licensees involved will make a funding contribution of HK$2.3 million towards a consumer education and awareness programme.

Sin Chung Kai welcomed the awareness plan and said that "the competition of telecoms sector is fierce but it should not be an excuse to justify the operators' dishonest practice".

Sin urged all operators to duly observe the new practice guidelines. "It is time for us to re-build our industry image".

In response to the OFTA's consultation on the issuance of broadband wireless access (BWA) licences, Sin Chung Kai said that it is necessary for the Government to provide further information as to how the BWA licencing can be "merged" with the proposed unified licensing system before making the final decisions on BWA licensing system.

"Unless we have more concrete ideas about the future development of regulatory regime, it will be pre-mature for the industry to evaluate the several important issues including spectrum packaging, licence conditions, award process and approach of spectrum usage fee under BWA licensing framework at the present stage". Sin said.

Sin urged the OFTA to speed up the reviewing exercise on spectrum policy in order to clarify all surrounding regulatory uncertainties that may discourage investment incentive to the BWA market.

My submission to the consultation paper can be downloaded here.

18 March 2005