3
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1987
'CREDITS* TO BE UPDATED
THE FINANCE COMMITTEE HAS
RECENTLY APPROVED BY CIRCULATION ABOUT $24 MILLION FOR THE REPLACEMENT AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR THE COLLECTION OF GOVERNMENT REVENUE.
CALLED CREDITS, THE SYSTEM WAS INSTALLED IN 1978 AND WAS A WITH THE BASIC FUNCTIONS OF BY THE PUBLIC AND RECORDING FILES IN GOVERNMENT'S
COMPUTERISED CASH RECEIPTING SYSTEM ISSUING RECEIPTS AGAINST PAYMENTS MADE THE RECEIPTS FOR THE UPDATING OF COMPUTER ACCOUNTS.
THE SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY USED BY THE TREASURY, INLAND REVENUE DEPARTMENT, CITY AND NEW TERRITORIES ADMINISTRATION AND WATER SUPPLIES DEPARTMENT.
A RECENT REVIEW BY DIRECTOR OF ACCOUNTING SERVICES, IN CONSULTATION WITH THE DATA PROCESSING MANAGER, HAS FOUND THE SYSTEM TO BE BADLY WORN.
THE MODEL OF THE EXISTING CASH RECEIPTING TERMINAL IS ALREADY OBSOLETE AND DIFFICULT TO PROVIDE SIMILAR UNITS TO ENABLE THE NETWORK TO BE EXPANDED AND MAINTENANCE CHARGES ARE VERY EXPENSIVE.
THE REVIEW ALSO FOUND THAT THE EXISTING SYSTEM HAS ALREADY REACHED THE LIMIT OF ITS DESIGN CAPACITY AND
NO FURTHER ENHANCEMENT IS POSSIBLE.
IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN AN EFFICIENT REVENUE COLLECTION SERVICE, THE DIRECTOR OF ACCOUNTING SERVICES THEREFORE RECOMMENDED THAT THE PRESENT SYSTEM BE REPLACED. THE NEW SYSTEM INCLUDES BUILT-IN PROCESSING POWER AND STORAGE CAPABILITY ΤΟ IMPROVE TRANSACTION RESPONSE AND ENABLE FACH WORKSTATION TO CONTINUE ΤΟ FUNCTION INDEPENDENTLY IF THE COMMUNICATION NETWORK BREAKS DOWN.
EACH WORKSTATION IN THE TREASURY WILL ALSO BE EQUIPPED WITH AN OPTICAL CHARACTER READER FOR THE PROCESSING OF COMPUTER-PRINTED DEMAND NOTES TO IMPROVE THE SERVICE TIME.
THE NEW SYSTEM ALSO INCLUDES A MID-RANGE COMPUTER
SYSTEM WITH
A 16-MEGABYTE PROCESSOR WHICH HAS SUFFICIENT CAPACITY TO PROCESS ALL TRANSACTION DATA FOR THE UPDATING OF DEBTORS' ACCOUNTS OF THE TREASURY AND INLAND REVENUE DEPARTMENT.
THE ACQUISITION OF THE ADDITIONAL COMPUTER SYSTEM WILL ALSO ENABLE THE TREASURY TO POSTPONE THE NEED TO UPGRADE THE EXISTING HARDWARE TO 1990.
IN ADDITION, THE SYSTEM PROVIDES THE TREASURY WITH GREATER PROCESSING AND SOFTWARE FLEXIBILITY AND THE CAPABILITY IN THE FUTURE TO DO CHINESE CHARACTERS INTO ITS LARGE-SCALE SYSTEMS SUCH A3 THE WATER AND RATES BILLING SYSTEMS.
THE SPENDING