ENG-2001 — Page 448

COMMUNICATIONS, THE MEDIA AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

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The Task Force on IT Manpower, which was set up under the Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee, has examined the situation in Hong Kong and elsewhere, and issued a report in July recommending a package of immediate and longer term measures to address the IT manpower needs in Hong Kong. These measures include admission of IT professionals from the Mainland, improving the admission regime for overseas IT professionals, expansion of the post-secondary programme, encouraging world-renowned private IT training institutions to operate in Hong Kong, grooming talented professional people at the Cyberport, accreditation of IT skills below degree level, attracting overseas Hong Kong and Mainland talent to return to work in Hong Kong, and nurturing young talent through an exchange/internship programme and the provision of professional IT training to secondary students.

The Government will continue to work with tertiary institutions and other related bodies on other longer term measures to provide sufficient and quality IT manpower in Hong Kong.

Building a Digitally Inclusive Society

To ensure that different sectors of the community will benefit from the developments of IT in enhancing their quality of life, the Government will encourage the community to embrace and use IT, targeting specifically those people who have fewer opportunities to access IT facilities in their daily lives, such as senior citizens, housewives, and people with disabilities. The Government continued an 'IT Hong Kong' campaign -launched in September 2000- to raise IT awareness and promote wider adoption of IT in the community through promotional activities and IT awareness courses for senior citizens, housewives and people with disabilities as well as other members of the public. An ‘IT Hong Kong' web site, which serves as a forum for dissemination of information to the public on IT and related activities, has also been set up. To ensure that the community has access to computer facilities and the Internet, the Government has provided over 4 800 public computers with Internet connections (Community Cyberpoints) at convenient locations such as community centres/halls, public libraries, district offices and post offices for free use by the community. The Government has also established dedicated Community Cyberpoints, which are equipped with facilities such as screens with enlargement device, Braille machines, software for conversion of text to voice, to enhance access for the blind and the visually impaired. To make web sites accessible to people with disabilities, the Government will enforce universal accessibility guidelines in all its web sites and encourage government-related organisations and the private sector to adopt these guidelines as well.

Exploitation of Enabling Technologies

Hong Kong has long been recognised internationally for achievements in commercialising new technology applications. The Government will continue to leverage the strengths in the exploitation of advanced enabling technologies. To ensure Hong Kong's active participation in the development of the next generation of Internet technologies, the Government is helping universities to set up a high-speed link to the Internet2 Consortium in North America in 2002. Four third generation (3G) mobile communications service operators have been selected. 3G services are expected to roll out in late 2002 or early 2003. 'Smart' card technology will be exploited for the issue of the new generation ID cards starting from mid-2003 and the