ISE09/16-17

• In parallel with robust advancement of the Internet and mobile technologies, it is increasingly common for governments across the globe to engage their citizens through electronic means ("e-government"), both in service delivery and public participation. Not only can e-government reduce administrative cost, it can also enhance governance transparency and interactions with citizens. Reflecting this trend, the number of countries using one-stop online portal to deliver government services has doubled from 45 in 2003 to 90 in 2016.^{1Legend symbol denoting See United Nations (2016).}
• In Hong Kong, the Government has embarked on e-government services since 2001. Yet some Members expressed views that the progress of e-government development was "slow" and certain e-government services were "neither user-friendly nor convenient to the public".^{2Legend symbol denoting See Legislative Council Secretariat (2015).} More specifically, there were concerns over the need for enhancement in e-procurement, submission of government forms and public participation through electronic channels.
• South Korea is widely recognized as a global leader in e-government, as it was repeatedly ranked at the top position of the global league table on E-government by the United Nations ("UN") during 2010-2014.^{3Legend symbol denoting The United Nations has conducted E-Government Survey on a biennial basis since 2000. The survey measures three important dimensions of e-government, namely provision of online services, telecommunication connectivity and human capacity. Major topics studied in the survey included performance of online service delivery, e-participation, digital divide and open data.} This issue of Essentials reviews the limitation of e-government in Hong Kong, followed by a discussion of respective e-government practices in South Korea.

Recent developments of e-government in Hong Kong

• E-government in Hong Kong was first launched under the 2001 Digital 21 Strategy, with "publishing information online" and "enabling e-transactions" as initial policy objectives. Most recently for the 2014 Digital 21 Strategy, the Government pledged to step up "multi-platform government services" so that the public can have access to information and services anytime, anywhere, on any device and through any platform. In addition, it has undertaken to provide "integrated two-way e-services", as more personalized and customized e-services are now technically feasible through application of big data analytics.
• Over the past 15 years, the number of e-government services accessible by the public has surged to more than 700 in 2015, and some of these initiatives had won global recognition.^{4Legend symbol denoting In 2015-2016, Hong Kong was ranked fourth out of 20 in the Digital Governance in Municipalities Worldwide.} That said, the pace of e-government development is still behind leading places particularly in the following areas:
  
  

  (a)	Limited acceptance of electronic submission of government forms: While the public can download all sorts of application forms for public services from the government websites, they may not be able to submit the completed forms the other way round through electronic means. Most of the time, the public can only submit the forms either by post or fax, along with hard copy of supporting documents. By December 2016, out of the 2 400 government forms available online for download, only 468 or 19% of them accept electronic submission.
  (b)	Limited practice of e-procurement: In 2007, the Government rolled out the e-procurement of public services as a pilot scheme to streamline government operations. In 2013, e-procurement was extended to all bureaux/departments ("B/Ds"), but it is subject to a certain limitations. First, the e-procurement system is only a shared service and it is not compulsory for B/Ds to procure their services on the electronic platform.5Legend symbol denoting There are three major functions of the system, namely e-catalogue, e-sourcing and e-invoicing. A department using its full functions has to share a cost depending on the size of its annual purchase. While the system targets only 30 out of 70 B/Ds to use its full functions by 2017-2018, as at mid-2016, only 12 B/Ds have used such services. Secondly, B/Ds need to share the cost in using the system.6Legend symbol denoting It is reported that the sharing of cost is one of the reasons why some departments not joining to use the system. See Audit Commission (2016). Thirdly, as the system does not handle government procurement for goods and non-construction services exceeding the value of HK$1.43 million and consultancy services exceeding HK$3 million, this would limit the usage of the e-procurement system.
  (c)	No centralized platform for e-participation in public affairs: In many overseas places, e-government involves the use of electronic platforms (e.g. e-petition) to make it easier for citizens to participate in public affairs. In Hong Kong, consultation papers are available online for public access, and the respondents can submit their views through email. Yet there is no centralized electronic platform in pooling all consultation papers together and to receive public feedback for more effective two-way communications.7Legend symbol denoting See Central Policy Unit (2015). There are also similar views from another study showing that the young people would like to have e-submission and discussion forum of public policies, see The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (2016).

Recent developments of e-government in South Korea

• In January 2001, the Korean government has established a Special Committee for e-Government directly reported to the President. Since 2013, the Korean government has put "Government 3.0" as a new policy target to make e-government initiatives more people-oriented.^{8Legend symbol denoting Government 3.0 aims to make the e-government programme more service-oriented, competent and transparent through active sharing of government-owned public data, better integrated administration among various departments and wider engagement and communication with the people.} With strong support from the top government level, South Korea has become one of the "global e-government leaders", with its global ranking leaping from 15th in 2001 to the top position in 2010-2014. It then slipped back slightly to the third position in 2016, just behind the United Kingdom and Australia.
• Some e-government initiatives implemented in South Korea are considered as user friendly and they help improve administrative efficiency of the government. For example, to facilitate electronic submission of application forms and sharing of data across all government departments, the Korean government has not only offered some 3 000 types of online application of public services, it also set up the Administrative Information Sharing Center ("AISC") in 2005 under the Electronic Government Act enacted in 2001. AISC is tasked with coordination of the information sharing network between info-using and info-owning departments.
• With the prior consent of the individuals concerned, a government department in need of certain government-issued documents (e.g. resident identity, vehicle registration and income certificate) can apply to AISC for access to such information, and AISC will process the request and retrieve such information from the database and transfer it to the info-using department. This saves citizen's troubles and time to submit such documents repeatedly for application of public services.
• During 2006-2014, the types of shared information in AISC had increased from 34 to over 140, while the number of participating agencies had expanded from five to over 300 from central and local levels. To a considerable extent, the successful launch of AISC can be attributable to the legal requirement of sharing information across departments under the Electronic Government Act and the assurance of data security and protection of privacy to the public.^{9Legend symbol denoting For instance, AISC monitors access authorization and the proper use of the shared information. To balance the needs of information sharing and protection of privacy, only the part of necessary information will be extracted, encrypted and circulated from the info-owning departments to the info-using departments.}
• Secondly, the Korean government has set up an e-procurement system with apparently wider application and more extensive functions than that of Hong Kong. In South Korea, it is mandatory for all departments to publish all government procurement notices in the e-procurement website, irrespective of contract value. It is a full-fledged procurement system, with functions ranging from e-catalogue, e-sourcing, e-invoicing, e-bidding, e-shopping mall to digital procurement via smartphone and subcontract management system.
• In 2014, more than 48 000 public organizations and over 290 000 suppliers were represented in the e-procurement platform. Total transactions made through this e-platform were 73 trillion won (HK$518 billion) in 2013, accounting for 64% of overall value in public procurement. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the savings in transaction cost in this e-procurement platform were around US$6.8 billion (HK$52.7 billion) in 2014. The savings primarily came from the private sectors (82%) in reduced costs for visiting public organizations, obtaining required certificates and registering account in multiple systems.^{10Legend symbol denoting See Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2016).}
• Thirdly, the Korean government set up e-People, a portal for public in e-participation in 2005. It has the following key features:
  
  

  (a)	Single platform with multiple functions: e-People is a centralized electronic portal which enables the public to submit petitions, file complaints, and propose ideas to the government. The system also incorporates online survey and policy discussion forum.
  (b)	User friendly design: Users need not know or identify which departments they should approach when they want to lodge their complaints or file their submissions. Their views will be forwarded to the suitable departments through the centralized platform.
  (c)	Embedded monitoring feedback function: After the case is submitted, the system will notify the user the investigation results to make the procedure more open and transparent.

• Through the centralized e-People platform to collect various opinions, the Korean government is able to identify repeated or similar complaints, examine the causes of the issues and make necessary policy changes. According to the government, during 2008-2010, 255 laws were reviewed and another 207 frequently asked questions were made available at the relevant websites to address similar submissions.^{11Legend symbol denoting See Ministry of Security and Public Administration (2012b).}

Success factors of the e-government programme

• There are a few factors leading to the successful implementation of the e-government programme in South Korea.
  
  

  (a)	Strong government leadership: Since the 1990s, the Korean government has dedicated ministerial level working group to set up the master plan and implementation strategies to drive e-government development;12Legend symbol denoting Ministry of the Interior is responsible, among other things, for the coordination of policies relating to digital and mobile government, promotion of efficient operation of information resources through e-government, and development of polices related to digital initiatives, security issues of personal information.
  (b)	Sustained investment in e-government programme: Over the last decade, the Korean government invested an average of 1% of the national budget into e-government initiatives every year;
  (c)	Effective change management: To ensure a smooth delivery of e-services to the people, the Korean government has provided training to public officers to reduce their resistance to change and develop their information technology capacity. Meanwhile, the government has also launched nationwide education programmes to enhance the digital literacy of the citizens; and
  (d)	Infrastructure and technology support: The e-government system is supported by expertise advice and participation, including the National Computing and Information Service to manage government integrated data center, monitor system operation against cyber threats, and provide technological support of e-government infrastructure.13Legend symbol denoting Another support institution is National Information Society Agency, which is responsible for overseeing the construction of network infrastructure, use of information technology in government agencies, and programmes to promote digital literacy.

• Despite all the efforts and resources, the Korean government also faces challenges, like cyber security issues and digital divide to drive the e-government programme.^{14Legend symbol denoting Digital divide refers to the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socio-economic levels with regard to opportunities to access information and communication technologies and the use of the Internet.} Nonetheless, the experience of South Korea indicates that an effective delivery strategy, strong technology infrastructure and adequate financial resources are conducive to providing user friendly and convenient e-government services to the people.

Prepared by Angela CHOI
Research Office
Information Services Division
Legislative Council Secretariat
23 January 2017