Have your projects ever been delayed by requisite approvals and
other bureaucratic procedures? In the IT business, youb re not
alone. When all an IT executive wants is to do their job and do it
well, but ends up spending more time dealing with bureaucracy and
b red tape,b itb s frustrating.
Like many chief information officers (CIOs), Howard Dickson, Hong
Kongb s government CIO (GCIO) deals with these same challenges, but
on a much larger scale. As Hong Kongb s first government CIO reaches
the first anniversary of his three-year term, Computerworld Hong
Kong takes a look at his first year in office. How adept was the
OGCIO (Office of the GCIO) at dealing with Hong Kongb s most
complicated organization: the HKSAR Government?
Under an established structure like the government, getting any IT
projects approved and completed is naturally a complicated process.
To fight with layers of red tape, the government began streamlining
its own IT operation in July 2004, when OGCIO was formed.
Government structure streamlining
With the merger of the Information Technology Service Department
(ITSD) and the IT-related divisions of the Commerce, Industry and
Technology Bureau (CITB), the OGCIO aims to provide a streamlined
government structure to deliver IT (CITB still exists, while ITSD
was scrapped).
Under the previous structure, CITB was a policy-establishment body.
It developed the Digital 21 strategy and created the ESDlife model.
Meanwhile, ITSD was an execution department that implemented these
strategies.
b Although [these two organizations] were very closely related, they
remained two separate departments working towards the same goals,b
said Jonson Yue, senior manager, solution and industry marketing at
HP. b By bringing the two functions within OGCIO, we see a
unification of policy and implementation body under a single
platform and leadership.b
Yue, an active industry contributor to Hong Kongb s e-government
policy, said the merger also gives OGCIO a better position to
promote and implement IT initiatives among the executives of
government departments as well as their IT departments.
b For the working staff within OGCIO, having a single department
also reduces the impression of a hierarchical difference between
the two,b said Patricia Lau, consultant at PA Consulting. The
company provides business and management consulting services for
organizations in both the public and private sectors. b For the
service and technology suppliers, it also brings a centralized and
single point of contact,b she said.
Changing roles
The new government department also marks a new role for the
governmentb s IT operation.
b [The establishment of] OGCIO indicates the government is placing
its IT operation in a more strategic role,b said Lau at PA
Consulting. b This is in sync with whatb s happening at the private
sector, where IT managers take up a more business strategic role to
become CIOs.b
Dickson agreed that playing a more strategic role within the
government is the OGCIOb s direction.
b Hopefully, we are coming from an image of being b purely technicalb
to becoming a partner,b said Dickson. b Itb s not that we have
b silver bullets,b but just like [in] any large organization,
somehow wishful thinking kicks in and some assumptions donb t have a
good foundation.b
b What we are doing,b explained the GCIO, b is to help departments
realize this sooner. When a project does not have a good base for
its scheduling, the sooner we realize that, the sooner we can do
something about it.b
He noted that either his team or himself personally are involved in
many departmentsb IT projects, trying to understand the project
scope and highlight any potential challenges. Although Dickson did
not share specific examples of these projects, he said the OGCIO
has built a closer relationship with various departments, including
the Transportation Department, Immigration Department, the Treasure
and the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau.
b I canb t really give you specific examples...this is a little like
a doctor-patient relationship,b he explained. b I think thatb s part
of having a more mature relationship with the departments. We seem
to have departments more willing to cooperate and we are hearing
less of the b we need to run things our own wayb type of
conversations. I think that is a good change.b
Taking ownership
Riding on a stronger relationship with government departments, the
OGCIO is also taking up ownership in the provisioning of public
services online with the new One-Stop Portal (OSP) strategy.
Aimed at unifying content and transactions, the OSP will merge the
transaction-slate currently available on the ESDlife site with
content from the Government Information Center (
www.info.gov.hk). The OSP,
expected to debut b around mid-2006b according to a January 2006
statement from the OGCIO, will re-provision public services from
ESDlife and is expected to serve as a platform to attract more
joint-departmental services.
Yet not everyone approves of the OGCIOb s achievement in building a
stronger relationship with the departments.
b Currently, the relationship between the OGCIO and government
departments can be described as b loosely coupledb ,b said a source
familiar with government operations. b Since the OGCIO does not have
a strong enough influence and relationship with individual
departments, the IT unit of most departments tend to follow their
own business strategy rather than the overall e-government
strategy.b
The source added that execution, particularly on enforcing
technical standards and developing joint-department IT initiatives,
is slow due to a lack of strong influence from OGCIO, as well as
cooperation between departments.
b Although we have heard lots of good comments about how well our
e-government projects are, I think itb s more self-appraising,b said
the source. b Compared to governments in Canada and Australia, the
[equivalent] office has more influence than ours. I think the
reason is down to the relationship developed with other
departments.b
Clear vision
The source also claimed the slow execution is a result of an
unclear e-government strategy and direction.
b For example, even if we have a five-year plan, how exactly to
achieve the goal is unclear,b said the source. b Our goals are
vague, so it seems like a never-ending journey. We do not know how
much of the roadmap we have achieved or the milestones to achieve
the ultimate goal.b The source suggested a dedicated team to map out
a clear e-government vision with specific requirements. Departments
can then work toward developing a roadmap and identifying
milestones.
b Ib m not satisfied with the volume of cross-departmental
initiativesb we are not as big as web d like,b responded Dickson to
comments that the OGCIOb s direction is shared client services is
less-than-clear. b But I think it [OGCIO] is getting more attention
and we are starting to build some help.b
Dickson noted the government is setting up a dedicated team, the
Service Transformation Sub-Committee (STC), to address the issue of
cross-departmental initiatives. The STC aims to b better engage
departments in the process of proposing and prioritizing service
transformation initiatives especially those requiring a
cross-departmental and multi-skilled approach,b stated the OGCIO at
a February 2006 Legco IT panel discussion on Digital 21.
Expected to start its first meeting in the first quarter of this
year, the STC will be chaired by the GCIO and falls under the
Financial Secretary-chaired E-government Steering Committee to draw
up a government-wide service transformation.
b We will [identify] the big barriers to move ahead in e-government
and sort them out,b said Dickson. b We are trying to get various key
players in the discussion, setting the agenda and deciding where do
we like to be in a couple years time to get there and what things
we need to do and pursue.b
The key players will include officials from the Financial, Services
and Treasury Bureau, Civil Service Bureau and Efficiency
Unit.
Ongoing challenges
Despite all these initiatives, many challenges still remain for the
OGCIO. One of them is dealing with conflicting interests.
b Generally, I think the OGCIO scores on execution [of various
e-government initiatives]. But [the initiatives] often slow down at
the consultation and planning stage,b said Sunny Lee, head of
technology business at Towngas. b I share their frustrations and
[understand that] things donb t happen as easy as outsiders would
think.b
Lee, also the president of the Hong Kong Computer Society, noted
what makes the job of the governmentb s IT more challenging is that
their users are the public, who often have conflicting
interests.
b Different from the private sector, the governmentb s priority is
public interest, which can often be very diverse,b he said. b It is
a given fact that you can never make everybody happy. There will be
situations that some will be glad with your policy and some will be
against it.b
One example is the establishment of the Information Technology
Management Unit (ITMU). Formed in 2002, the ITMU is a technical
support operation under ITSD. Different teams of ITMU were assigned
to various departments and bureaus to facilitate their IT
operations.
b It is now much easier for us to approach the government,
particularly with the establishment of the ITMU,b noted a
government supplier. b However, it is only easier on the
infrastructure level. We never know who to contact when it comes to
issues on the application level or operation level.b
Meanwhile for some government departments, ITMU creates a problem
in IT staff management. b Since staff from ITMU is hired by OGCIO,
they may not understand the departmentb s operation and execute IT
policy with the best interest of the department,b said the
governmentb s source. b Thatb s the set back with a centralized IT
unit to set policy and execute IT initiatives.b
Another challenge is the tight governance structure within the
government. b Of course, itb d be nice if things could move faster,
but thatb s almost impossible under a tightly governed organization
like the Hong Kong government,b noted Lee from Towngas.
Despite there being a barrier to and new initiatives, a tight
governance structure is important for a complicated organization
like the government to enforce tight control and ensure a balance
of interest across the board.
One of the biggest challenges is that most IT projects extend
beyond the term of principal government officials. Dickson noted
most IT projectsb from planning, developing a business case to
procurement, staffing, development, implementation and
testingb would take over four years.
b You are probably looking at four and a quarter years [to complete
an IT project],b he said, adding that this timeframe implies smooth
running of all relevant processes. b But you will find in most
government bureaux and departments, many senior officials wonb t
stay at the same position for that long. So, it is understandable
for them to ask for a strong business case to justify such major
investment.b
Dickson noted thatb s not only an issue within the Hong Kong
government, but an overall problem in any large organization. It is
also human nature for officials to try managing a project within
their own scope.
b People like to see jobs start, get carried out and actually finish
within their tenure,b he said.
However, the issue of a bureaucratic structure is something that
the OGCIO cannot deal with by themselves, added Lee from Towngas.
b It takes all departments and department heads to stay in sync in
order to create more cross-department services and change the
culture and mindset of the staff,b he said.
But, according to Dickson, the key is understanding end usersb
needs.
b I think [the key is] visibility of what citizens want,b he said.
b Departments are there to serve citizens.b
b If the service makes sense to the citizen, then there are
motivations for departments to support these initiatives,b
concluded the GCIO.
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