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While at the Microsoft Government Leader Conference (which I mentioned yesterday in my OMB post) I also met a number of parliamentarians. Philippines Representative Florencio Abad of the Philippines and President of the Liberal Party (party of Aquino) told me about efforts <http://www.phdomainfdn.org.ph/partners/ivatan.html> to bring the Internet in via satellite to the islands in his district (the most northern of the Philippines, closer to Taiwan than other parts of his country). I started talking about 802.11b <http://80211b.weblogger.com> and how I had this clever idea that they should create wireless zones around their telecenters. He waited for me to finish, smiled, and said, "You mean use your laptop under a palm tree, we have that." Check the Ivatan link above! He also confirmed that SMS (text-messaging) was key in the Estrada protests <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/do-asia/message/20>. He said it was a great tool to find your relatives and friends in a crowd of one million people. (Oh, looks like you can SMS complaints to their new President <http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/164033.html>.) Portugal and Chile I spent quite a bit of time with MP Diogo Vasconcelos <http://www.zdnet.pt/especial/especial_eleicoes/eleicoes2.shtml>, an entrepreneur and a recent vice chairman of their social democratic party <http://www.psd.pt>. I also knocked around on the drums at the Experience Music Project <http://www.emplive.com> with the Secretary General of the UDI <http://www.udi.cl>, Senator Juan Antonio Coloma Correa <http://www.senado.cl/site/senadores/fichas/pags/coloma.html> of Chile. Both were very interested in ways their political parties could consult online with the public on policy matters. Does anyone know of online political party efforts that have done this effectively? Hong Kong Finally, the e-mail newsletter that prompted this post. In Hong Kong, their 60 member legislative council has many seats based on the familiar concept of geography and population. They also have a set of seat allocated to groups/interests in society. Members of major business groups and labor unions get three seats each elected by their members for example. Councilor Sin Chung-kai <http://www.sinchungkai.org.hk> represents the IT community. That's right, the 3,000 or so software engineers and those working in IT fields get to elected a councilor with equal status to the others. Sin Chung-kai was a "normal" councilor previously, so he carries a lot of experience and is a member or their Democratic Party. Every two weeks Sin Chung-kai sends out his Cyber2005 newsletter. This one (text version below) really caught my eye. While I am rarely a fan of HTML e-mail, this one came as a survey with forms right in the e-mail - very clever. Steven Clift Democracies Online Newswire http://www.e-democracy.org/do More information from: http://www.sinchungkai.org.hk (Converted to text ...) Cyber 2005 A bi-weekly newsletter released by Sin Chung Kai, Legislative Councillor (IT) May 9, 2002 Survey on Accountability System The Chief Executive of the HKSAR unveiled the Accountability System of Principal Officials on April 17, 2002 in the Legco. The original 16 policy bureaux will combine to form 11 new bureaux. Information Technology and Broadcasting Bureau (ITBB) and Economic Services Bureau (ESB) will combine to form Economic Development Bureau (EDB). The new Secretary for the Bureau will no longer be civil servant while the current Secretary will be renamed Permanent Secretary. The new system is expected to enact on July 1, 2002. The ITBB was created in April, 1998. In his Policy Address in October,1997, the Chief Executive announce the creation of the Bureau while the Economic Service Bureau is mainly responsible for the formulation of Information Technology policies before that. I would like to collect your view in the changes that may affect the development of IT in Hong Kong. Please fill in the questionnaire below and send me your valuable opinions. Thanks. 1. Do you think the IT development in Hong Kong is benefited by the creation of ITBB? a. Yes b. No c. No Comment 2. Do you support an independent Bureau to oversee the policies in related to IT, broadcasting and telecommunications? a. Yes (Go to No. 3) b. No (Go to No. 4) c. No opinion (Go to No. 5) 3. The reason(s) for you to support is/are: (can choose more than one option) a. Officials will attentively focus on IT matters b. IT is a fast growing sector/industry, which priority should be given to it. c. ITBB's past performance was good. d. The restructuring of the existing ITBB presents a negative image to overseas countries. e. An independent bureau can react quickly to the changes of IT market. f. No special reasons g. Others 4. The reason(s) for you not to support is/are: (can choose more than one option) a. Simple government structure is good for administration. b. IT is closely related to Economic Development. Combination will increase efficiency. c. An independent IT policymaking body is not a common practice in other countries. d. ITBB's past performance was poor. e. There's no need to have an independent bureau any more as the critical stage of IT development in Hong Kong has complete. f. IT development mainly depends on the market, government's role is very limited. g. Global IT development is slowing down. h. No special reasons i. Others 5. Do you think the above change indicates that IT is becoming less important in the SAR's agenda? a. Yes b. No c. No Comment 6. Are you worried that the above change will give a negative image to overseas countries on Hong Kong's future IT development? a. Very worried b. A bit worried c. Not worried at all d. No Comment 7. Are you worried that the local IT development will be obstructed due to the extensive responsibilities of the new Economic Development Bureau that it cannot focus on promoting IT development ? (The Economic Development Bureau will be responsible for the policymaking of air and sea transport, energy, postal services, meteorological services, competition, consumer protection, tourism, logistic services, IT and broadcasting.) a. Very worried b. A bit worried c. Not worried at all d. No Comment If the above structural change has to carry out, (pls answer No. 8- 10) 8. Do you support the policy area of "Information Technology" be reflected in the name of new Bureau, e.g. "Economic and Information Technology Bureau"? a. Yes b. No c. No Comment 9. Do you support an independent Panel for Information Technology and Broadcasting in the Legco should be retained? a. Yes b. No c. No Comment The questionnaire is completed. Thank you for your opinions. Name: Email: Sin Chung Kai http://www.sinchungkai.org.hk Cyber 2005 is a bi-weekly newsletter that acts as a bridge between the IT professionals and myself as the IT representative in the Legislative Council. Every alternate Thursday during my term in the LegCo, I will send out Cyber 2005 electronically in order to keep in touch with you and keep you informed of my service in the LegCo. The reason for the SAR to have ITBB "To ensure that Government will facilitate this process, responsibilities now divided between several bureaux will be regrouped. One Bureau Secretary will lead and co-ordinate the work of all those throughout the Government organisation involved in information technology and the related areas of broadcasting and telecommunications. This Bureau will also be responsible for co- ordinating overall information technology development in Hong Kong and will : first, formulate policies to facilitate the establishment of an open, common interface information infrastructure, accessible throughout the SAR; second, lay down an appropriate regulatory framework to remove obstacles to interconnection between networks, and enhance Hong Kong's external info-communications links; third, develop a policy for accelerating the use of IT applications using the common interface in the public and private sector; and fourth, commission pilot projects that make innovative use of the developing infrastructure." Policy Speech, Chief Executive of SAR http://www.info.gov.hk/pa97/english/patext.htm Back to Top ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. 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