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The information age continues to usher in huge change for the way societies operate around the world. Even the way we are governed is changing as governments throughout Asia Pacific embrace and realise the huge impact new technologies can have on improving their services, streamlining processes, broadening public participation and promoting economic growth.
According to IDC, many Asia Pacific governments have launched ambitious e-government strategies using electronic technologies to improve both internal operations and public service delivery.
In China, it is estimated that e-government spending will grow the fastest with an annual growth rate of nearly 40 percent. Meanwhile, e-government spending in Singapore and Korea will experience growth at more than 20 percent over the forecast period and e-government spending in Australia and Hong Kong will grow at 15 percent and 13 percent respectively*.
meeting the demand
Building on 40 years experience in the public services industry, HP has been quick to meet the demands of this burgeoning industry with a range of cost-effective e-government solutions and programs specifically tailored for Asia Pacific governments.
HP have been working with governments throughout Asia Pacific including Australia, Singapore, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam across a number of areas, including public safety, national ID and security, health and human services, and environmental management.
For example, HP's emergency community notifications can integrate all emergency service systems and proactively inform the public through SMS, email, Web, phone and kiosks in an emergency situation, avoiding jammed switchboards and allowing for a more effective use of limited resources.
award winning experience
One example of the HP's proven capabilities in e-government solutions was their joint venture with Hutchison Whampoa Limited in 1999 to develop and operate the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme (ESDlife), for the HKSAR Government.
The www.esdlife.com  site was the core initiative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's Digital 21 IT Strategy to provide community access to public services and information 24 hours a day, via the Internet and other means of electronic access.
The scheme was developed to improve efficiency of public service delivery and promote the development of e-commerce in Hong Kong.
The award-winning portal now hosts some 180 public services from 53 government departments and public agencies. ESDlife is also the world's first bilingual public and commercial services portal. Services available include: payment, appointment booking, service application, submission of documents, information lookup and enquiry and change of personal particulars.
Importantly however, the HKSAR Government is today recognised for its efficiency, transparency and fairness in serving a population of over 6.8 million citizens.
an alliance for further e-government solutions
Further strengthening HP's leadership in the public sector was the company's joint launch earlier this year, in conjunction with Intel and Microsoft, of an innovative e-government program for Asia Pacific.
The program was set up as part of the three industry leaders' Keystone Alliance, which was formed in 2001 to assist Asian organisations adapt to market changes more efficiently and productively by combining their respective offerings, to deliver greater value to customers.
Initially focused on the financial industry, the Keystone Alliance will apply the wealth of experience garnered from this industry to the new e-government segment.
The Keystone e-government program harnesses the core competencies of each partner to deliver proven solutions, customised services and best of breed partners and technologies, based on affordable industry-standard technology platforms.
Keystones' e-government solutions will include applications for government portals, IT infrastructure, security, education, training and procurement.
'Keystone's e-government initiatives can fundamentally change the way governments interact with citizens and businesses,' said Tan Lark Yang, general manager, Public Sector, HP Asia Pacific.
'In addition to transforming the way governments deliver services, the Keystone Alliance will also help governments use the latest technology to become much more efficient and cost effective. Ultimately, tax payer dollars will support greater service levels and less bureaucracy', added Tan.
The benefits of Keystone's e-government offering is already being realised by governments throughout Asia Pacific. Two early adopters of the program who have already reaped significant benefits are China's 'Regional and Provincial Climatic Operation System' and Singapore's co-operative insurance society, NTUC Income .
'NTUC Income was selected as a key partner with the InfoComm Development Authority of Singapore in integrating e-government and private sector services through web services in .NetMySingapore project,' said James Kang, NTUC Income CIO.
'The reality of Web Services online would not have been possible without the infrastructure support of HP ProLiant servers powered by Intel® Xeon ™ processors running Microsoft .NET connected software.
'Without Web Services the aggregation of public and private sector services would be nothing more than static hyperlinks that act as passive road signs for customers. Now the services are intelligently linked and dynamic, allowing proactive delivery of services,' added Kang.
Leveraging their extensive experience in the public sector, HP is committed to working with governments throughout the region to adopt an effective e-government environment that will have a beneficial effect on the productivity and wealth of the whole country.
For the individual governments, HP believes e-government represents another step forward to the attainment of a genuine transparency and a participative democracy.
For citizens and businesses, it means easier access to information and services enabled through the use of technology.
*IDC report, Jan 2002, Asia/Pacific eGovernment Strategies |
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