Our Role

was established with the task of identifying opportunities for improvement in public service and promoting implementation of reforms across the Government.

was established to provide management and technology consultancy services to bureaux and departments when implementing service improvements.

was published as a comprehensive management guide for civil servants on the delivery of effective and efficient service to the community. Companion guides to managing human resources, managing public finances and civil service training were released in the same year, along with the Code on Access to Information.

a call centre designed to make access to public services easier for the community and improve the efficiency of call-handling and response within the Government.

brought about streamlining of management over public sector reform programmes and business process re‑engineering.

led to a repositioning of the Unit “to be the preferred consulting partner for all government bureaux and departments and to advance the delivery of world-class public services to the people of Hong Kong.”

was published with an aim to providing a tool for improving and assessing customer-oriented services.

an experiment to develop new approaches and platforms to engage the younger generation with public services through electronic media.

to drive bureaux/departments to reduce the compliance costs to business and enhance the licensing process through regulatory review and improving the efficiency, transparency and business-friendliness of Hong Kong’s business licensing services.

to connect user departments and service providers.

challenged participants to consider how the public service could adapt over the next decade to changes in demand from an ageing population, increasing automation and electronic business, expectations of improving services and constitutional development.

introducing a new office design and a comprehensive Enterprise Information Management System to provide a staff-friendly and collaborative workspace for meeting new challenges.

was established under the Commission on Poverty with the Efficiency Unit providing support to develop innovative approaches to creating opportunities and helping to alleviate poverty and social exclusion in the community.

to provide more adaptable infrastructure to support more shared services and manage public contacts more effectively. 1823’s service was extended to Housing Department during the year, increasing call handling to over 4 million a year.

launched to drive innovations in business for social good. The SIE Fund encourages businesses in Hong Kong to adopt the Creating Shared Value (CSV) approach in their business strategy by which a company applies its assets and skills to innovative projects that bring business return while simultaneously advancing the economic, environmental and social conditions in the communities in which it operates.

to transform the way we serve the community.

2015

• Enterprise information management – to engender a sharing, collaborative and learning culture within and among government agencies by establishing convenient and efficient access to knowledge, information and records.

2016

• Common spatial data infrastructure – to enable spatial data to be collected, stored and shared for better planning, development and management of the city.
• Centralised benefits administration – to explore new approaches to receive, process and approve applications for public benefits.
• Government Human Resources Management Services – to support end-to-end HR activities, from recruitment to exit, in bureaux and departments for strategic manpower planning and decision making.
• Trade Single Window - to help drive the development of a single platform for one-stop lodging of trade information for trade facilitation and customs control purposes.

to deliver innovation solutions to address problems of poverty and social exclusion. It is expected that a total of 100 ventures will be funded within three years through “Innovative Programmes” administered by the Fund’s intermediaries. Details of the ventures are available at the SIE Fund website.

Participants from across the public service met to discuss how Hong Kong’s public service could rise to the challenges faced and continue the outstanding service it had given in the past.

The SIE Fund engaged St. James’ Settlement to be an intermediary to take forward SIE Fund’s first flagship project on food support services in 2016. In May 2017, St. James’ Settlement launched FOOD-CO, the first all-round food support collaborative platform in Hong Kong. Through the use of technology and data analysis, the FOOD-CO platform aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of food support services in Hong Kong.

Officiated by the Chief Executive, the second announcement ceremony of innovative ventures was held on 19 November 2017. While attracting extensive media interest, the Ceremony was attended by more than 100 VIPs including the Chairperson and members of SIE Fund Task Force, members of other Task Forces of the Commission on Poverty, representatives of the intermediaries, project teams of innovative ventures and other funded projects, as well as partners from the business sector. For details of the ventures, please visit the SIE Fund website.

The Efficiency Unit (EU) has been transferred from the Chief Secretary for Administration’s Office (CS’s Office) to the Innovation and Technology Bureau (now re-titled as Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau) and renamed as the Efficiency Office (EffO) with effect from 1 April 2018. The Business Facilitation Division (BFD) under the Economic Analysis and Business Facilitation Unit (EABFU) of the Financial Secretary’s Office (FS’s Office) has also been transferred to EffO to achieve synergy and increase efficiency. EffO will further promote innovation among bureaux and departments and provide citizen-centric public services to the local community.

to drive bureaux/departments to improve government services involving applications and approvals through streamlining business processes and widening the adoption of technology on a continuous basis with a view to improving their convenience, efficiency and transparency.

1823 started to use chatbot to handle public enquiries and reports on specific topics through the 1823 Traditional Chinese website and the Cantonese hotline, so that citizens may obtain information on government services without waiting. The 1823 chatbot is driven by artificial intelligence and can understand the simple intents of citizens through Natural Language Processing. It is also capable of conversing with citizens through Speech-to-Text and Text-to-Speech technologies.

The Efficiency Office, together with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, organised the first Innovation and Technology Trade Show aiming to help bureaux/ departments build awareness and knowledge of the latest innovation and technology (I&T) solutions and deepen the I&T sector's understanding of the business needs of the Government.

Seeking to catalyse the pilot development of the innovative financing model of Pay-for-Success (also known as Social Impact Bond in other places) in Hong Kong, the SIE Fund took up the role of Commissioner for the first PFS project "Start from the Beginning - Chinese Supporting Scheme for Non-Chinese Speaking Students in Kindergarten" launched in Hong Kong.

The SIE Fund appointed a collaborative coalition of 10 organisations as an intermediary to design, develop and operate an inclusive one-stop Gerontechnology Platform to promote the development of the gerontechnology ecosystem in Hong Kong. This is the second flagship project commissioned by the Fund.

To introduce the latest I&T solutions and provide matching services to bureaux/departments so as to help them improve public services delivery.

To encourage wider adoption of innovation and technology by bureaux/departments (B/Ds) to improve government services, we collaborate with the Civil Service College to incorporate the Innovation and Technology Awards (I&T Awards) into the Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme from 2022 onward to give recognition to B/Ds that are proactive in coming up with and implementing innovative measures and impactful technology solutions.

A new office design with wider adoption of I&T facilitates better collaboration between individuals and teams.

The operation of Youth Portal overseen by Efficiency Office was transferred to Home and Youth Affairs Bureau on 1 April 2023 to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in information dissemination.