WHO WE ARE

McKinsey’s Report “The Machinery of Government – A New Framework for Expanding Services”

This report set out the framework of secretariat branches responsible for policy and departments responsible for operational delivery that persists to day. It also made recommendations for improvement to recruitment and management of staff to help the public service meet the needs of a rapidly growing city.

Improving the living of people

Commencing the LegCo session, the Governor announced a host of new initiatives covering housing, social welfare, education, community development as well as youth engagement. The importance of developing the management expertise of civil servants was pointed out.

Public Sector Reform – optimising use of resources for better services

"Public Sector Reform – A Sharper Focus" was published by the Finance Branch. This set out proposals for reform in public service management for delivery of more efficient and effective service, greater job satisfaction for civil servants, and above all, better service for the community. It encouraged introduction of new forms of delivery agency, such as Trading Funds and Statutory Corporations, as well as outsourcing of services.

The Efficiency Unit

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

The Management Services Agency

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

“Serving the Community”

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.

Launch of 1823

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.

Integration of Efficiency Unit and Management Services Agency

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

The Efficiency Unit review

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”

Customer Management Assessment Framework

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

Launch of Youth Portal

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

Launch of “Be the Smart Regulator” Programme

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.

Launch of General Management Consultancy Services Portal

to connect user departments and service providers.

“Public Sector Reform Conference – Public Service 2020”

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.

The Efficiency Unit was united for the first time at 41/F Revenue Tower,

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

The Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (SIE) Fund

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

Enhancement of 1823

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.

The “Shared Value: Creating Competitive Advantage Forum” marked the start of SIE Fund’s Shared Value initiative

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.

Next Generation Shared Services

to transform the way we serve the community. Projects being explored or developed include – 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.

• 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.

The first batch of 25 innovative ventures funded by the SIE Fund was unveiled at a kick-off ceremony

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.

“Serving the Evolving City” Conference – adapting to complexity and building up capabilities

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.

SIE Fund’s Food Support Flagship Project launched HK’s first all-round food support collaborative platform FOOD-CO

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.

SIE Fund announced the latest batch of innovative ventures

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.

Transfer to Innovation and Technology Bureau (now re-titled as Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau)

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.

Launch of ‘Streamlining of Government Services’ Programme

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.

Launch of the 1823 Chatbot Service

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.

SIE Fund took up the role of Commissioner for the first Pay-for-Success project in Hong Kong

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 recently in Hong Kong.

SIE Fund appointed intermediary to design, develop and operate gerontechnology platform

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.