📋 Tender Overview
Following is a question by the Hon Lee Kongyu and a reply by the Secretary for Innovation Technology and Industry Professor Sun Dong in the Legislative Council today May 6
Question
There are views pointing out that Mainland cities that have achieved relative success in innovation and technology IT development have all relied on the governments holistic involvement in establishing platforms coordinating resources and empowering enterprises and that whether the government team has sufficient technology talents to participate in IT development initiatives will directly impact the effectiveness of policy implementation In this connection will the Government inform this Council
1 of the current numbers of ITrelated professionals in government professional grades including but not limited to software engineers programming systems analysts cybersecurity engineers DevOps engineers and cloud engineers with a breakdown by relevant government departments as well as permanent and timelimited posts and the proportion of staff
2 whether it will with reference to the best industry benchmark ratio in the market set targets for the manpower ratio of ITrelated professionals in the Government for the coming three years and reserve buffer manpower while adhering to the principle of avoiding excessive recruitment so as to support future IT initiatives and
3 whether the Government has invited technology experts with experience in largescale projects to serve as consultants to assist various departments in more effectively promoting digital and technological transformation and whether it can provide cases to illustrate the positive impact of the involvement of such experts on the development of relevant IT projects if no such arrangements were made in the past whether the Government has plans to introduce such a practice
Reply
President
Talent is the core engine driving digital transformation Therefore while actively promoting the development of innovation and technology IT and digital transformation we will also ensure that the government team possesses the necessary knowledge and skills to embrace advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence AI and leverages market forces thereby enhancing the efficiency and quality of public services
Regarding the question raised by the Hon Lee Kwongyu the reply is as follows
1 and 2 The professional grades in the Government that are directly related to information technology IT as mentioned in the question include the AnalystProgrammer Grade the Computer Operator Grade and the Data Processor Grade These IT professionals are mainly responsible for the study design development operation and maintenance of information systems as well as the provision of various technical services including system and cyber security project management support and data entry tasks
The Digital Policy Office DPO is responsible for managing the aforementioned IT professional grades Relevant staff members are deployed to different units within the DPO mainly undertaking central coordination and facilitation roles such as promoting the development of digital government enhancing data governance and fostering industry collaboration Staff members are also posted to various bureauxdepartments BDs across the Government to support system operations and project implementation as well as to assist in the implementation of relevant digital policies and initiatives As of endMarch this year the establishment of the three grades was about 2 200 in total The relevant figures and breakdown by BD are set out at Annex
Promoting the development of IT and AI is not the sole responsibility of IT professional grades it also requires the participation of the entire civil service and different sectors of the society In fact ITrelated work is diverse in nature encompassing a wide range of policy areas technical domains and implementation arrangements and involving various professions The technological content is no longer confined to traditional IT At the same time BDs also attach great importance to providing comprehensive support and enabling conditions for relevant sectors Hence when assessing the overall human resources and capabilities of the Government in driving IT transformation one should not focus solely on individual establishment figures or set rigid targets for resource allocation
To address the demands of various IT digital transformation and IT projects in addition to employing civil servants BDs also engage contract staff or procure services from contractors having regard to operational needs project nature technology type professional requirements and resource allocation priorities BDs may also flexibly redeploy existing manpower resources to meet operational demands Beyond staff recruitment and outsourcing arrangements the Government also emphasises enhancement and upgrade of skills of its manpower Through strengthened training staff are equipped with the latest skills and market practices to become versatile talent thereby supporting the increasingly important work of government digital transformation and technology innovation
3 Under the leadership of the AI Efficacy Enhancement Team the DPO has established a dedicated task force and invited technology companies with experience in largescale projects to assist government departments in designing and implementing AIdriven efficacy enhancement projects To further support the Governments digital transformation process the DPO will bring in industry experts in AI and data science alongside marketleading technologies to provide technical support and strategic advisory services and to assist in training key talents across different grades This will help sustain and scale up AI projects while building up the Governments internal AI talent pool
These industry experts are gradually coming on board Adopting a handholding approach through project management and implementation they will enhance
