Hong Kong IT pros’ demand for the Technology and Communication Bureau (TCB) continues. Following a petition organized by Charles Mok, Legislative Councilor (IT Constituency), the Alliance for the establishment of Technology Bureau (the Alliance) was established yesterday to urge the government to confirm creation of the TCB.
Led by Legislative Councilors Elizabeth Quat and WK Lo and iProA, the Alliance consists of 50 members, who are the current or former leaders of technology-related organizations and associations. These members include former Legco member Samson Tam, iProA President Witman Hung and HKIT Joint Council President Wong Kam Fai.
At a press conference on Tuesday, the Alliance announced four major requests from the government:
- Establish TCB to develop a blueprint on local digital strategy
- Take leading role in technology R&D investment to match with the development in Singapore, Taiwan and Korea
- Adopt and apply locally developed technologies
- Protect netizens' rights and develop smart city capabilities
HK govt responsible for Google’s abandoned data center plan
Members of the Alliance argue that the Hong Kong Government lacks a senior official that understands technology to liaise with other government officials and global technology players.
“This is exactly the reason why Google pulled out its data center in Hong Kong,” said Paul Fung, founding member of the Hong Kong Innovative Technology Preferred. “We do not have a senior official that is able to deal with different policy issues for building a data center with alternative requirements.”
Fung, also a co-op member of the OGCIO’s Expert Group on Cloud Computing Services and Standards, said Google is known for its creativity in data center infrastructure and it is very likely that its specific requirements do not align with the local policies.
“Google has specific requirements for its cooling and environmental friendly data centers,” he said. “But if the OGCIO was not able to make any cross-departmental decisions to facilitate that, it is not surprising that they abandoned the plan.”
“The Hong Kong IT industry is reaching its doomsday. If we don’t start making aggressive and long term plans for technology development, our economy will suffer,” said Fung.