Dear IT friends,

Year 2009 has come. I believe all of you have your own wishes. Mine is that the government would appreciate the importance of ICT to HK, as well as to the transformation and advancement of many industries, so much so that the ICT would be put in the leading position to drive HK to become a new economy. As such, I will exercise my duty in monitoring the government, and urging our CE to implement the related policies mentioned in his Policy Address, like enhancing the intermediary role of HK in the regional technology development, and establishing a dedicated Creative Industry Office so as to promote the development of creative industries. Only through these could ICT be made better uses in transforming HK to become a truly new economic entity.

What needs to be done to make my wishes come true? How could the industry collaborate and complement well? I believe the government should invest more resources to help universities in cultivating talents for creative work and technology research, and make local universities to become the base harboring creative knowledge. I also believe that the government and the industry should step up the investment on the infrastructure of Next Generation Network so as to build a better worldwide network. And through Internet would global technology and global market be brought to HK. My even stronger belief is our social cultural ideology is of utmost importance, and that the government should strongly promote the establishment of e-Community. This is because HK needs to build up new Internet e-community and creative culture if we want to transform our city to become a new creative one. Young people should be taught to appreciate the importance of creativity, exploration spirit should be promoted, and applications of technology on daily living should be paid due recognition and emphasis.

I hope that all of us could actively support and participate, whether it is on the promotion of creative industries or integration between IT and other industries. Only then could more job opportunities be created, and the competitiveness of HK in the regional economies be enhanced. Let’s strive for a new era for HK.

Wish all of you a very Happy New Year.

Samson Tam Wai Ho
Legislative Councilor (Information Technology)

I. Highlights 1. Propose to relax the guideline on cross media ownership restriction Recently, changes in the Asia Television management have caused tremendous uproar in town. A special meeting on this issue was held at LegCo Information Technology and Broadcasting Panel on 19th December. I also expressed my views on it while attending the “city forum” held by RTHK on 21st December and posted an article on my blog, Since the Government will launch the mobile television services this year as well as the ground digital broadcasting in 2012, there will be more channels available at the time. I am worried that nobody would dare to take up the TV license even if ATV is to surrender it. So, I suggested the Government should relax the existing guideline on cross media restriction so as to attract more investors. In addition, the young people are spending more time on Internet surfing than watching TV. There must be some changes on the TV programs, such as providing more interesting contents to the youngsters. Moreover, the free television next year will face competition from more than 10 mobile TV channels. The development will be extremely difficult if not with necessary reform.     2. Review on (Copyright (Amendment) Ordinance 2007) and protect the rights and interests of the related industries On 5th July 2007, "2007 Copyright (Amendment) Bill" was passed into law. Except for the provisions of “the business end-user copying and distribution offence” and “rental rights for comics”, the remaining ones will be implemented in phases in 2008. In this connection, I had a meeting with the representatives of publication industry, comic book rental operators and the digital entertainment industry, to consult them on their views of the two provisions. In addition to my meetings with the officials concerned to discuss the related matters, I also reflected the worries and views of the industries in the meeting of the Panel on Commerce and Industry on 16 December. I hope the Government would implement the relevant legislation only after fully considering the views of the industries. There is a need to review the relevant provisions of the Bill to ensure that the Copyright Ordinance would not hinder the development of related industries.     3. Review on the "Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance" and listen to the opinions from different sectors In order to gather more opinions from different societal sectors, a conference on "new media and youth: regulation vs self-regulation" was organized jointly by our office and the youth organization -- “Breakthrough”. After that, I participated in the second round table meeting of Healthy Use of Internet for gathering different perspectives from the social welfare sector. Meanwhile, I also contacted the Parent-Teacher Association and conducted a survey on what they were most concerned of the ordinance. At the moment, it seems not easy to get a consensus in our society concerning this controversial ordinance. I hope the consultation period could be extended so that the public could have more time to understand the bill, and more chances to express their views.  And with more discussion opportunities, I think it would be easier for our society to arrive at a mainstream consensus.     4. Set up Task Force to Drive HK into Internet Hub Meeting Commissioner of OFTA together with a number of Telecom providers, I strived to explore the feasibility of opening up the land cable passing through China to reach Europe, so that HK could become one of the major Internet or Telecom hubs for China; and the continuity Internet routing outside US in Asia.  A Data Center focus group was formed to study the issues and business opportunities of promoting HK to be the leading Data Center service hub in Asia.         5. Lok Ma Chau Loop Development Alliance Organizes Roundtable Discussion In order to promote the technology development at Lok Ma Chau Loop, an alliance was formed with members from the Legislative Council, higher education sector, new high technology sector and the cultural and creative industry. On 7th December, a roundtable discussion was held to explore ways to help technology-based enterprises, promote creative industries, and to push forward the future development of the Loop area. Participants also included Government representatives -- Mr. Raymond Young, Permanent Secretary for Development (Planning and Lands), Mr. Duncan Pescod, Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology), and Mr. Eddy Chan, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology.   6. Possible solutions to resolve the Lehman Brothers minibond issue Together with some independent LegCo members, I had a meeting with the Financial Secretary Mr. John Tsang and Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Mr. K C Chan on 3rd December. We presented the proposal of setting up a redemption fund to buy back the Lehman-related notes from the note holders. The redemption fund which is to be contributed on an equal basis by the Government and the banks should be recouped, from: sale of the underlying assets of the structured financial products, compensation paid by the banks, and levy to be introduced by the government imposing on the future sale of structured products.       7. Consultation on 2009-2010 Budget The Financial Secretary, Mr. John Tsang is consulting Members of the Legislative Council and representatives from various sectors on the 2009-10 Budget. Together with several LegCo Members, I had a meeting with Mr. Tsang on 19th December. During the meeting, I expressed some opinions collected from the ICT industry earlier. I suggested that the Government should allocate more resources to promote the development of creative industry, and provide financial assistance to local college students for exchange study in their third or fourth academic year so as to enhance the competitiveness of the university graduates          8. Question raised: Incidents of explosion in manhole Many friends from the industry are concerned about the underground public service facilities, such as underground cables, telephone lines pipes, water mains and gas pipes, which are vulnerable to damage, and often result in major accidents. And the livelihood of citizens has been affected in recent years. Therefore, I raised a question regarding the incidents of explosion in manhole in the Legislative Council meeting on 10th December. The question mainly enquired of the details of these past incidents, the specific measures taken to avoid the recurrence of incidents and ways to enhance the occupational safety of the staff of the Government and public utility organizations working in the manholes. For details information, please view the following link: http://samsontam.hk/legco-speeches/38-main/104-10122008-.                 II. Expert Group Meeting       Expert Group Meeting Notes Expert Group on Engineering, Telecommunications and Broadcasting Policies 工程、通訊及廣播政策專家小組   Meeting Date: 2 Dec 2008 (Tue) No. of attendance: 8 Item Discussed:  Telecom in CEPA Bidding the WiMax radio spectrum Review on Radio spectrum Review on Mobile TV policy Review on 10 HK major infrastructures  Expert Group on Education and Professional Development 教育及專業發展專家小組 Meeting Date: 15 Dec 2008 (Tue) No. of attendance: 10 Item Discussed:  Outstanding and follow up actions items of "Panel on Education" 2009-2010 Budget - Education section Progress report of Focus Groups   Expert Group on ICT Industry and Regional Cooperation 科技產業及區域合作專家小組 Meeting Date: 9 Dec 2008 (Tue) No. of attendance: 11 Item Discussed: Promoting the development of creative industries in Hong Kong The concerns and suggestions of the ICT industry regarding the 2009-2010 Budget Expert Group on Internet and Information Security 互聯網及資訊保安專家小組   Meeting Date: 8 Dec 2008 (Mon) No. of attendance: 13 Item Discussed:  Information Security District Cyber centres Review of COIAO Changes to the governance structure of HKIRC Copyright protection in the digital environment   Expert Group on Youth and Social Affairs 青年及社會事務專家小組   Meeting Date: 04 December 2008 (Thu) No. of attendance: 13 Item Discussed: University seats for bachelor degree programmes Development of Creative Industry Leung Chin-Man Case The 2009-2010 Budget Supports to research student in Hong Kong     III. Panel's agenda   1. Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting Next Meeting：12 Jan 2009 Items for Discussion： Mobile TV policy framework and auctioning of mobile TV-related spectrum District cyber centres.     2. Panel on Education Next Meeting：12 Jan 2009 Items for Discussion： Capital works projects of the University Grants Committee-funded institutions Education for non-Chinese speaking students Special Meeting：15 Jan 2009 Items for Discussion： Fine-tuning the Medium of Instruction Policy   3. Panel on Commerce and Industry Next Meeting：13 Jan 2009 Items for Discussion： Progress update on the support measures for small and medium enterprises arising from the global financial turmoil Annual report on investment promotion Enhancement of economic and trade co-operation between Hong Kong and Taiwan 4. Panel on Constitutional Affairs Next Meeting：19 Jan 2009 Items for Discussion： Judicial review on prisoners’ voting right Report of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the United Nations Human Rights Council niversal Periodic Review     5. Panel on Development Next Meeting：20 Jan 2009 Items for Discussion： The implementation of Kai Tak Development Delivery of minor works projects in the Capital Works Programme Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme and Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme Review of the Urban Renewal Strategy 6. Panel on Economic Development Next Meeting：19 Jan 2009 Items for Discussion： Hong Kong Tourism Board Work Plan 2009-2010