Term Paper - GEOG 2030 Global Development E-development in...

GEOG 2030 – Global Development
E-development in Hong Kong:
Analysis and Recommendations
November 25, 2015
Contents
Introduction
3
Hong Kong – A Mature E-society
3
General Trends
4
Demographics 4
Mentality of Citizens 4
Infrastructure
6
Hardware 7
Software 9
1

Sectors
9
Individuals 10
Businesses 13
Government 15
Policy Recommendation
18
Social Solution to ‘Phubbing’ 18
Promoting E-working 19
Cyber Security 21
Conclusion
22
Appendix
23
References
24
Introduction
With the advent of perpetual technological advancement, e-technologies have
penetrated into every aspect of our lives, contributing to the emergence of e-societies.
In this paper we examine the stage of e-development based on Professor Becky P.Y
Loo’s conceptual framework, with a special focus on Hong Kong as a case study.
This work aims at classifying the stage of e-development Hong Kong is experiencing
and analyzing the applications of e-technologies in the city. It will look closely into
the general trends and availability of infrastructure, and then evaluate their
implications to different sectors in the society. Lastly, strategic policies will be
recommended in hopes of enhancing Hong Kong’s e-environment and fostering an
innovation and technology culture in the community.
Hong Kong – A Mature E-society
At the Mature Stage of e-development, essentially everyone is adopting e-
technologies in the everyday life, with easy access to Internet connection and digital
devices at an affordable cost. The use of e-means is integrated into every fabric of the
society. Hong Kong, as a renowned knowledge-based city, the use of technology is
prevalent and widely spread across various sectors and social groups. The following
will explore in detail the characteristics of Hong Kong as a mature e-city.
2

General Trends
This section provides an overview of e-citizens’ demographics and mentality towards
technology utilization, in order to gain a better insight into the current situation of
Hong Kong.
Demographics
According to the Census and Statistics Department (Figure 1), the number of
households with personal computers (PC) connected to the Internet has experienced a
rapid growth of 150% over the past 15 years, reaching 1.9 million in 2014 (refer to
Figure 2). Another noteworthy phenomenon is that while more than 90% of citizens
aged between 10 and 44 use PCs and surf the Internet, usage among senior citizens
has also increased from 3.2% to 69.9% from 2000 to 2014. This is probably due to the
prevalence of mobile devices as the proportion of citizens accessing the Web via
smartphones reached around 95% in Hong Kong (Census and Statistics Department,
2015). Besides, the rate of using Internet services among females is slightly lower
than that among males. As one can see, e-technologies and e-devices are not exclusive
to the highly educated or the youth, but citizens from all walks of life.