Tech Center: More Hong Kong Residents Use Web to Access Government Data
November 7, 2001
By JENNIFER SARANOW
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
HONG KONG -- Residents in Hong Kong lead the rest of Asia in using the Internet for government activities, however they are mainly accessing information rather than doing more advanced things like online payment transactions, according to a new study.
Some 31% of Hong Kong's population have used the Internet over the past 12 months to access government information, provide information to the government or interact with government services according to a study published Tuesday by London-based marketing group Taylor Nelson Sofres.
This compares to an average of 26% of people that participate in so-called e-government services globally, according to the Government Online Study, which consisted of interviews with 29,000 individuals in 27 countries. Only Norway, Denmark, Canada, Finland and the U.S. rank above Hong Kong.
The prevalent use of e-government services in Hong Kong is due to the territory's high Internet usage and educated population, said Wander Meijer, the managing director of Taylor Nelson Sofres.
However, while an average of 6% of the adult population across all markets surveyed have used the Internet to pay for government services or products online using credit cards or bank-account information, the figure for Hong Kong specifically is slightly lower at 5%.
That shouldn't be taken to suggest that Hong Kong Internet users are more afraid than their counterparts elsewhere to share credit-card or bank-account information online, Mr. Meijer said. In fact, only 55% of Hong Kong Internet users said they are concerned with safety, compared to 85% in Germany and 84% in Japan.
Rather, Mr. Meijer said, the lack of online transactions is mainly due to the small size of Hong Kong, where it is still convenient for residents to physically make payments, whether by mailing a letter or going to the government office in person.
"It's similar to e-commerce. When people tried to sell their products online in Hong Kong, there was no major reason to do shopping online because all the shopping markets are convenient," Mr. Meijer said. He predicted that eventually all Hong Kong government transactions will be done online once citizens are encouraged to do so and because "it's a cheaper way of doing business," he said.
Write to Jennifer Saranow at jennifer.saranow@awsj.com1
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