Smart city development
Involvement of the private sector
Mr CHAN Chun-ying commented that the Administration should set out the factors to be considered and the mode of cooperation that should be adopted, when determining whether small and medium enterprises (“SMEs”) or larger corporations should be invited to participate in the public-private-partnership (“PPP”) model of developing smart city. He asked how the Administration would promote the PPP model in smart city development without being criticized as colluding with the private sector. S for IT said that in Austria, SMEs formed a consortium through which recommendations were made to the government on the companies that were suitable to participate in PPP projects. He said that the approach was open and transparent.
Implementation of Smart City Development Programme for Hong Kong
Mr CHAN Chun-ying noted that the consultant’s recommendations on “Smart City Development Programme for Hong Kong” covered six areas. While some of the recommendations involving “Smart Government” might require long term planning and adoption of the latest technologies, measures related to other areas such as “Smart Mobility” might be implemented in the short to medium term. He asked which measures were able to be implemented in the short to medium term. Permanent Secretary for Innovation and Technology said that the consultant recommended short, medium and long term measures in all the six areas under smart city development plans.
Review on the regulation of person-to-person telemarketing calls
Discussion
Mr CHAN Chun-ying noted that the trade associations of the four sectors (i.e. finance, insurance, telecommunications and call centres) had joined a selfregulatory scheme since mid-2011. He asked how many complaint cases had been handled and whether any companies had been sanctioned. Deputy Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Creative Industries) (“DS(CCI)”) said that from the information provided by the trade associations who had participated in the self-regulatory scheme, the number of complaints relating to P2P calls had decreased from 1 219 cases in 2011-2012 to 798 cases in 2015-2016. In May 2014, the finance sector took initiatives to enhance the scheme with measures whereby a caller would have to provide his/her name and company telephone number to facilitate enquiry and identity verification. However, the Government had no information on sanctions under the self-regulatory scheme.
Mr CHAN Chun-ying noted that in the public consultation exercise conducted in May 2017, the Administration suggested options for strengthening the current regulation of P2P calls, including promoting the use of call-filtering applications in smartphones. He asked how the Administration would apply the option to elderly people and vulnerable groups who did not have smartphones. DS(CCI) added that this option was applicable to smartphones only. The Government could provide support which involved education and promotion of the wider use of suitable call-filtering software, including reaching out to the elderly or vulnerable groups.