Tech pros to audit Hong Kong gov't IT usage

Tech pros in Hong Kong will audit various government departments' IT usage, said Samson Tam, Legislative Councilor representing the IT industry Thursday.

 

Tam told Computerworld Hong Kong that he is working with 20 IT practitioners from the IT industry and IT governance, control, security and assurance organization ISACA on creating a two-to-three page checklist for tech usage audit purpose.

 

"Government employees aren't the right people to do the audit," said Tam. "Audit should be done by third-party. That's why we as professionals from the IT sector are creating the checklist and will conduct the audit."

Tam said the purpose of the audit is to encourage effective use of IT for higher satisfaction of citizens who use government services.

 

Though the government has an IT unit -- The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), it has limitations in driving effective use of IT among the government departments, according to Tam.

 

"OGCIO is an office under the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau," he said. "It is a unit lower than bureau and departments in the government hierarchy. That means it can't drive others higher in the hierarchy to deploy technologies they need to deploy."

 

Tam said he and other tech pros expect to finalize the checklist within a month and will introduce it to the various government units and invite them to complete it.

 

Asked what he will do if government departments aren't willing to be audited, Tam said he will raise the issue in meetings of the Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting of the Legislative Council.

 

He expects the audit to be done once or twice a year. "In the future, we might also benchmark local government IT usage against IT deployment in foreign governments.

 

Tam also expects five to 10 government departments as the first batch to participate in the audit.