As a lawmaker representing the IT industry, Sin is in a unique position to contribute to Hong Kong's digital future. Sin is the legislator representing the Information Technology Functional Constituency in Hong Kong. He has served Hong Kong people for over a decade as an elected Legislative Councilor and elected District Board member. Sin is one of the best known advocates for democracy and IT development in Hong Kong.

Sin has been involved in Hong Kong politics for seventeen years and has been an elected representative at all three tiers of the government-Legislative Council (Legco), Regional Council (abolished by the SAR government in 1999) and District Board.

The Digital 21 IT Strategy for Hong Kong - contains ideas similar to those articulated in Sin's Digital Hong Kong 2005 plan.

Sin says that the government can only play a supplementary role in making Hong Kong digital. "Though a slow starter, the government is sincere about pushing IT development in Hong Kong. The drafting of the Electronic Transactions Bill and the programmes and activities we have seen are all to this end. But all they can do is create a favourable environment in which the number of companies involved in IT will increase to a 'critical mass', attracting enough users of the Internet or broadband for e-commerce to become viable."

Help from Government and Business Organisations
Sin sees the advent of the millennium as a good opportunity to launch public education activities. "I am considering such themes as IT in Finance, in Healthcare, in Education. Through public education, we can hope to create a truly virtual community. We should not strive to concentrate a lot of IT companies in a particular place - as long as business flows in Hong Kong's direction, that's fine. We can then source the best place to process and to produce. That's one of the ways that small- to medium-sized companies will conduct e-commerce in a virtual community."

To offer these companies access to venture capital, the government opens the Growth Enterprise Market. While acknowledging this as a positive step, Sin suggests that the government should set an example by offering more public services electronically, making it easy to pay bills and obtain forms via the Internet, and providing a better online telephone directory service. The increase in quality and number of government online services will have a knock-on effect in the private sector and convince those unwilling to pay for online services to change their minds.

Addressing the question of whether a special organisation, formed along the lines of the Hong Kong Electronic Commerce Association, can be effective in promoting local IT application, Sin says that the concept is similar to the global non-profit organisation CommerceNet. Member companies can commission an independent organisation to research a particular product or service, and share the results.

"There are several advantages to this," continues Sin. "The companies can share costs. They can also set industry standards and offer suggestions to the government when it formulates related policies. It's a way for the industry to help itself, rather than relying on the government - and it can even offer the research to the government. I am willing to take part in it, but it will need a leader from industry as it would essentially be an organisation for industry."

E-commerce: An Unstoppable Trend
Faced with the global trend of e-commerce and local economic change, many small- to medium-sized businesses are overwhelmed by a sense of crisis. But Sin believes that Hong Kong still has a competitive edge in the financial, trade and service industries, as well as in its well-developed legal system. "In the garment industry, for example, we have a very efficient system with a chain of supply services. Everything can be done with just a few phone calls.

"But nowadays price is not always what competition is all about. Speed can matter just as much. If you are quick at understanding the fashion trend in Manhattan, and know how to use the Internet to provide prototypes, place orders, arrange production and close the deal - all in a short time - then you win! You have to be one step ahead to grasp the business opportunities that arise. The alternative is to be left behind."

For Hong Kong to succeed, Sin reminds businesspeople that they need a complete change of mind-set. "The bosses of many companies have already earned their first pot of gold. They are probably in their 40s and 50s and it may be hard to make them use the computer or the Internet, let alone take advantage of IT for e-commerce. They may feel unsure about investing money in the Net before seeing any tangible benefits. They may even enjoy a very stable clientele, with whom they have maintained a good business relationship for perhaps 20 years, and who are willing to deal with them, even at a higher price. But IT will change all this. With increased accessibility, clients have more choices and can easily find another supplier or change business partners based on very small differences in price," he notes.

"Hong Kong businesses need to make a paradigm shift - eliminating the common practice of putting their money into real estate in the hope of a quick return. Also, they need to let go of the traditional mode of business management and consider tapping the venture capital market and letting professional managers help them expand their business."

Making Hong Kong the IT Hub
Although other regional centres already have a fairly well-established IT culture, Sin is confident that Hong Kong can become the IT hub for the Asia-Pacific region.

"It is true that the governments of Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia have taken action ahead of the Hong Kong government in fostering IT development. But Taiwan's IT development has focused on its local Chinese environment, whereas Hong Kong is a bilingual city with a lot of potential for markets in mainland China and the West, as well as locally. Relying on its government's active involvement, Singapore has installed more than 10,000 broadband lines, but Hong Kong, with no government intervention, has achieved over 20,000," he says.

"The number of Internet users in Hong Kong now exceeds one million, or 15% of the population. However, this is still behind Taiwan in absolute numbers. The same is true for web sites - Hong Kong is behind Taiwan but ahead of Singapore. But thanks to the innovation of Hong Kong people, some of the web sites are quite successful in attracting page views from all over the world.

"Hong Kong may not be good at developing IT, but it is very inventive in applying technology in e-commerce. The government should do its part by providing sensible policies and a legal framework for the industry, and further open up the telecom market to promote the use of broadband. Then we can hope to see the critical mass reached sooner and the use of e-commerce grow exponentially."