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Recommendations under Review of the IT Strategy

for the Social Welfare Sector

Mrs. Sarah Choy Chief Social Work Officer

(Information Systems and Technology) Social Welfare Department

31 July 2013

Information Technology (IT) Strategy for the Social Welfare Sector

- a means to an end

i.e. use of IT to enhance corporate administration and service delivery

- promotional, not obligatory

- long-term, not ad hoc

- interactive, not one way

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Developmental Milestones of IT Strategy

• 2001 : Formulation of IT Strategy • 2004 : First review – continuation of IT

Strategy of 2001 as a pertinent guide • Dec 2011 - Apr 2013 : Second review by

the University of Hong Kong

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Review: Collaborative Process

• NGOs - board, executives, frontline staff • Service users • IT service providers & professional

bodies • Consultative and steering committees

with social welfare and IT membership • Joint Committee on IT for the Social

Welfare Sector (JCIT) 4

Current Profile of IT Development • Disparity of IT development among

NGOs – IT usage and resources • Funding-driven project-by-project

development, not much business-driven IT planning

• Funding available for IT projects, yet to be more flexible to accommodate changes

• Project management experiences yet to be consolidated

• Less aware of IT standards and technological advancement

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Looking Ahead - Steps

4 Strategies 13 Recommendations

5 Years

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Looking Ahead - Vision • Substantial IT capacity to enable optimal work

efficiency in agency administrations and service delivery

• More up-to-date technology appropriate to different NGOs to enhance service delivery

• Meeting standards in data security and web accessibility

• Sharing culture among NGOs to exchange IT knowledge, resources and experiences

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Stakeholders

• SWD: Funding support & monitoring of IT projects under its financial provision

• Individual NGO: Better IT planning to help achieve business objectives

• All NGOs: Sharing culture • IT and Welfare Sectors: Collaboration to

attain success in IT development

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Strategies and Recommendations

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Strategy I

Enhancing IT capacity for NGOs of different sizes, in particular those lagging behind the general trend

(R1-R6)

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Recommendation 2 To advocate IT planning and to consider the provision of additional resources to assist NGOs in conducting comprehensive IT plans that are in line with their current state of IT adoption and business objectives

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Recommendation 1 To enable NGOs to self-assess their IT capacity and relative level in IT development

Recommendation 4 To promote the use of new technologies for

more cost-effective service delivery and better communication with service users

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Recommendation 3 To strengthen project management in IT projects

Recommendation 6 To foster closer partnership between the

Welfare and IT Sectors

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Recommendation 5 To strengthen NGOs’ evaluation on

completed IT projects

Strategy II Providing more flexibility

in funding IT projects (R7-R8)

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Recommendation 8 To expand the ambit of the Block Grant under the Lotteries Fund to provide funding support for replacement and upgrading of IT infrastructure

Recommendation 7 To enable NGOs to adopt new IT service model

as an implementation option under the Social Welfare Development Fund (SWDF)

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Strategy III

Enhancing data security

and web accessibility (R9-R10)

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Recommendation 9 To strengthen data security

Recommendation 10 To promote web accessibility

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Strategy IV

Sharing of resources and experiences

in IT development and management

(R11-R12)

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Recommendation 12 To encourage sharing of IT applications among NGOs

Recommendation 11 To promote knowledge and experience

sharing through an e-platform

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Other Recommendation

Recommendation 13 To put aside the deployment of the

Client Information System (CIS) of SWD to subvented integrated family service centres (IFSC)

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