HK govt CIO exploring industry cloud possibility

15.03.2012
The is exploring the concept of an industry cloud platform with several parties, said government CIO Daniel Lai during a recent interview with .

According to him, this platform allows local software firms to turn products into cloud-enabled tools and local industries to find useful apps. Lai added that the platform will also create business opportunities for local consulting firms to provide platform support.

"This is like an app store where customers find affordable systems and small vendors find opportunities," he noted. "The government, or the , could be a facilitator behind the platform."

Lai pointed out that he proposed this cloud platform concept more than ten years ago. "Back then there were ASPs (application service providers), but building such a platform was still costly. Now is a great time to build a cloud platform as Internet is prevalent and app stores are popular."

While the government has long been criticized for not buying products from smaller local vendors, Lai said the government are using locally-developed technologies but on a smaller scale. "The government in talk with the HKPC to see how we can throw more support [to smaller tech vendors]," said Lai. "For instance, we might build a center to showcase technologies by small vendors and build a catalog for their products," he noted.