1 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 2

Developmental Milestones of IT Strategy 2001 : Formulation of IT Strategy 2004 : First review – continuation of IT Strategy of 2001 as a pertinent guide Dec Apr 2013 : Second review by the University of Hong Kong 3

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 5

Looking Ahead - Steps  4 Strategies  13 Recommendations  5 Years 6

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 7

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 8

Strategies and Recommendations 9

Strategy I Enhancing IT capacity for NGOs of different sizes, in particular those lagging behind the general trend (R1-R6) 10

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 11 Recommendation 1 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 12 Recommendation 3 Recommendation 3 To strengthen project management in IT projects

Recommendation 6 To foster closer partnership between the Welfare and IT Sectors 13 Recommendation 5 To strengthen NGOs’ evaluation on completed IT projects

Strategy II Providing more flexibility in funding IT projects (R7-R8) 14

Recommendation 8 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) 15

Strategy III Enhancing data security and web accessibility (R9-R10) 16

Recommendation 9 Recommendation 9 To strengthen data security Recommendation 10 To promote web accessibility 17

Strategy IV Sharing of resources and experiences in IT development and management (R11-R12) 18

Recommendation 12 Recommendation 12 To encourage sharing of IT applications among NGOs Recommendation 11 To promote knowledge and experience sharing through an e-platform 19

Other Recommendation Recommendation 13 To put aside the deployment of the Client Information System (CIS) of SWD to subvented integrated family service centres (IFSC) 20