IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

Many steps have been taken, but there is a problem that is limiting the development of the project.

Technology is now at the forefront of the Macau government’s priorities, but the concept of a smart city, which is now one of the watchwords, appeared for the first time in the Policy Address for 2016.

Macao, the city famous for its casinos, is eyeing frontier technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing to digitalize its various industries and transform itself into a smart city.

Around 300 multinational corporations, unicorn companies and start-ups, including Chinese tech giants like Tencent and Huawei, gathered in the city for the first BEYOND International Technology Innovation Expo held from Thursday to Saturday. The latest tech products and solutions have been showcased and cooperation agreements were signed during the event.

Enforcing the new local cybersecurity law requirements is fundamental in Macau’s development of Smart City initiatives and their integration into national development, Deloitte cybersecurity consultants told Macau News Agency (MNA).

In 2017, local authorities signed a four-year partnership agreement with the Alibaba Group to help Macau transform itself into a ‘smart city’ via cloud-computing technology in two phases, with the first having finished last year.

It all started exactly two decades ago, but only in the last few years has the e-government formula developed. Much is done, much remains to be done

Japan’s Waseda University, in cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference (APEC) from 2005-2021, has been publishing the annual “Global E-Government Ranking” report, which counts the e-government scores of various governments.

Die von Siemens Business Services und Giesecke & Devrient gelieferten multifunktionalen Chipkartenausweise werden jetzt an die Bürger des Sonderverwaltungsgebiets Macau (Special Administrative Region) ausgegeben.

During the first phase which will run till June 2019, a cloud computing data centre will be built in Macao and data mapping will be done for information by the Government.

The Government of Macau signed an agreement with the Alibaba Group on August 4 to further develop the special administrative region (SAR) as a smart city. Under the "Framework Agreement of Strategic Cooperation on Smart City Development", the Government will leverage Alibaba's big data processing capabilities to enhance the quality of the city's public services.

Secretary for Administration and Justice, Florinda da Rosa Silva Chan, said that the expected results of the project include a domain model for Macao's e-government and training of government employees in the relevant techniques.

In a hard-hitting report published Thursday, the Commission of Audit (CA) slams the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) for its “sluggish” progress in the development of e-govermment services over the past two decades.

The report says that back in 2001 the government set up a working group – consisting of officials from a raft of government entities – tasked with formulating strategies and coordinating related tasks by various entities for the development of e-government services. The operation of the working group is coordinated by the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau.

Im Scheckkartenformat mit allen Informationen versehen - so sehen die neuen Ausweise der Bürger der ehemaligen portugiesischen Überseeprovinz Macau aus. Mit der Ausgabe der High-Tech-Chipkarten an die 460.000 Einwohner der chinesischen Sonderverwaltungsregion wird nach Auskunft der Chipkartenhersteller Siemens und Giesecke & Devrient jetzt begonnen.

Im Scheckkartenformat mit allen Informationen versehen - so sehen die neuen Ausweise der Bürger der ehemaligen portugiesischen Überseeprovinz Macau aus. Mit der Ausgabe der High-Tech-Chipkarten an die 460.000 Einwohner der chinesischen Sonderverwaltungsregion wird nach Auskunft der Chipkartenhersteller Siemens und Giesecke & Devrient jetzt begonnen.

MGTO is gradually proceeding with online payment services, starting with payment procedures for tour guide card renewal and enrolment to join promotional activities.

Despite launching a number of policies aimed at simplifying its Administrative procedures, Macau Government has been criticised for excessive bureaucracy. The UNU-IIST has been working with the SAR Government since 2004 and is set to sign the agreement for the third phase of the project.

“Actually in terms of e-governance, Macau is one of the most advanced Governments in Asia. I wouldn’t say that it isn’t efficient. In terms of my own experience using Government services here, I could say it’s very efficient,” Haddawy said.

Some 100,000 local residents have already joined the new joint single account platform launched by the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) on January 1 of this year.

The new account aggregates various public services provided by different government entities and allows residents to submit their proof of life to the Social Security Fund, Social Welfare Bureau and Pension Fund without needing to go personally to the service counters, even residents who are abroad.

The University of Macau (UM), to help develop Macao into a smart city and also in the diversification of the local economy with technological advancements, is creating numerous novel applications on the basis of artificial intelligence technology. This includes unmanned marine vessels, self-driving buses, image forgery detection, industrial robots, and software for smart tourism.

One of these projects is the self-driving project shouldered by the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City (University of Macau) and its associates from Macao and mainland China. The scientists were led by Professor Xu Chengzhong, dean of UM’s Faculty of Science and Technology.

In the future, residents will be able to access public services digitally without setting foot in a government office, or collect their registered post without showing up at a post office, Kou Peng Kuan, director of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP), revealed yesterday, adding that soon most services will be delivered over the internet.

The press conference was held to present the government’s views on e-governance. The Electronic Governance Law and the Administrative Regulations on the Execution Details of the said law was also enacted yesterday.

In the third edition of the newsletter published by the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) yesterday, Fong said that the construction of a corruption-free environment is not a matter for only one or two departments, but everyone in society.

“The balance and monitoring of powers, social participation, and a sound and updated system are the keys to an integrity mechanism in the modern world,” the commissioner added.

Following last year’s establishment of the government’s five-year e-government plan, the Director of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP), Kou Peng Kuan, said during TDM radio programme Macao Forum that an e-government can only be fully implemented with legal support, commenting that law amendments will only start in 2017.

Director Kou said the five-year plan will be implemented in two stages, with the first three years focusing on tasks such as the improvement of procedures, formation of a basic platform, application practice and legal support.

The MSAR government presented its five-year plan for the overall development of the e-government project.

Published on the government’s official webpage (www.gov.mo) on the last day of 2015, the plan consists of six parts and details measures to be developed between 2015 and 2019.

The highlights of the plan were several measures that aim to create a unified platform in collaboration with the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau (SAFP) in order to better manage and store data related to human resources, finance and property management. The single platform would allow citizens to more readily obtain information and lodge requests concerning different public service procedures; to submit applications; to clarify the status of pending applications, or to even complete online payments.