Daniel Lai underlined the role of cloud computing in driving change across government departments as Hong Kong’s Government Chief Information Officer ranked it as being "the top of the government’s IT agenda", at the start of FutureGov Forum Hong Kong today.

Echoing the three streams of the conference, Lai shared how the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer was working with other departments to support transformation, efficiency and innovation across government.

"Government transformation is how we use technology to improve our service to the citizen - and cloud computing tops the government’s ICT agenda," Lai revealed. "It enables convenient, on demand access to configurable resources - and we expect cost savings, time saving and enhanced agility."

He continued by explaining that cloud computing provided the capacity for government to meet the increasing expectations of citizens for better, more convenient services - a point that was expanded upon during a panel discussion which brought together senior Hong Kong officials with a number of their international counterparts.

"Citizens are already actively engaged with cloud-based services," noted Karen Chang, Executive Yuan, Taiwan. "Government has no choice but to follow citizens in to the cloud and deliver the same kind of seamless service experience."

FutureGov Forum Hong Kong brought together over 160 government officials and technology stakeholders to discuss the impact of technology in improving efficiency and innovation within the public sector - and map out what ‘government transformation’ should deliver for citizens. This is the sixth annual conference organised by FutureGov magazine in Hong Kong.