A new e-Government initiative to notify the Government online about a change of address has been introduced under the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme.

This newly rolled-out Internet service, "Easy Change of Address", caters for the needs of citizens and businesses who have moved homes or offices, allowing them to notify over 10 departments about change of their address using a single online form at the ESD website, www.esd.gov.hk.

E-Government Coordinator  Michael Stone said this new service is one of many e-Government initiatives which seek to provide more convenient and one-stop public services to the community through the Internet.

"Our e-Government vision is to provide seamless electronic services to the public and business in an efficient and customer-centric way. With these objectives in mind, the ESD has brought to the community 140 interactive and transactional online public services since the launching of the scheme in December 2000.

"The Easy Change of Address service represents the determination and joint effort of various Government departments, led by the Government's Efficiency Unit, to provide a further customer-oriented online service in a one-stop manner," Mr Stone said.

The customer-centric approach of Hong Kong's E-government vision has recently received international recognition in the annual e-Government survey conducted by Accenture, a leading management consulting and technology services company.

In this global study named "eGovernment Leadership: Engaging the Customer", Hong Kong's ranking has advanced from eighth to seventh place this year in a ranking of 22 governments. The ranking is based on the overall maturity of Hong Kong's online service delivery and its early adoption of Customer Relationship Management techniques that are designed to improve customer service.

Mr Stone welcomed the ranking and said that the survey result reflected the steady progress of Hong Kong's e-Government development.

The Government is working towards the target of providing an e-option for 90% of public services which are amenable to the electronic mode of service delivery by the end of 2003. As of the end of 2002, 81% of such services were provided with an e-option.