One-stop portal: Government Chief Information Officer Howard Dickson and his deputy Linda So introduce GovHK at a press conference.

The Government's one-stop portal, GovHK (www.gov.hk), has been launched to offer a comprehensive range of online government information and services to the community.

Government Chief Information Officer Howard Dickson said today GovHK has adopted a citizen-centric approach to provide the most popular online government information and services, focusing on the public's needs and interests.

GovHK organises information and services by user groups and subject areas. Its service clusters bring together related content provided by different bureaux and departments for convenient public access via a simple, user-friendly interface.

The new portal serves three broad user groups - residents, businesses and trades, and non-residents.

Subject-based clusters

For the 'residents' user group, there are 11 subject-based clusters covering key areas of public interest. The clusters are:

* Communications & Technology;

* Culture, Leisure & Sports;

* Education & Training;

* Employment;

* Environment;

* Government, Law & Order;

* Health & Medical Services;

* Housing & Social Services;

* Immigration Services;

* Taxes & Duties; and

* Transport & Motoring.

Information related to doing business in Hong Kong and the Mainland is available in the portal's 'business & trade' section.

Non-residents interested in visiting, investing, studying, working and living in Hong Kong can find the information and services they need in the 'non-residents' section.

Setting up of other user groups, such as 'young people', is being explored.

Better search service

GovHK also offers access to information frequently sought by the public, such as the government directory, news, weather and traffic conditions. The search service has also been enhanced.

Noting the development of GovHK is an interactive and progressive process, Mr Dickson said the portal's content will be enriched, taking into account feedback from the IT industry and the public.

Regarding the existing Government Information Centre (www.info.gov.hk), Mr Dickson said it will be decommissioned when GovHK is running smoothly and meeting the usability and accessibility requirements of most users, tentatively in the first quarter of 2007.

GovHK runs a help desk daily from 9am to 8pm to help the public use the new portal. Users are welcome to call its hotline, 183 5500, or send their enquiries by email to enquiry@1835500.gov.hk.