Minister without Portfolio Chang San-cheng today hosted the 31st meeting of the National Information and Communications Initiative Committee (NICI), in which officials pledged to create a stronger information and communications (IC) environment and provide citizens with quality government services. The meeting marked a milestone as it was the first gathering of chief information officers (or their representatives) from various ministries and agencies—new positions recently created to advance government e-services.
According to a McKinsey & Company study this year, the degree to which a country adopts new technology will have a profound influence on its economic performance. For instance, the rise of the Internet in Taiwan fueled a 12.7-percent growth in gross domestic product from 2005 to 2010. Aside from promoting national growth, IC infrastructure can also bring greater efficiency and convenience to public services. Electronic museum guides, online reservations and e-invoice issuance are all tangible benefits.
Participants at today's meeting sought to root out problems relating to IC services procurement by promoting a method in which the government awards contracts to the most advantageous bid, without setting a floor price. This will discourage contractors from under-pricing projects but delivering poor results.
Also in the past when IC projects are implemented, hardware is purchased before software is developed, running the risk that the equipment becomes obsolete in the year or two it takes for the software to be ready. Now the NICI is encouraging agencies to develop software before procuring hardware, or even purchase services directly to save themselves the worries of aging equipment. In addition, agencies are urged to support industrial development by being flexible about yielding intellectual property rights to contractors.
When outsourcing IC services, disputes between vendors and agencies commonly arise from ambiguities about needs or gaps in contract interpretation. As a remedy, project management offices will be established to help government agencies plan and execute key IC projects, set technical specifications, approve finished products and settle disputes. These agencies will ensure that major IC projects are completed on time to an expected quality, and that such systems provide sustainable operations. Three types of project management offices are being planned—for cloud computing, information security and mid-to-large projects.
Participants at today's meeting approved the "Open Data" initiative proposed by the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission. It calls for agencies under the Executive Yuan to open government documents to public access; set specifications for releasing data; promote a common platform (data.gov.tw); and publicize the services. The initiative will begin by releasing data that raise citizens' quality of life, including information on food, health, housing, transportation, recreation, employment, culture and economic development.