Simon H WANG
Attachments include email replies from the Immigration Department and the Innovation and Technology Bureau.
From: Shanxi LI <1943...@life.hkbu.edu.hk>
Date: Mon, Jun 22, 2020 at 7:55 PM
Subject: Contributing a piece about HKID cards
To: <let...@scmp.com>
Cc: Mengqi WU <1943...@life.hkbu.edu.hk>, Simon H WANG <simo...@hkbu.edu.hk>
How the new smart HKID cards can better serve the residents
In November 2018, the Immigration Department launched the HKID card replacement scheme （https://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/press/press-releases/20181018.html） that will serve 8.8 million residents through nine replacement centres across the city in 4 years. Primarily concerned with security and integrity of the HKID cards, the scheme offered new ID cards to residents born in 1985 or 1986 first as their current ID cards received in 2003 are the most vulnerable. Yet, it is difficult to justify the nearly HKD 3 billion cost （https://www.google.com.hk/amp/s/amp.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/2169020/how-humble-hong-kong-identity-card-got-smart-and-became-vital）of the scheme based on security concerns alone. The government should take the opportunities to strengthen the roles of the new smart HKID cards in consolidating various smart-city efforts and projects.
While the Immigration Department is responsible for implementing the replacement scheme, the Innovation and Technology Bureau should set up a team to oversee how the new HKID cards can serve the city residents through a range of smart city initiatives. The team should first review the services that are available with the existing HKID cards. To answer our enquiry about the number of current HKID card holders using electronic services, the bureau had to collect and compile data from various government departments indicating a lack of regular data sharing within the government. The figures from the bureau suggest that more promotional efforts are needed for the eServices, for example, less than 30 valid personal e-certificates have been carried using HKID cards through Hong Kong Post.
Although the new smart HKID cards can support "contactless" chip interface for a range of new eServices, the Innovation and Technology Bureau has yet to develop a systematic plan on what specific new services could be provided for the new HKID card holders. We urge the government to be more proactive in enhancing the user experience of the new HKID card holders including using the cards as high-speed train tickets, introducing electronic ID card readers for the police and integrating HKID cards with staff and student IDs for corporations and schools. In the long term, the government should also plan to phase out the physical HKID cards and develop smartphone-based virtual identity cards utilizing blockchain and facial recognition technologies for our future generations.
Shanxi Li, Mengqi Wu, Kowloon Tong
Phone no. of Li：53001754
Phone no. of Wu：97919014
Below are our enquires, and replies from the Immigration Department for reference and verifying.
Sincerely yours,
Shanxi LI
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