At a recent conference of the State Information Commission headed by Premier Zhu Rongji, the increased use of IT in government offices was again highlighted as one of the major tasks of the commission.

Government ministries and organizations were urged to step up the pace of utilizing the tools of IT to upgrade efficiency in the workplace and also increase the transparency of government work, according to sources close to the commission.

The State Information Commission comprises top officials from almost all government ministries, and its decisions are often taken as blueprints for the development of related industries.

Setting up a sophisticated IT equipped government will create a huge market for computer software, hardware vendors and related service providers, industry insiders commented.

That market will be worth hundreds of billions of yuan, said Wu Jichuan, minister of information industry.

According to unnamed sources close to the commission, investment for building the e-government will be jointly provided by central and local government.

"Doing business with the government is very safe for companies, although profit margins may be thinner. The positive influence that comes with government contracts will always enhance our reputation," said Lei Jun, president of Kingsoft, one of the major domestic software vendors.

Kingsoft has recently been awarded contracts by Beijing and Guangzhou municipal governments to supply operation software in their offices.

Winning contracts from the government is very encouraging news, said Lei.

In the wake of the Beijing and Guangzhou agreements, Kingsoft received many inquiries from other local governments, he said.

Multi-national IT companies have also been encouraged by the news and are making preparations to seize opportunities as when they arise.

Japanese electronics giant Hitachi launched the first e-government showroom at Beijing Polytechnic University at the end of last year.

The Hitachi e-government exhibition introduced IT solutions covering electronic identification, household management, rubbish collection management and community education.

Masao Hisada, president of Hitachi (China), said the exhibition demonstrated the company's confidence in the opportunities brought about by China's e-government policy.

Cliff Yung, Computer Associates' top executive on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said government contracts are set to be one of his company's most important sources of revenue.

The US-based software giant recently secured a contract from Beijing High People's Court to construct an internal information platform to allow court staff to get legislative information.

The court and linked tribunals deal with more than 200,000 cases annually, according to She Guiqing, information manager of the court.

The internal information platform of the court must ensure a high level of security, be easy to use and include extensive available information, She said.

After adopting Computer Associates information management solutions, efficiency at Beijing High People's Court improved significantly, he said.

By being able to access the appropriate information from the court's internal information network the judges have saved considerable time, which would otherwise have been wasted sifting through mountains of old files, She explained.

(China Daily October 15, 2002)