Hong Kong shelled out over $1b in IT deals

44 firms were awarded.

According to a report, the Government today awarded 70 standing offer agreements to 44 companies for the provision of professional services to undertake information technology projects in the Government under the Standing Offer Agreement for Quality Professional Services scheme.

The agreements, worth more than $1 billion, will be implemented on July 31 for four years.

Speaking at the contract-signing ceremony, Government Chief Information Officer Daniel Lai said the scheme reinforces the Government's IT outsourcing strategy by enlarging its delivery capacity for IT services.

"It also provides excellent business opportunities for the IT sector and helps further the development of the local IT industry," he said.

The standing offer agreement covers four categories of IT services - pre-implementation and independent programme or project management services, ongoing services, implementation and combined system development services, and information security and independent testing services.

During the contract period, government departments may invite proposals for individual IT projects from suppliers in the relevant service categories and select service providers to undertake the assignments based on technical and price assessments.

"As service quality is of utmost importance to the success of IT services delivery, we have introduced a new process to monitor and regulate the performance of service providers to assure service quality," Mr Lai said.