HKSOA Background

The mainland's "eleventh five-year plan" highlights that software outsourcing is strategic in the development of the IT industry and strongly encourages the mainland IT companies going out for software outsourcing business. In view of the rapidly increasing global software outsourcing business and the complementary competency of Hong Kong (HK) and Guangdong (GD), the software industry of both sides considers that it is beneficial for greater HK/GD collaboration in this area. Hong Kong Information Technology Federation (HKITF) has taken lead to discuss with Guangdong Software Outsourcing Council (GDSOC) on the cooperation model between HK and GD. At the same time, a Hong Kong Software Outsourcing Alliance (HKSOA) has been established under the support from the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) as GDSOC's counterpart for further collaboration.

Hong Kong IT Industry

The competitive advantages of Hong Kong IT industry lie in strong industry expertise, business knowledge, well-established infrastructures, good understanding of the Chinese and overseas markets as well as high quality IT professionals with good project management skills and rich experience in large-scale projects.

Being a cosmopolitan city, Hong Kong has good understanding of the Chinese and western cultures, strong industry expertise and good business knowledge of the operation of multinational corporations. The highly competitive and complex business environment has made Hong Kong a good test bed for local IT companies to develop innovative and world-class applications.

Hong Kong has well-established infrastructures in terms of telecommunications network, financial structure as well as tax and legal systems. Equipped with excellent information infrastructure, Hong Kong offers a favorable environment for developing web-based applications, e-commerce, enterprise portal, multimedia, online games and mobile applications etc. More importantly, intellectual property rights are well protected under the governing laws.

Hong Kong IT companies have been developing advanced and sophisticated solutions to address the complex and ever-changing needs of the private and public sectors. In addition, they have been continuously improving the quality of their software and services to stay competitive in the market. Many award-winning solutions have been developed and are highly recognized in the international market.

In terms of market exposure and technical standards, Hong Kong IT companies are familiar with international practices, making Hong Kong an ideal link between China and the West. The bilingual capability of local IT professionals in Chinese and English communications, combined with their sensitivities to global market trends, have greatly facilitated Hong Kong IT companies to engage in offshore outsourcing activities.

Furthermore, Hong Kong IT companies have good project management skills and teamwork methodology as well as rich experience in implementing large-scale projects. There are high quality IT talents in Hong Kong who are creative, efficient, flexible and have strong quality commitment. In terms of technical competence, many of them are well versed in high value-added activities such as architecture design, system integration and consultancy services. Consequently, they are able to deliver projects on time, within budget and with high quality standard.

Last but not least, the close relationship between Hong Kong and mainland China has intensively strengthened the partnership between IT companies in the two places. Their combined advantages have further increased their competitiveness in the global outsourcing market.