Cyberspace, the final frontier for our officials

Published: 12:00am, 4 Apr 2010

Stealthily, the administration made some modest progress towards more transparent government by standardising the e-mail addresses of government leaders. The chief secretary can now be contacted at [email protected], the secretary for civil service at [email protected], and so on.

If you throw up your hands in despair at such collective self-obliteration, consider yourself lucky that our officials have at long last consented to being identified by their office, if not by name. Before that hard-won change, the government directory would have you e-mail them at such black holes of public inquiries as [email protected] and the like. So much for the dawn of our government's e-communication strategy.

What a contrast from the much more progressive and aggressive e-strategy adopted by a democratically elected government. Before or after election, Team Obama never omits to e-mail their constituents at every critical juncture. For the sin of having (erroneously) donated US$20 to www.moveon.org, I continue to receive e-appeals from (now) White House strategists David Plouffe, Mitch Stewart, US Vice-President Joseph Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama and occasionally Barack himself, with such impassioned messages as 'Because of you, every American will finally be guaranteed high quality, affordable health care coverage', and 'Tonight, thanks to your mighty efforts, the answer is indisputable: Yes we can.' Whether or not you believe in the message, the authenticity and poignancy are mind-blowing.

The reasons for the Hong Kong government's evasiveness are not hard to surmise. There could be a multitude of factors, including (believe it or not) sheer laziness; the addiction to delegating non-glamorous, nitty-gritty tasks to faithful lackeys; instinctive fear of insults; or being overwhelmed with pleas or demands that cannot be met. The problem is compounded by the fact that it is hard for an official to respond in a personal capacity: any hints or concessions could be interpreted as being indicative of official positions and blown out of proportion. Small wonder that, in a failed attempt to communicate with the anti-express-railway, 'post- 1980s', protesters, the transport secretary opened a Facebook account - which was then shut down after just three hours.

The reality is that it is so easy to network, mobilise or assault by digital tools that no government can afford to overlook the importance of strengthening its e-presence. Instead of engaging in one-off networking exercises in cyberspace, the government needs to master the basic tools, and develop a comprehensive digital strategy.

All government offices now have a website, but inadequate use is being made of the website to receive and respond to e-mails, to organise and mobilise support, to engage and build a popular base in the creative ways political organisers have done in a grass-roots campaign. The government not only needs to be able to trace what the people are saying in cyberspace, but also who is saying what. The technology is actually available for the government to do just that.

The government also needs to be ready to reach out to the people by messaging with Twitter, blanket e-mails or live streaming videos. Above all, government officials need to come through as sincere, human voices.

Is it really possible for a politician to be a selfless, public leader and an accessible private individual at the same time? Is there any room for a politician to be responsive and convincing to everyone in cyberspace?

Tantalising though that may seem, projecting a sincere, trustworthy digital personality is actually achievable, if you put your heart and soul into it. A digital personality that is merely a media construct will not do. But if you apply yourself to mastering the tools, and employing them creatively and diligently, it may just be possible even for a politician to make personal contacts with friends and foes alike in cyberspace.

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee is a legislator and chairwoman of the Savantas Policy Institute

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