Hong Kong News
Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
Real, Diverse, Unbiased.
End of an era as LeaveHomeSafe ditched, says technology minister
Hong Kong’s technology minister Sun Dong said on Wednesday that putting an end to the city’s Covid-19 contact tracing app LeaveHomeSafe signifies the end of an era, while his department has now shifted its focus to promoting the government’s iAM Smart app - a one-stop personalized digital services platform.
Speaking at a Legco meeting, Sun said despite LeaveHomeSafe being the most downloaded app the government has ever introduced with over 9.5 million downloads, it is time for the app to make way for the more comprehensive and useful iAM Smart app.
He said the government targeted to digitalize all its services in two years and adopt the one-stop app for people to access government services within three years.
The technology minister added that with more organizations digitalizing their services and providing incentives for people to make the switch, he believed more people will use the iAM Smart app.
Currently, 1.7 million citizens have registered themselves with the app - with the app providing access to more than 230 government services, said Sun.
However, lawmaker Kitson Yang Wing-kit slammed the iAM Smart app for being user-unfriendly with a complicated registration process, adding it is impossible for the app to be used by over 30 percent of the city’s population.
He said the government targeted to digitalize all its services in two years and adopt the one-stop app for people to access government services within three years.
The technology minister added that with more organizations digitalizing their services and providing incentives for people to make the switch, he believed more people will use the iAM Smart app.
Currently, 1.7 million citizens have registered themselves with the app - with the app providing access to more than 230 government services, said Sun.
However, lawmaker Kitson Yang Wing-kit slammed the iAM Smart app for being user-unfriendly with a complicated registration process, adding it is impossible for the app to be used by over 30 percent of the city’s population.
