Publications and Press Releases

30 November 2021

The Next Generation Electronic Passport (e-Passport-2) System introduced by the Hong Kong Immigration Department (ImmD) has won the Award of the Year, the Smart Business Grand Award and the Smart Business (Solution for Business and Public Sector Enterprise) Gold Award of the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2021. The awards presentation ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre today (November 29) and the results have been published on the official website (www.hkictawards.hk/index_en.php) and Facebook page of the Hong Kong ICT Awards (www.facebook.com/hkictawards).

The Hong Kong ICT Awards, established in 2006, were steered by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and organised by the associations and professional bodies of the information and communications technology (ICT) industry in Hong Kong. The Awards aim at establishing a locally espoused and internationally acclaimed brand of ICT awards in recognition of outstanding ICT inventions and applications, with a view to encouraging the constant pursuit of innovation and excellence among Hong Kong's ICT talent in their search for better solutions for the benefit of the community.

In May 2019, the ImmD introduced the e-Passport-2 System, in which intelligent elements are incorporated to handle the procedures for the submission and assessment of applications as well as the personalisation and collection of passports, so as to offer a brand new self-service experience to the public. With improved efficiency of the e-Passport-2 System, the application processing time has been significantly shortened by half, from 10 to five working days. Moreover, with a sophisticated design and more state-of-the-art security features, the Next Generation Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Electronic Passport can better deter forgeries, thus giving local residents and the international community greater confidence in the document.

When making passport applications, members of the public could make use of the Travel Document Submission Kiosk to complete the form-filling, free photo-taking and electronic payment procedures in one go, which is simple and convenient. They could also complete the passport collection procedure in a self-service manner by means of the new Passport Collection Kiosk. To support the development of Hong Kong as a smart city, the ImmD has also incorporated the "e-ME" form-filling function of "iAM Smart" into the online application process, making the process fast and easy by automatically filling in personal particulars for members of the public.

The ImmD extends its gratitude to the organiser for presenting the three awards to the e-Passport-2 System in recognition of the ImmD's contributions and efforts in providing quality public services through utilising innovative technology. The ImmD will continue to strive for excellence and keep abreast with the times by making use of various kinds of information technology to provide the community with services of the best quality.