HKPC and HKSTP Co-host Smart City Conference to Accelerate Hong Kong's Smart City Innovations

New Initiatives Announced to Enhance Industry Collaborations while Fostering Hong Kong's Smart City Technological Advancement

(Hong Kong, 10 January 2019) – Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) joined hands with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) as well as local Research & Development Centres for the first time to organise the Smart@Hong Kong: Our Smart City Journey Conference (the Conference) today, showcasing the latest smart city initiatives and their innovative applications in enriching people’s daily lives. Jointly opened by Mr Willy LIN, Chairman of the Hong Kong Productivity Council and Dr Sunny CHAI, Chairman of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation; the Conference was officiated and graced by The Hon Bernard CHAN CHARNWUT, Convenor of the Non-Official Members of the Executive Council; The Hon Nicholas YANG, Secretary for Innovation and Technology; and Dr The Hon LAM Ching-choi, Chairman of the Elderly Commission; together with Ms Annie CHOI, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology as well as Mr Victor LAM, Government Chief Information Officer.

The Conference featured expert speakers from the HKSAR Government, industries, academia and research institutions, discussing how Hong Kong can benefit from its world-class info-communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, Internet connectivity, unique population demographics and other enabling technologies, to plot the roadmap in becoming a successful smart city. The Conference focused on four core topics including Smart Living, Smart People, Smart Environment and Smart Mobility, with insights and best practices shared by heavy-weighted speakers. Other key announcements were also made at the same occasion, aimed at enhancing industry collaborations in the smart city products and solutions development.

Launch of GLink – Hong Kong's First Gerontechnology Industry Cluster to Mark New Breakthrough of Smart Ageing

HKPC also inaugurated Hong Kong’s first gerontechnology industry cluster, GLink, which is a joint-force platform by more than 30 local gerontechnology service providers and user organisations, to promote applications and exchanges of best practices and knowledge to address growing needs arising from ageing population. GLink also fosters industry intelligence exchange between the demand side (elderly homes, social service providers, NGOs, hospitals, rehabilitation centres, etc.) and the supply side (developers of GeronTech, RFID, smart watches, healthcare devices or shoes, etc.), to facilitate effective dialogues while enhancing new product or service developments for smart ageing, leveraging HKPC’s technical expertise and support.

Mr Willy LIN, the Chairman of HKPC remarked, “GLink is established not only for the betterment of the ageing generation, but also the next generation and beyond. We create this platform to cater the needs of both the elderlies and their caretakers. GLink will provide smart ageing technologies, solutions as well as innovative services, benefitting elderly homes, healthcare institutions plus other users via tailored and localised applications, improving the quality of their daily lives.”

The Journey to a Smart City – An Innovation Showcase

HKSTP joined hands with various partner companies to showcase a slew of smart technologies, to give a glimpse of life in the future within a smart city. These demonstrations included 5G telecommunications application, autonomous self-driving (ASD) vehicles, robotic IoT ice-cream machine, unmanned retail shop, smart chatbot, security surveillance patrol robot, self-service smart lockers and digital e-stamp applications.

At the Conference, HKSTP also announced the collaboration with a leading mobile operator to conduct a series of 5G collaboration at Hong Kong Science Park. The mobile operator was the first to complete the Commercial Equipment Field-Testing of 28GHz 5G base stations and antenna in Hong Kong, carried out at Hong Kong Science Park.

Albert WONG, CEO, HKSTP, said, “Designated as Hong Kong’s first smart region living lab by the Government, Hong Kong Science Park is the ideal testbed before the wider adoption of these new innovations in our city. These solutions are well aligned with the Smart City Blueprint so that we can accelerate their adoption. We are delighted to showcase a wide variety of smart city solutions and applications that are immersed in our premises at this Conference. We understand that data, sensor and connectivity technologies are the foundations behind these innovations and we have created a smart campus initiative at Science Park that provides the best infrastructure support for tech companies to test and fine-tune their innovations. Going forward, we will extend this smart campus initiative to our InnoCentre and three industrial estates. With this, we hope to work with more partners from across all sectors to come up with solutions that will help us achieve Hong Kong’s smart city vision.”

- Ends -

Cross-sector experts came together at the Smart@Hong Kong: Our Smart City Journey Conference to share trends and insights on the latest development on smart city. Key executives at the opening ceremony included (front row): The Hon Bernard CHAN CHARNWUT, Convenor of the Non-Official Members of the Executive Council (10th from the left); Dr The Hon LAM Ching-choi, Chairman of the Elderly Commission (9th from the right); The Hon Nicholas YANG, Secretary for Innovation and Technology (9th from the left); Ms Annie CHOI, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology (7th from the left); Mr Victor LAM (right seven), Government Chief Information Officer (7th from the right); Dr Sunny CHAI, Chairman, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (8th from the right); Mr Willy LIN, Chairman, Hong Kong Productivity Council (8th from the left); Mr. Albert WONG, Chief Executive Officer, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (6th from the right); Mr Mohamed D. BUTT, Executive Director, Hong Kong Productivity Council (4th from the left)

Hong Kong Productivity Council inaugurated GLink, the first gerontechnology industry cluster in Hong Kong, at the Conference. Key executives at the launch included (front row): The Hon Bernard CHAN CHARNWUT, Convenor of the Non-Official Members of the Executive Council (8th from the left); Dr The Hon LAM Ching-choi, Chairman of the Elderly Commission (9th from the left); The Hon Nicholas YANG, Secretary for Innovation and Technology (7th from the left); Ms Annie CHOI, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology (5th from the left); Mr Victor LAM (right seven), Government Chief Information Officer (10th from the left); Mr Willy LIN, Chairman, Hong Kong Productivity Council (6th from the left)

HKSTP showcased a wide array of smart technologies with various partner companies to give a glimpse of life in the future within a smart city.

China Mobile Hong Kong (CMHK), Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) announced a slew of collaborations related to 5G. Guests participated in the announcement ceremony were (from left to right): Mr Hugh CHOW, CEO of ASTRI, Dr. Max MA, Director and Executive Vice President, CMHK and Mr Albert WONG, CEO of HKSTP.

Mr Albert WONG, CEO of HKSTP, had an experiential ride on MobiGem, an autonomous self-driving vehicle developed by Park company Urban Systems.

Dr Lawrence POON, General Manager (Automotive and Electronics Division and Automotive Parts and Accessory Systems R&D Centre) of HKPC, showcased one of the key projects of GLink - Smart Glass.