Building a Sustainable Future of Hong Kong through Technology Development

Tonight, I attended a Technical Seminar entitled “Building a Sustainable Future for Hong Kong through Technology Development”. The seminar was organized by Electronics Division and IT Division of HKIE.

Ir. Peter Yeung (Chairman of Electronics Division – HKIE & Sr. Manager, BDTS – HKSTP) gave welcoming remark and the introduction of the speaker, Mr. E Anthony TAN.


Mr. Tan is the CEO, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. He shared the view on new technology development and its application in Hong Kong.

First of all, he commented that the business in HK should be diversified so that the Hong Kong Economy can exclusively be developed. Technology and Innovation was suggested to be one of the themes. His speech was divided into three parts. In the first part, the technology development in Hong Kong over the last 10 years was reviewed. Then the role of HKSTP was secondly introduced. In the last session, he discussed the opportunity for technical engineers’ development.

ASTRI and HK R&D Centers establishment were developed. It caused the amount of R&D personnel increased significantly, as well as R&D projects which increased about 86% between 2001 and 2007. During that period, Innovation and Technology Fund increased 1.5 times. Mr. Tan added that the R&D expenditure increased 2.8 times within 6 years. However, Hong Kong has still fallen behind the other developed countries.

The table 1 shows the quality development roadmap in Hong Kong. Government has supported Technology and Innovation since 2000. (See Reference)

In part 2, Mr. Tan stated the mission of HKSTP that is “Providing infrastructure (hardware) and services (software) to enable Hong Kong to become a world-class technology hub on our chosen clusters.”

Electronics, ICT, Precision Engineering, Biotech and Green Technology are five major technology clusters that HKSTP would create clustering synergy. Moreover, integration and application of licensed technology in China and Asia Pacific is the major direction. HKSTP services, including laboratories service and incubation support, were also introduced.

The importance of engineer during technology development and the opportunities for engineers’ development were discussed in the last section.

Mr. TAN indicated several important fields for Engineers. They are Automotive IC, Green Technology (e.g. Solar panel), Mobile Phone Production (e.g. wireless, LCD, etc.) and RFID (e.g. logistic application).

He continued with some opportunities for engineers, like Hong Kong and Mainland China growing cooperation including 24 projects under Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation Circle.

Lastly, he summarized three major directions which demonstrate the sustainable development of technology in Hong Kong and region.
i) HKSAR task force on economic challenges (Six high potential economic pillar industries)
ii) Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation Circle (24 Cooperation projects)
iii) Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (Development of five technology clusters)


Q&A Session

IT Division Chairman presented a souvenir to the speaker.

Reference:
Lai, Lotto K.H., Chin, K.S. & Tsang, A.H.C. (2007) “Quality Movement and Evolution in Hong Kong: A Critical Review” Proceedings CD-ROM of The Fifth ANQ Congress, paper A7-03, pp.225 - 238.