2015年4月29日星期三

ASQ InfVoices – The Pros and Cons of Conferences

The topic in April 2015 of ASQ Influence Voices was “The Pros and Cons of Conferences”. This article is a guest post by Julia McIntosh of ASQ communications and the content included local events, electronic meetings, meeting a wide variety of people, social functions and networking. I remember Paul Borawski (previous CEO, ASQ) asked a question “What are your tips and advice for making the most of the events you attend?” My tips are taking photos with gurus for memory that belongs to Networking. The diagram showed below which were most of conferences I attended in the past.


I would like to summarize my ideas on the Pros and Cons of Conferences below.
Pros:
i) Catch the most updated trend in both industry and academic of Quality
ii) Networking with different country and culture professionals
iii) Present your finding and observations in your specific field
iv) Build up your own brand and status in your field
v) Open you mind to others
Cons:
i) Time consumption (usually used your own annual leave)
ii) Costly (Some conferences are very expensive, especially oversea conference included travel and hotel)

Anyway, I will join international conference at least annually to update myself. The summary of different conference I had attended was showed below.
International (Oversea):
i) Asia Network for Quality (ANQ) Congress (every year since 2003)
ii) ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement (WCQI) (60th and 65th anniversary)
iii) The International Conference on Quality (ICQ) 2014 in Tokyo, Japan
iv) The World Business Capability Congress was co-organized by Centre for Organisational Excellence Research (COER), New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation (NZBEF) and New Zealand Organization for Quality (NZOQ) in 2012
v) The 5th International Quality Manager Forum “TQM Uz-2012” was organized by IAQMA in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. (As Keynote Speaker)
vi) The 11th International Project – International Quality Manager Forum “TQM KAZ-2011” was organized by IAQMA in Almaty, Kazakhstan (As Keynote Speaker)
Regional (Local):
i) Testing and Certification Conference 2014 OUHK
ii) The Spring Research Conference on Systems Engineering and Management Science (SRC-SEMS)
iii) The International Symposium on Innovation Excellence and Practices (ISIEP 2013)

Reference:
A View from the Q - http://asq.org/blog/
20140409: ASQ InfVoices – Conference Tips - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2014/04/asq-infvoices-conference-tips.html


2015年4月28日星期二

Dinner with Darrell Mann (Innovation Expert)

It is honor to arrange a dinner (Vietnam style) for Mr. Darrell Mann and Mr. MY Wong (Chairman, ASTRI) to exchange their view of innovation and technology development in UK and HK.
(Left: Mr. MY Wong, I, Mr. Simon Tong (CEO, Smartway Management Technology Ltd) and Mr. Darrell Mann)


Mr. Darrell Mann, the former chief engineer in Rolls Royce, gave a workshop in Science Park this Monday and Tuesday. Darrell is the innovation consultant of international brands like, P&G, Unilever, Apple, Google, Samsung, Intel, Calbury, BMW, NASA, etc., and he was also consulted by governments in the UK, Malaysia, etc. His comprehensive innovation service included idea generation, new product development and patent services, etc. Moreover, Darrell Mann is also a product design expert and consultant of Samsung, Apple, Google, infosys, mindtree, etc. He also has his own products, like www.foodpairing.com/, and www.pansensic.com. Even LADY GAGA used this service to understand fans purchasing decisions!!!

Darrell believes people purchase for two reasons, a good reason and the real reason. In the workshop he shows us how to uncover the hidden real reason with his unique innovation tools, enabling us to develop apps and software making people 'wow'. During the other workshop, he talk about IP strategy, IP circumvention and a new mapping technique measuring the current value and future value of the IP.

Reference: 
ASTRI - http://www.astri.org/
20090822: Innovation – From Art to Science - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2009/08/innovation-from-art-to-science.html
20150320: HKSTP Seminar – Developing Software and Apps Making People WOW - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2015/03/hkstp-seminar-developing-software-and.html
20150320: HKSTP IP Seminar – Win the Patent Game - http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2015/03/hkstp-ip-seminar-win-patent-game.html


ITC Enterprise Support Scheme (ESS) Briefing Session

The new funding scheme named “Enterprise Support Scheme (ESS)” launched on 28 Apr 2015. Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) arranged a Briefing Session today in Science Park to explain the requirement and application procedures.

Mr. Alen KS Ma (CEO, HKSTP) gave a welcome speech. He said funding was very important to fill the gap in the innovation and technology ecosystem. Then he mentioned our incubatees got awards in international events.


Then Mr. Johann CY Wong, JP (Deputy Commissioner for Innovation and Technology , ITC) gave a welcome speech and he said the new ESS funding scheme had extended the coverage to support all companies in Hong Kong (not only SME).
(Left: Mr. Alan Ho (Senior Manager (Technopreneurial Funding), ITC), Mr. Johann CY Wong and Ms. Pamela NM Lam (Assistant Commissioner, ITC))


The first part of briefing named “Overview of the Enterprise Support Scheme (ESS)” and presented by Ms. Pamela Lam. She mentioned the objectives of ESS as follows:
- To encourage more private sector investment in research and development; and
- To enhance funding support for technology companies in Hong Kong

Then she briefed the features of ESS included “Eligibility”, “Funding Cap”, and Not required “Recoupment of Government’s Contribution” and Non-mandatory on “Benefit-sharing”. The expected benefits included below:
i) Increase the chance of successful commercialization
ii) Create more technology-related job opportunities of a diversified nature
iii) Encourage technology commercialization
iv) Local industry upgrading


The ESS operations were presented by Mr. Alan Ho. The flow chart showed from application received to notify applicants of panel result in the first part of operation (Vetting). There were two tracks approach. One is mainstream ESS application and the other is designated SME track (>100 employees and >$2.8M; Not for MNCs). If clarification of application is needed, Secretariat may do so by email, telephone and interview. Withdraw of application if the Secretariat has not received the final submission 6 months after its initial submission.


Mr. Alan Ho then mentioned the assessment criteria (See diagram below). Only Financial Considerations (15%) is a new item. Others are same as previous funding named Small Entrepreneur Research Assistance Programme (SERAP). Assessment panel comprise experts from the academia, industry, private equity and capital market, etc. During panel interview, applicants have 5 min for presentation and 30 min for Q&A.


Second part of operation is Project Execution. The flow chart was showed as follows. When carry out R&D, project monitoring was needed included progress report (every 6 months), interview/site visit and fund disbursement. If project change requested, it must be approved by ITC commissioner.


Q&A session
Many startups asked questions and some recorded below:
- Do internship included in ESS? Ans: Yes
- Time Frame of ESS? Ans: 3 panels run every year
- If 2.8M for SME, 4 to 6 month could be arranged for panel meeting.
- Any limited number of project to be applied in same company? Ans: It would consider the company ability to execute.
- Technology roadmap would be considered such as “What is challenge?” and “Where is the Market?”


Reference:
ITC - http://www.itc.gov.hk/
Enterprise Support Scheme (ESS) - http://www.itf.gov.hk/l-eng/ESS.asp


2015年4月25日星期六

HKIUR Inauguration Ceremony cum Networking Session

Hong Kong Industry-University-Research Collaboration Association (HKIUR) was founded from local community leaders and research institutions to be a regional non-profit making organization cooperation platform since Nov 2014. HKIUR aims to drive the collaboration among industries, universities and research institutions in Hong Kong, as well as to provide a platform for exchanging ideas and cooperation. The Inauguration Ceremony was held on 25 Apr 2015 and a group of angel investors were invited to share their successful investment stories at the networking session. I was honor to be invited by Dr. Samson Tam to join this ceremony and I also introduced HKSQ member Mr. Simon Tong to Samson before the ceremony.
(Left: Simon, Samson and I)


The Hon Nicholas W. Yang was the guest and panelist. We took a photo with him before the event.


In the beginning, Dr. Samson Tam (Chairman, HKIUR) gave an introduction and opening speech. He briefed the history and purpose of the foundation of HKIUR. Moreover, he said Hong Kong had advantage because of Good Team, Good Angel Investment and Open platform.


Guests from different sectors were come together for the inauguration ceremony. They included “Industry”, “Academic”, “Research Institution”, “Investor” and “Entrepreneur”.


Group photo of all committee members and guests


Three Successful Investment Stories SharingThe first speaker was Mr. Simon Wong (Whiz Partners Asia) and he shared his Alibaba investment story in 1999. He told us that investment needed to know the skill of fortune teller (看相). But sometime was not work because Jack Ma’s face and body was too lean at that time which was violated traditional belief! However, Simon had invested on him for US$500k (without business plan at that time). The 2nd round of investment, they found another investment for US$2 million but they invested if and only if the first investor continued to invest. (Simon added US$200k). The third investment was from Goldman cost US$5 million and they condition was same as the second round of investor that Simon needed to invest US$300k again! Most of time in the investors meeting, they ask Jack Ma when the revenue come from? Jack Ma let’s managers in the meeting room and he escaped always at that time.


The second speaker was Mr. Duncan Chiu (Managing Director, Radiant Venture Capital (RVC) Limited) and he shared his recently investment. He shared a story that their investment team had not invested on the coffee machine company because of business model seem not to be realized for retail shop. Then this company changed their business model (not for retail shop) and suggested to get funding through internet (e.g. kickstarter), as well as, win ICT award. During the award presentation, the founder thanks to Duncan that they changed business model because of their comments.


The third speaker was Mr. Tony Tong (Founder, Pacificnet) and he shared his experience from IPO to investment in China since 2004 (mainly in mobile company). He said as a good angel, it was not only money but also value-added service. He also told us O2O was the trend. Eventhough BAT (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent) covered the most parts of internet in China, it still had many chance for small internet company growth in niche market and cooperated with BAT.


Panel Discussion
Dr. Samson Tam was the moderator. Panelists included (Left) Mr. Tony Tong, Mr. Duncan Chiu, Dr. Samson Tam, Mr. Nicholas W. Yang, Mr. Simon Wong and Mr. Lin Sen.
Mr. Lin Sen said the growth rate of company was very faster recently. For US$1000M company scale, it needed at least 10 years in the past; but new economy company used only 3 years.
Mr. Nicholas W. Yang told us that Hong Kong needed Innovation and Technology and it was the only way to survive. Then he shared 3 points to us:
i) Team advantage
ii) Advocating (Not only promotion or sale, but also convince)
iii) Embrace Failure
Dr. KW Lo asked a question that what was the support from government and many Hong Kong law was outdated for Innovation and Technology.
Dr. Roy Chung asked when to stop of investment of startup.


The following comments from each panelist used to conclude the discussion.
i) Independence Thinking and Find the Business Opportunity (Tony)
ii) It is the best time for startup in Hong Kong. Take the long view (Duncan)
iii) Don’t join big company, innovated by yourself (Lin Sen)
iv) Invest to the person who has ability to convince next investor (Simon)
v) Do something difficult and you will find achievement and happy. (Samson)
vi) Convince yourself, family and friends were the first step of success (Nicholas)

Startup Case Sharing
Dr. Alan Lam (Right) was the moderator and panelists included (Left) Mr. Sam Tin, Mr. Rex Sham and Mr. Allen Ng.
Firstly, they shared their company and product in 1 minute as pitching. After that they shared their experience during to be startup.
Alan Lam said insistence and flexibility were most important for survive.
Rex told us that we needed a team to cover our insufficient to backup each other.
Allen Ng said vision big and thing big.
Sam said Good Team, Good Item and Good Trend.


Group photo with all participants


During lunch, we met Dr. Aaron Tong. HKSQ team took a photo for memory.
(Left: I, Dr. Aaron Tong and Mr. Simon Tong)


I also met some old friends in Science Park.
(Left: Mr. CY Geng (Time Rider Technology Limited), Mr. Simon Tong, Mr. Fred Yung (Previous Sr. Manager, Incubation Program, HKSTP) and I)


(Left: Prof. Ricky Ma (CEO, CASTEL Engineering Ltd) and I)


CityU Team
(Left: I, Dr. Raymond Leung, Dr. Sun, Junior cohort, Dr. David Chung)


Reference:
HKIUR - http://www.hkiur.org/


2015年4月24日星期五

PMI Seminar on QMS based Information Security Management

I was honor to be invited as speaker for the PMI seminar entitled "Case Study on the Project Implementation of Quality based Information Security Management" was organized by Project Management Institute (PMI) Hong Kong Chapter on 24th Apr 2015. The aim of this seminar to share the system approach through integrated implementation of an Information Security Management System (ISMS – ISO 27001) and Quality Management System (QMS – ISO 9001), as well as, case study in Technology Support Centre (TSC) of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP).

In the beginning, I (Former Chairman, HKSQ; Manager, Quality System, TSC-HKSTP) introduced some background of ISO 27001 and ISO 9001. Our ISO 27001 has certified since 2008. So I briefed many security incidents which had happened in 2008 initially.


Then I classified different Control Objectives and Controls into five groups and they were “Policy”, “Process & Procedure”, “Organization Structure”, “Hardware” and “Software”.


The comparison of company registration on ISO 9001 and ISO 27001, it was found that number of ISO 9001 certified companies were much higher than number of ISO 27001 certified companies. It should be a barrier for company to achieve ISO 27001. Therefore, my study was to develop a model so as to fill the gap.


ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 principles and standard comparison was discussed. In next stage, I explained how to extract the core elements of both standards and developed “QMS based Information Security Management (QISM) Model”. However, the core element of this model was Risk Assessment. “Information Security FMEA Cycle” was introduced and 24-steps QISM Implementation Roadmap was mentioned.


At the end, I used the term “SECURE” to be my concluded. Its meaning showed below:
S – Standardization
E – Effectiveness
C – Clearance
U – Unique Identification
R – Recovery
E – Efficiency


Q&A Session


Mr. Anthony Tsui (VP-Programs, PMI-HK) presented a certificate to me.


Reference:
HKSQ - www.hksq.org
HKSTP - http://www.hkstp.org/
PMI-HK - http://www.pmi.org.hk/

Other Related Seminars & Conferences:
20141229 - My ISO Journey of 10 years in Science Park
http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2014/12/my-iso-journey-of-10-years-in-science.html
20121129 - Hong Kong IT Security Summit 2012
http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2012/11/hong-kong-it-security-summit-2012.html
20120620 - Meeting with Prof. Edward Humphreys (Father of ISMS Standard)
http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2012/06/meeting-with-prof-edward-humphreys.html
20110121 - Seminar on Data Privacy
http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2011/01/seminar-on-data-privacy.html
20100902 - The 8th Asia Network for Quality (ANQ) Congress
http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2010/09/8th-asia-network-for-quality-anq.html
20090916 - ANQ 2009 Opening & Technical Seminar I
http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2009/09/anq-2009-opening-technical-seminar-i.html
20090827 - Challenges on Information Security
http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2009/08/challenges-of-information-security.html
20080802 - Seminar on ISO 9001:2000 UPGRADE to 2008 Version & Secure your information with ISO 27001
http://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2008/08/seminar-on-iso-90012000-upgrade-to-2008.html


2015年4月16日星期四

HKSTP MINGLE Luncheon with Mr. Shih Wing Ching (施永青)

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) arranged the 39th MINGLE Luncheon with Excellence Businessman for sharing their experience on 16 April 2015. This time we invited Mr. Shih Wing Ching (施永青) (Chairman of am730) by Ms. Janet Wong of ITC referral, to share his startup experience on am730 free newspaper. Before the event, we took a photo with guest for memory.
(Left: Ms. Helen Chung, Mr. Shih Wing Ching, Mr. Peter Mok and I)


Then Ms. Janet Wong (Commissioner, ITC) arrived and discussed with us.


Mr. Peter Mok (Head of Incubation Program, Corporate Development, HKSTP) gave a welcome speech. He said startup did not only focus on technology, but also considered the business. It is both Science and Art.


Our guest speaker Mr. Shih Wing Ching shared his startup experience on “am730”. He said that starting a new business is not necessary risk taking; we need to think thoughtfully before start. (路看通了才去行) He added he observed the change of newspaper trend and found the opportunity. The first free newspaper was Metro which distributed in MTR. At that time, Mr. Shih had a question why their advertisement was so expensive (without discount) and still survived. It was because their reader population was belongs to middle class in Hong Kong.

Before Mr. Shih invested to free newspaper, he needed to change his mindset that housing agent investment was shorter but newspaper was opposite. Newspaper needed to accumulate readers and build trust with advertisement customer. Cash “Flow is very important” Mr. Shih said. In his plan, the first part of investment is HK$50 million. If the growth trend is good (angle of acceleration), the second part of investment is also HK$50 million. Then he was found the first balance point after 23 month operation.

He explained to us why his Special column (專欄) named “C View” (C觀點). It means “Not A & Not B” (非A非B) where A stand for “Apple Daily” and B stand for “Beijing”.


Some key points from Mr. Shih were summarized below:
- Problem always happen after startup survive
- Believe yourself (忠於自己的信念) that does not afraid media challenge
- Sharing what you think (分享心裡話) and Sincere (真誠)
- Organization is function, Organism is live. Both terms have “Organ”, indicating network system connected among organs.
- The two original motivation (原始動力) are Survive (生存) and Reproduction (繁殖). You need to make your business & organization life (生命).
- There are three approach: i) Amoeba approach (Self-copy) (單性繁殖); ii) Mutation (異變) and iii) Hybridization (雜交).
- Most of Big Data is only a story (大部分大數據都是吹的) but it is a finance tactic to get huge of money to realize a big dream! (夢想很大,力度必然大。)
- Venture Capital (風險投資) become a Craze Capital (瘋狂投資)
- Every people dream to be i) Jacky Ma and ii) Shi Yuzhu for Alibaba IPO.
- Most important is “Vision” and “Good Story”!

During Q&A session, Ms. Janet Wong asked two questions. The first question was “When and how to make a decision to give up the business? (壯士斷臂)” and the second question was “How to handle fear? (面對恐懼)”

Mr. Shih joked that everything would dead ultimately (中原中原終有一日會完). He then said he would give a chance for some business which was not so good to improve within half year. If not, he tried to change person. Finally, it was no choice to close it if no improvement. For to fear, he suggested people did not only focus on one thing but diversity your mind (多一點不同關注). Finally, he commented in Chinese “眼光及了解自己處境” and “不能用生錢救死錢”.


At the end, Ms. Janet Wong gave closing remark. She introduced the coming new funding scheme named Enterprise Support Scheme (ESS) which would replace Small Entrepreneur Research Assistance Programme (SERAP). The detail seminar would be held on 28 April 2015.


Reference:
HKSTP Event & Seminar - http://www.hkstp.org/en-US/News-Media-Events/Events-Seminars.aspx


IoT Symposium 2015

The Internet of Things (IoT) Symposium is an annual event organized by Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) under IT Fest on 16 April 2015. The symposium aims to provide a platform for industry leaders, solution providers, engineers and users across industries to exchange ideas and shares the latest developments and emerging applications for an even more collaborative IoT ecosystem. In this year, IoT Symposium theme is “Embracing Big Data Analytics and Cloud Computing with IoT Application”.

The Honourable Mrs Fanny Law, GBS, JP (Chairperson of HKSTP) gave a welcome address before the symposium start. She said we identified IoT to be one of key technology in Smart City and it could improve Quality of Life in Hong Kong people.


The Honourable Mr. Gregory So Kam-leung, GBS, JP (Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, HKSAR) gave an opening speech. He said we had 4.9 billion connected things in use in 2015 and it would increase to 20 billion after 5 years. IoT included RFID Technology, GPS, Big Data Analytics, Sensor, Cloud Computing, Security Networking, etc. Then he briefed some government department employed IoT technology such as Water Supplies Department (Water Intelligent Network) and Drainage Services Department (Intelligent Ultrasonic Sensors).


Then Mr. Gregory So said we expected IoT excellence centre in Hong Kong to link people together and we needed a show case. Then he pointed out some key actions to be done below:
i) Supply Chain Platform,
ii) R&D for Customization,
iii) VC/Angel Funding Platform,
iv) Coordination Learning Platform,
v) Innovation and Entrepreneurship,
vi) Industry Partner Network,
vii) HR Pipeline,
viii) IP Training, and
ix) Rapid Prototype.


Group Photo


The first keynote speaker was Mr. Alan Lau (Senior Partner, Asia Head, McKinsey Digital) and his topic entitled “Internet of Things – A perspective”. Mr. Lau said IoT would have huge impacts on the ecosystem and showed the infographic chart.


Then Mr. Lau explained the myths and truths about IoT in the following diagram. He added big data would be a critical tool to unlock value from IoT.


Mr. Lau identified 6 categories illustrate the breadth of potential IoT application such as “Tracking Behavior”, “Enhanced Situational Awareness”, “Sensor-driven Decision Analytics”, “Process Optimization”, “Optimized Resource Consumption” and “Complex Autonomous Systems.” However, he also pointed out some practical challenges included “Building Clear Business Case”, “Committing on Upfront Capital Investment”, “Create Interoperability” and “Addressing InfoSec concerns”. The following diagram showed some application cases in Hong Kong


The second keynote speaker was Prof. HT Kung (Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Harvard University) and his presentation title was “IoT Based Prediction”. He then discussed IoT + machine learning.


Prof. Kung said “IoT Based Prediction” is natural. However, there were four challenges. They were “Small Data”, “Low Power Budget”, “Weak Signal” and “Massive Connections”. He said real-world signals were often “Sparse”. And then he mentioned how to derive discriminative High-Level Features from data. Step 1 was Feature Extraction and Step 2 was Classification/Regression. After that he introduced the use in conjunction with Deep Neural Networks for computer vision and speech recognition. Using this technique, you were able to do facial emotion recognition.


Dr. Hang Li (Director of Noah’s Ark Lab, Huawei Technologies) was the third keynote speaker and his topic was “Big Mobile Data Mining – Opportunities and Challenges”. Firstly, Dr. Li told us the vision of Huawe was “Building a Better Connected World”.


Firstly, Dr. Li introduced that Huawei would contribute to Internet of Things by Innovating in 5G and Big Data. The peak speed of 5G was showed much higher than 4G! Then a video showed that Shanghai Unicom had joinly cooperated with Huawei in January 2014. One of key cooperated areas was Mobile Broadband Data (MBB Data)


Finally, he mentioned some technical challenges on spatial temporal data mining and their solutions () below.
1. How to process vast amount of data? (Spark and Hadoop to process data)
2. How to mine from vast amount of data? (Data Mining Tools)
3. How to preserve privacy as much as possible? (Privacy Preserving Tool)
4. How to visualize mined information? (Visualization Tool)


Dr. Charleston Sin (Managing Director, Architecture Sales, Cisco Greater China) was the fourth keynote speaker and his presentation named “Enabling the Internet of Everything: Cisco’s IoT Architecture”. He said Internet of Everything (IoE) would enabled digital business because it networked Connection of People, Process, Data and Things.


Dr. Sin introduced a new concept from Cloud Computing to Fog Computing. Then he briefed Cisco’s IoT approach included “Customer-In”, Best-in-class ruggedized products and Strategic Partnerships.


The fifth keynote speaker was Dr. Xie Yun (Director, Digital China Research Institute) and his topic was “Turning of IT and New Data Application Model”. He said computing power was no long to be obstacle.


Dr. Xie Yun introduced three turning points as follows:
i) Turing Technology Platform to Application
ii) Application from “Point” to “Line” and then to “Area” (Dimension Change)
iii) New Virtual Image Technology
Example for application in city was showed below.


The last keynote speaker was Mr. Michael Wang (Director, Microsoft China Cloud Innovation Center, Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group) and his presentation topic named “Form Internet of Things to Intelligent of Things”. He defined IoT that “The network of physical objects that contain embedded technology to communicate and interact with their internal states or the external environment.”


He concluded that IoT could help to develop new business models, cost reduction and improve efficiency. Finally, he briefed Azure IoT Suite solution to us.


Reference:
HKSTP - http://www.hkstp.org/
IT FEST - https://www.itfest.hk/


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