PolyU Open Forum - Entrepreneurship in GBA driving the changes in Technology, Business and Society

The Open Forum named “Entrepreneurship in Greater Bay Area (GBA) driving the changes in Technology, Business and Society” organized by Department of Computing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University on 17^th Nov 2018.  The City University of Hong Kong Engineering Doctorate Society (CityU EngD Society) and Hong Kong Society for Quality (HKSQ) were supporting organization.  This open forum aimed to share scholars and professionals views on how we can grow this GBA together, driving the changes in technology, business and society. I met Dr. Thomas Chan and took a photo together.

Then I took a photo with CityU EngD cohorts Dr. Walter Fung and Dr. Pang for memory. 

Dr. Hongyi SUN (Asso. Professor, SEEM Dept., CityU) supported the forum.

HKSQ as one of supporting organization.  I took a photo with Mr. Peter Fung (Former Chairman, HKSQ).

Before the forum start, Dr. Herbert Yeung (President, CityU EngD Society) and Dr. Walter Fung took a photo in front of the banner.

The first speaker was Mr. Joseph Chan (Founder and CEO, AsiaPay Group) and his topic entitled “E-Payment in Greater China and Asia”.  Firstly, Mr. Chan briefed the background and introduced the new era of ePayment that focused on different technologies including FPS/QR Open API, 3D Security 2.0, Smart POS, Blockchain, Big Data, VR, AI and Biometric Recognition, etc.  Application was found in Mobile plus Retail Payment.

Then Mr. Chan discussed the Pros and Cons of Cashless Society.  He pointed out five Cons for us to take care and they were Cost of Payment, Failure Rates, Technologies Risks, Reliance on Network Infrastructure and Vulnerable to Cybercriminals.  

Finally, Mr. Joseph Chan discussed other social implications on different technologies including AI, Open Interfaces, Big Data, Anonymous and Financial Inclusion.  He also pointed out some mindful of payment security incident.  At the end, he shared his company core values were Simple, Convenient, Secure and Trust.

The second speaker was Dr. Abraham Lam (Director, MEGA Automation) and his presentation named “Sharing of Entrepreneurship in China for HK Startup”.  In the beginning, Dr. Lam introduced his company formed in 2013 by building professionals, engineers and research scientists. They provided smart buildings solution in Hong Kong.  

Then Dr. Lam introduced how startup start that come from the Incubation Programme. Step 1: Offering low starting cost

Step 2: Branding

Step 3: Support of networks & daily operations

Step 4: Be your first client!

And then Dr. Lam shared tips for those GBA seekers that kept eyes on China government policies was very important.

Finally, he shared how to set up startup in Qianhai, Shenzhen because of commuting between HK & Shenzhen only about one hour. Qianhani focused on Finance, Modern Logistics, Information Services and Technology & other professional services.  Lastly, he discussed the market opportunities and challenges in GBA. 

The third speaker was Mr. Leroy Yau (President, ISACA Hong Kong Chapter) and his topic was “Consulting Opportunity in Greater Bay Area”.  Mr. Yau firstly introduced the background about ISACA that was a professional association for IT governance and established since 1969 (where HK chapter established in 1982).  

Mr. Leroy Yau said consulting was “engaged in the business of giving expert advice to people working in a professional or technical field.”  But internet had changed everything that made consulting more difficulty. Consulting practices needed stronger expertise that good brand / CV was not enough but demanded beyond local know-how.  Bottom up approach was employed that you should have hands-on experience.

Lastly, Mr. Yau shared some implications for GBA in three points:

-          Regional expertise is KEY;

-          Exchange is vital;

-          Future of work / Slash / Young retired.

Mr. Emil Chan (Chairman of FinTech Committee, Smart City Consortium) was the fourth speaker and his presentation topic named “Taking Advantage of Blockchain Technology in Hong Kong / China”.  He said Hong Kong would change from trade port to Smart City that technologies (e.g. FinTech) played an important role.

Then Mr. Emil Chan briefed the Blockchain that changed from traditional ledger to decentralized ledger.  Then he introduced Blockchain 1.0 (Currency), 2.0 (Currency & Financial) and 3.0 (Non-Economic Application) to us.

There were two types of Blockchain that were Public and Federated/Private.  Federated Blockchains could be for membership.

Mr. Rex Ma (Co-founder & Managing Director, iGen6) was the fifth speaker and his topic entitled “Digital@Culture in Greater Bay Area”.  Mr. Ma introduced iGen6 that was a leading Integrated Innovative agency of Design, Marcom & PR and Digital Services which established in 2010.  

Then Mr. Ma introduced iGen6suite included IP x Content x Event x Big Data which was an innovative platform for Creative & Cultural Business plus Digital Transformation.

Finally, Mr. Rex Ma shared their business model in four key directions to us.

Dr. Thomas Chan Man-hung (Director of One Belt One Road Institute, Chu Hai College of Higher Education) was the sixth speaker and his topic entitled “Strategic directions of the Greater Bay Area”.  In the beginning, Dr. Thomas Chan introduced the Greater Bay Area included population, GDP, R&D / GDP ratio, etc.

One of focused points was Innovation & Connectivity.  However, Guangzhou-Shenzhen Science, Technology and Innovation Corridor seems not included Hong Kong. Their target were to be leading role of innovation capability in China in 2020, to be international impact I&T centre in 2030 and to be international first tier I&T centre in 2050.

The details of the corridor and interaction, integration and Innovation of Guangzhou, Dongguan & Shenzhen were discussed. 

Lastly, Dr. Thomas Chan mentioned the massive further investment in infrastructure to enhance connectivity within GBA cities in 2017 to 2020.  

The last speaker was Prof. Jiannong Cao (Chair Professor, Department of Computing, PolyU) and his presentation entitled “Big Data Opportunities and Challenges”.  Firstly, he briefed the digital universe that 50-fold growth from the beginning of 2010 to the end of 2020. 

Then Prof. Cao discussed the Big Data and Intelligence.  He said that Big Data itself was not the core but the results after analyzed was the most important.  And then he introduced Big Data Analytics model as following diagram.  

Big Data Analytics included classification, clustering, regression, etc. It could be applied in different areas such as transportation, public security, medical, government management, TV / media, Financial and tourism, etc. Prof. Cao discussed one of his research named BigARM (Big Data-driven Airport Resource Management).  

I was honor invited by Dr. Walter Fung to be one of panelist for discussion.

One of my sharing was how Blockchain contributed in Quality Assurance field.  Traceability was one of key concerns in QA.  Blockchain technology could ensure the chain of custody that could ensure the record trace.  One of application could be employed in food safety in GBA.  

Reference:

PolyU COMP - https://www.comp.polyu.edu.hk/

CityU Engineering Doctorate (EngD) Society - http://www.engd.org/  

Engineering Doctorate (Engineering Management) - http://www.cityu.edu.hk/seem/prg-engd.htm

HKSQ - www.hksq.org

20160820: Open Forum – Innovators meets Entrepreneurs - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2016/08/open-forum-innovators-meets.html

20151017: CityU EngD Open Forum – Innovation and Entrepreneurship - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.hk/2015/10/cityu-engd-open-forum-innovation-and.html