Seminar on the Ecology of Entrepreneurship and the Environment

The Seminar named “The Ecology of Entrepreneurship and the Environment” was co-organized by Institute of Entrepreneurship (IfE), PolyU and MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node, and supported by HKSTP.  The seminar aimed to share MIT’s environmental programs in education, research and public engagement; as well as, to discuss what makes “Entrepreneurial Ecosystems” successful and explore innovation and entrepreneurship in relation to environmental issues.

I met Mr. Peter Fung (Former Chairman, HKSQ).

Dr. David Broadstock (Assistant Professor, School of Accounting and Finance, PolyU) was moderator and he gave a short local context before the seminar.  He said C-suite are a driving force for this topic.  Then he searched news (265 articles) for “Hong Kong” + “Ecology” + “Entrepreneur” + “Environment” and found that most words frequency are credit processing, financial service, etc.  Environment result is comparative small. 

He concluded the local ecosystem was tilted towards financial innovations such as Fintech, Accountech, Green Finance and ESG investment.

Then Mr. Christopher Noble (Director of Corporate Engagement Environmental Solutions Initiative MIT) gave a talk to us.  

Firstly, he explained why he become an entrepreneur and then to be environmentalist.  

HKPC x MIT HK Innovation Node Seminar on “The Iterative Innovation Process”

I had joined the seminar named “The Iterative Innovation Process” co-organized by HKPC and MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node on 27^th Mar 2019.  I recognized Prof. Eugene A. Fitzgerald who is the Merton C. Flemings SMA Professor of Material Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and also CEO & Director of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART).  He is a founding lecturer in MIT’s new Innovation and Entrepreneurship Minor, and served on the MIT President’s Committee for the Innovation Initiative, as well as, the President’s Committee on the Future of MIT Education.

In the beginning, Prof. Eugene A. Fitzgerald briefed their objectives and topics to be discussed.  He said “You cannot perform innovation in an hour since innovation process takes years (incremental) to decades (fundamental).”  He also introduced his book named “Inside Real Innovation” and planning for the second edition. Prof. Fitzgerald asked “Why should people care about Innovation?” It is because of Growth or Death problem. (Lotto remark: Quality is a matter of Life or Death. So Innovation is a matter of Growth or Death.)

The Prof. Fitzgerald used a figure “Feeling the Elephant” to explain different people had different meaning of innovation.  He said it was not just invention or science or entrepreneurship.  His definition of innovation is “Useful embodiments of ideas in the marketplace”. It is a basic human process that delivers value in the market place.  He also added innovation efficiency was not equal to operational efficiency.

Then he introduced the basic elements of innovation that included Market Application (M), Technology (T) and Implementation (I).  In real world, there are uncertainty in each element that is non-linear process.  

HKSQ Seminar on Implementation of ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 for R&D Companies – ASTRI Experience Sharing

November is World Quality Month.  HKSQ arranged several events to celebrate World Quality Month 2018.  The seminar named “Implementation of ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 for R&D Companies – ASTRI Experience Sharing” was organized by HKSQ and supported by ASQ Hong Kong and MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node.  This seminar aimed to share ASTRI experience to implement ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 in their R&D projects as well as introduce MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node.  

(Left: Dr. Lotto Lai (Chairman, HKSQ), Mr. Jim Hui (ASTRI) and Ms. Angel Lai (MIT HK Innovation Node))

Before the seminar, I introduced the HKSQ World Quality Month activities and speakers.

The first speaker was Mr. Jim Hui (Senior Manager, Quality Management, ASTRI) and he shared his experience on implementing ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 in ASTRI.  Firstly, he briefed the history of ASTRI which was established in 2000 and designated as one of R&D Centres (for ICT) in 2006. 

Then Mr. Jim Hui introduced the ASTRI ISO Journey from 2006 to 2017.  They got ISO 27001 in 2015.

Visit to MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node

Today, I visited MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node after my lecture to CityU BEng SEM students and I met Ms. Angel Lai (Senior Manager, Industry Liaison) here.  We took a photo in from of MIT banner (in Chinese) for memory.

We discussed the cooperation and collaboration with CityU Apps Lab (Local student) and Hong Kong Society for Quality (Industry experts) for future events.  Ms. Angel Lai introduced their vision as follows:

-          To enrich the educational experiences of MIT and Hong Kong students, working together with others in the Hong Kong community, by creating new opportunities to study and practice methods of accelerated innovation.

-          To foster and champion innovation in academic, commercial, and social communities, both locally and globally, through the Node’s efforts in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta.

Then I also introduced HKSQ service on local students including HKSQ Company-based Student Project Competition, Seminar/Visit, as well as, University course accreditation for CQE, SSGB, CQLabS, etc.

I had visited MIT during stated in Boston after ASQ World Conference in 2011.

Reference:

MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node - https://hkinnovationnode.mit.edu/
CityU Apps Lab (CAL) - http://appslab.hk/
HKSQ - http://www.hksq.org/index.asp

HKSQ Company Based Student Project Competition - http://www.hksq.org/company_based_competition.htm

20170924: MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node Opens Doors for Innovators in Hong Kong - https://hkinnovationnode.mit.edu/2017/09/24/mit-hong-kong-innovation-node-opens-doors-innovators-hong-kong/

20110529: USA Trip after ASQ World Conference (Visited MIT) - https://qualityalchemist.blogspot.com/2011/05/usa-trip-after-asq-world-conference.html