Speech by Mr. Donald Mak, Assistant Government Chief Information Officer (IT Infrastructure), at the “Forum on Advancements in Data Analytics”

Dr. King Owyang, fellow speakers, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon. It gives me great pleasure to join you all at today’s forum, which focusses on advancements in data analytics. Today’s forum provides an excellent platform for industry experts and professionals to exchange insights and knowledge on big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), which are becoming the core technologies for smart city development and digital innovations.

Big Data Analytics is an enabling technology that can give useful insights into phenomena, capabilities and collective behaviours, providing the basis for informed decisions and intuitive services. Coupled with the use of artificial intelligence, Big Data Analytics provides promising potential for the development of smart city applications and digital innovations.

The Government strives to develop Hong Kong into a world class smart city. Last year, we promulgated the Smart City Blueprint, which sets out the development plans for smart city development in Hong Kong, covering six major areas, namely “Smart Mobility”, “Smart Living”, “Smart Environment”, “Smart People”, “Smart Government” and “Smart Economy”.

Big Data Analytics is one of the core components for the smart city initiatives which we had mapped out in our blueprint. To support the development of more big data applications, the Government is going to implement a Big Data Analytics Platform. The Platform will provide advanced facilities, including big data analytics tools, artificial intelligence cognitive tools and parallel computing management system for government departments to expedite the development of data-driven digital government services. The Big Data Analytics Platform will also include a “Digital Highway” to facilitate exchange and sharing of real-time data among government departments. Through resource sharing, we aim to facilitate the implementation of more big data analytics projects through the Platform. By adopting big data analytics and AI technologies, we can help enhance the operation efficiency of the Government and provide more efficient and reliable public services, enabling better city management.

Apart from hardware and software, data science skill is essential to the implementation of big data analytics projects. As a total solution, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer has set up a dedicated Data Analytics Team for providing data science advisory services to government departments. Through this kind of “Data Analytics as a service” arrangement, we can better help government departments in applying big data analytics techniques for improving their services and policy formulation.

Data is the key component of big data applications. Being a major data supplier, the Government launched our Open Data Portal (data.gov.hk) in 2011 to provide public sector information (PSI) for free use by the community. Innovators can make use of these open data and mesh it with other data to create applications to bring benefits to the public and create opportunities for businesses. At present, the Open Data Portal has over 3 200 unique datasets grouped under 18 categories, such as transport, health, education, housing, land, etc.

These open data has been serving as important ingredient for research projects. For instance, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has used the real-time air quality and weather data from Environmental Protection Department and Hong Kong Observatory to develop the world's first "Personalised Real-time Air Pollution Information System“. The Chinese University of Hong Kong has used the open data from Environmental Protection Department and Hong Kong Observatory to develop the "Air Pollution Decision Support System“. The University of Hong Kong has also developed an Air Quality Monitoring Platform that uses deep learning technology to produce accurate air pollution data by analysing the Air Quality Monitoring Station data from Environmental Protection Department.

To help further stimulate innovation and technology development, we will step up our effort to encourage government departments to open up more data, in particular those related to health, transport and education, to facilitate technological research, business innovation and development of smart city solutions. In order to provide more data for smart city innovations, we also plan to release the city data collected from the pilot multi-functional smart lampposts onto the Open Data Portal as far as practicable unless the data involves sensitive personal information.

With our continuous effort, we are happy to see that government departments are gradually picking up momentum in the adoption of big data analytics and AI technologies for their smart government initiatives. For example, the Hong Kong Observatory is implementing a pilot chatbot service for delivering weather information to users via social messaging apps. The Efficiency Office is also planning to upgrade the 1823 website and introduce chatbot service to answer simple public inquiries and facilitate the public to obtain government information more directly. The Energizing Kowloon East Office (EKEO) of Development Bureau will also study the feasibility of monitoring illegal parking by applying image analysis technology for trial run in Kowloon East.

Big data analytics and artificial intelligence are the key technologies for smart city development, and smart city development calls for close collaboration among the public sector, private sector, academia and citizens: from identification of city challenges, formulation of policy and strategy, research and development, conceptualisation of potential projects, feasibility assessment, conducting pilot projects for proof of concept to city-wide implementation. Let us all work together to develop Hong Kong to a world-class smart city, allowing our citizens to enjoy improved public services, better quality of life and a more livable city.

Last but not least, I wish all of you a fruitful sharing at this forum. Thank you.

- ENDS -