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18-11-2018

Speech by Mr. Victor Lam, JP, Government Chief Information Officer, at the “Award Presentation Ceremony of 2018 ACM-ICPC Asia Hong Kong Regional Contest” (with photo)


Dr LI (Dr LI Min-ming, Chairperson, Association of Computing Machinery – Hong Kong Chapter), Professor CHIN (Professor Francis CHIN, Founder of ACM-HK Chapter), Charles (Hon Charles MOK, Legislative Council Member), distinguished guests, fellow students, ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening. I am very delighted to join you, in particular so many young, energetic and promising ICT talent, today at the Association of Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest (ACM-ICPC) Asia Hong Kong Regional Contest.

About five months ago, I attended the ACM Hong Kong local contest here at the City University of Hong Kong, and I still remember the pleasant and enlightening exchanges with contesting teams and other guests during the award ceremony. Thank you for inviting me again to this prestigious contest.

Over the past four decades, the ACM-ICPC has grown to a world-renowned programming contest with participation of the best students from thousands of universities around the world. I am very glad to note that Hong Kong has hosted the regional contest since 2016. On this, I must extend my heartfelt gratitude to Dr LI and the university community for their unfailing efforts in staging this very meaningful event for Hong Kong over the past years.

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is committed to developing innovation and technology (I&T) in Hong Kong to enhance our global competitiveness and drive economic development. One of our key initiatives is to nurture the younger generation of ICT talent through implementation of various measures such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, IT enrichment programmes in secondary schools, and funding schemes for universities.

Our local I&T hubs, Hong Kong Cyberport and Hong Kong Science Park, also offer internship programmes to young people for gaining working experience in the ICT industry as well as incubatee programmes to young entrepreneurs.

Last month, the Chief Executive announced her second Policy Address which included a new initiative of hosting an annual “City I&T Grand Challenge” in the next five years to promote the use of I&T in addressing livelihood issues and create a fervid I&T atmosphere for Hong Kong. A total amount of $500 million will be allocated for this new initiative. We welcome various sectors, including the academia and students, to put forward innovative solutions to tackle issues closely related to our daily lives.

This ACM-ICPC Asia Hong Kong Regional Contest fully echoes our mission to cultivate ICT talent. To me, the invaluable element of this contest is not the awards only, but the exposure, experience as well as collaboration and friendship brought to the budding young talent participating in the contest. Through addressing problems and identifying solutions during the contest, you stretch your capabilities in mental endurance, innovative mindset and critical thinking. The contest also challenges your skills in communication, team work and computer programming.

I believe all of you can excel further through more practice and active participation in competitions to share experience and learn from each other. I therefore greatly encourage you to participate in the annual Hong Kong ICT (HKICT) Awards. Started in 2006, the HKICT Awards is a well-renowned award aiming at recognising and promoting outstanding ICT inventions and applications, and there is a Student Innovation Award category dedicated to students. The HKICT Awards 2019 will be open for enrolment soon. Do watch out for updates on my Office’s website.

With an innovative mindset equipped with the right skills, you can definitely come up with bright ideas to address challenges of different kinds. Today’s contest is a good start. Keep up with your enthusiasm and equip yourself to shape a better world for all of us.

Lastly, I would like to extend my gratitude to mentors, coaches and participating universities who have supported this event and provided invaluable guidance to students to unleash their potential. For the best ranked team to be announced in a short while, I wish you reaching new heights in the upcoming World Finals. Thank you.

- ENDS -