Speech by Mr Victor Lam, JP, Government Chief Information Officer, at the Award Ceremony of the Huawei ICT Competition 2022-2023 - Hong Kong SAR (with photos)

Jerry (Jerry JI, Managing Director, Hong Kong Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Hong Kong Representative Office), Lawrence (Lawrence CHEUNG, Chief Innovation Officer, Hong Kong Productivity Council), Dr WONG (Dr CK WONG, Chairman & Co-founder of the iASPEC Technologies (Holdings) Limited), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good afternoon! It is my honour to join you all at the Award Ceremony of the Huawei ICT Competition – Hong Kong SAR 2022. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Huawei and Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) for organising this ICT competition which provides an excellent platform and opportunity to enrich the ICT insight and knowledge of our university students, and nurturing innovation and technology (I&T) talent to support and sustain the long term development of Hong Kong.

I&T is the pivotal engine for powering high-quality economic development and the Hong Kong SAR Government is determined to building Hong Kong into an international I&T centre. To further strengthen our top-level planning for I&T development, we will announce very shortly the Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint that charts the general directions and major strategies for future I&T development in Hong Kong. The Blueprint will outline clear I&T development goals for Hong Kong in the next five to ten years, and bring in more quality employment and business start-up opportunities for members of the public, particularly our young people.

In accelerating digital transformation of public services, we are conducting an e-Government audit across all government departments to explore innovative applications and services with the use of advanced technologies, such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence, blockchain and geospatial analytics, as well as upgrading our digital infrastructures. We expect that some 100 new digital government projects will be implemented in the coming three years. We will also turn all government services online in two years’ time and provide one-stop digital services by fully adopting “iAM Smart” within three years so as to realise a “single portal for online government services”.

Talent is the key to the success of digital transformation and I&T development. To enlarge our I&T talent pool, we will put in place a host of support measures such as enhancing various technology talent schemes and providing accommodation support, with a view to attracting top-notch I&T talent from around the world to come to Hong Kong. Furthermore, on grooming local I&T talent, we will expand the scope of the STEM Internship Scheme to cover university students studying STEM programmes overseas or at GBA campuses established by designated local universities, and offer these students opportunities of taking up local I&T internship. In fact, our students have been very creative. Earlier this month at the Asia Pacific Information and Communications Technology Alliance (APICTA) Awards, our student teams won two winner awards and four merit awards, which are among the best results of the 14 competing economies at the event held in Pakistan. Thanks to the Hong Kong Computer Society, we are also delighted to have Hong Kong SAR chosen as the host of the 22nd edition of the APICTA Awards to be held at the end of next year.

To build a vibrant local I&T ecosystem, it requires the joint efforts of the academia, industry stakeholders such as Huawei and HKPC, the Government, and our younger generation. I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to all the winners today and hope all of you will continue to keep your passion for innovation. I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Thank you.

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