Welcome Message from Ir Tony WONG Chi-kwong, JP

Chairman of Steering Committee, Hong Kong ICT Awards 2023

Government Chief Information Officer

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

 

 

My heartiest congratulations to all the winners of the Hong Kong Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Awards 2023!

The Hong Kong ICT Awards is an annual signature event led by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) and well supported by local ICT industry associations and professional bodies. It aims to recognise the outstanding achievements and contributions of ICT industry elites and enterprises to inspire innovation and promote technological advancement. This annual event also serves as a platform to foster exchanges and collaboration among experts in different professional fields to learn from each other and share experiences, thereby inspiring more innovative ideas and technological breakthroughs to further advance the development of Hong Kong’s ICT industry and digital economy. Over the years, the Hong Kong ICT Awards has also witnessed the continuing emergence of talent in Hong Kong’s ICT industry. Many award winners have achieved remarkably in international competitions in recent years by sweeping numerous awards. Their achievements do not only showcase the professionalism and creativity of Hong Kong’s ICT industry, but also play an active role in promoting local innovation and technology (I&T) development.

The National 14th Five-Year Plan has indicated our country’s clear support for Hong Kong to develop into an international I&T centre. In December last year, the Government promulgated the “Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint”, mapping out the overall direction and key strategies to help Hong Kong’s I&T development chart the way forward. The Government is making every effort to implement a series of measures to enhance Hong Kong’s I&T ecosystem, including launching the HK$10 billion “Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme” and preparing for the establishment of a Microelectronics Research and Development (R&D) Institute to accelerate the transformation and commercialisation of Hong Kong’s excellent R&D outcomes. The Government has also invested HK$50 million to accelerate the development of the Web3 ecosystem to embrace the huge opportunities brought by the development of Web3 and the virtual asset industry. On the digital infrastructure front, we are now upgrading the “iAM Smart” one-stop personalised digital services platform, with the goal of realising “single portal for online government services” by the end of 2025, allowing citizens to access commonly used government services through their “iAM Smart” accounts directly. We are also actively pursuing the preparatory work for establishing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Supercomputing Centre to provide adequate computing infrastructure to support the development of local scientific research and AI industries. As for nurturing technology start-ups, the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation will inject HK$400 million into its Corporate Venture Fund and launch a HK$110 million Co-acceleration Programme to cultivate high potential technology start-ups to become regional or global enterprises. We also allocated HK$265 million for Cyberport to launch a dedicated incubation programme for smart living start-ups. At the same time, we will continue to nurture local and attract overseas I&T talent, driving Hong Kong’s overall I&T development at full speed.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all members of the Steering Committee, the Grand Judging Panel, the Standards Assurance Sub-Committee, all the Leading Organisers and the judges for participating in the Hong Kong ICT Awards amidst their busy schedules, making this signature event a great success. I look forward to continuously working hand in hand with you all in the future to tell the good I&T stories of our country and Hong Kong. Thank you!