Although Hong Kong is small in size, it often ranks highly in international comparisons and attracts talent from around the world. As the concept of smart cities continues to evolve, the Hong Kong government has actively adopted and supported innovation and technology to build a more liveable and advanced environment for living and working.
The 2022 Policy Address Made Smart City Development a Policy Focus
The 2022 Policy Address included many proposals related to Smart Hong Kong. These covered six areas: mobility, economy, government, living, environment, and people. The direction also echoed the previously announced Hong Kong Smart City Blueprint 2.0.
For smart mobility, the government proposed transport studies, pilot schemes including autonomous vehicle testing, a transport strategy blueprint, advanced transport technology, better traffic data analysis, and exploration of smart highways.
For the smart economy, the policy direction included reindustrialization, support for smart production lines, smart logistics, virtual asset regulation, Commercial Data Interchange, fintech development, preparation for e-HKD, and cooperation on digital RMB testing in Hong Kong.
For smart government, the government aimed to make work visa applications electronic, provide one-stop electronic services through iAM Smart, promote full digitalization of government services, launch digital government projects, open more government data, and explore cross-boundary data flow with the Mainland.
For smart living, the proposals included expanding 5G network coverage, encouraging video consultation, further developing eHealth, issuing electronic sick leave certificates, expanding the Hong Kong and Macao Medicine and Equipment Connect mechanism, and strengthening support for elderly care.
For the smart environment, the government set out policies on electric taxis, electric buses, hydrogen vehicles, roadmaps for electric public transport and commercial vehicles, modern waste-to-energy facilities, district cooling systems, energy efficiency labels, and regional air quality monitoring.
For smart citizens, the direction included promoting STEAM education, teacher training, local I&T internships for STEM students, the Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme, and funding to help kindergartens move toward digital administration.
Participation From Every Industry Is Critical
Technology has changed global industries, economies, and social structures. It has also increased the reliance of citizens and enterprises on smart technology. With mature digital infrastructure already in place, Hong Kong’s smart city development is both necessary and urgent.
A smart city is a large and complex system. It depends on technologies such as IoT, cloud computing, 5G, big data, AI, and blockchain working together to connect fragmented elements. But technology alone is not enough. Participation from every industry is essential. Citizens and enterprises are not only users of a smart city; they are also builders of it.
The Policy Address mentioned improving Hong Kong’s I&T ecosystem and infrastructure, which is an important part of smart city development. Hong Kong Science Park has installed sensors to monitor outdoor parking spaces, and Cyberport’s indoor car park has installed EV charging space management systems. These examples allow people, vehicles, and roads to communicate and share real-time traffic information.
However, IoT applications go far beyond this. Government, industry, and citizens must work together to help IoT reach its full potential.
technine is committed to breaking current IoT limitations. Through open APIs, enterprises can control different hardware and endpoint devices through the internet and a single application. In response to the government’s carbon neutrality target, technine has actively participated in the promotion of electric vehicles and charging station deployment in Hong Kong, working with local I&T companies to synchronize real-time charging station data into one management dashboard.
Drivers can use a mobile app to view available spaces, reserve services, and make payments in one place. This improves daily convenience for EV drivers and increases business efficiency.
Hong Kong still has some distance to go before becoming a true smart city. One missing piece is a central control platform with complete interfaces, or an IoT Hub. A complete IoT ecosystem requires data interoperability between different sensors and systems. Today, many physical infrastructures remain closed, limiting available open data and slowing Smart Hong Kong development.
technine focuses on IoT application development and hardware integration and is a rare IoT solution provider in the Asian market. After years of testing, technine has used technology and big data analytics to help companies of different sizes solve problems. We will continue to focus on people-oriented I&T development and work with the government and industry to help build Hong Kong into a world-class smart city.
Translation supported by AI.