A new tech bureau can help Hong Kong get on board the smart-city trend

Gary Wong says Hong Kong officials can make a good case for a tech bureau if they link it to a smart-city vision

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The government should work quickly to put forward a smart city blueprint, and clarify the role of the proposed innovation and technology bureau.

Gary Wong Chi-him

Published: 4:28pm, 9 Oct 2015Updated: 1:49pm, 16 Dec 2016

The Legislative Council will resume its meetings next week and the government is expected to submit to the Finance Committee a funding application for the establishment of an innovation and technology bureau. As lawmaker Charles Mok pointed out, the government has to spell out the bureau's purpose and functions if it is to convince legislators and the public of the need to create another bureau in Hong Kong.

To achieve this, the government should consider giving the proposed bureau the lead role in drafting Hong Kong's evolution into a smart city.

Successful smart cities have to be built on public participation; citizens are the ultimate end users

Last month, the Commission on Strategic Development looked into a Central Policy Unit research report on smart cities and suggested ways Hong Kong could move in that direction. The report can be seen as an effort to get Hong Kong to "catch the last wave" of the smart-city trend. The city certainly needs to be "smarter". It currently lacks three conditions to move ahead: first, a policy bureau taking the lead in straightening out internal division of labour and listing a clear strategy and objectives; second, robust development in information technology industries; and, third, policy formulation that embodies strong public engagement.

In Hong Kong, the workload for developing a smart city has been distributed to various bureaus and departments; there is no clear strategy or objectives. At the moment, the Development Bureau watches over Kowloon East's smart city pilot scheme, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau is formulating the "Digital 21 Strategy", while the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer is taking care of the integration of electronic public services.

Though Hong Kong has the technology and infrastructure to cater to the needs of an intelligent city, investment growth in related research has accounted for less than 1 per cent of its GDP. Photo: May Tse

This arrangement stands in stark contrast to the situation in Singapore, which formulated the "iN2015 Strategy" back in 2005 to develop its information and communications technology sector and set out a long-term planning blueprint.