The Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, went to Wan Chai District this afternoon (January 13) to gain a deeper understanding of the implementation of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) initiatives in a secondary school and visit co-working space for start-ups.

     Accompanied by the District Officer (Wan Chai), Mr Rick Chan, Mr Yang first visited St Paul's Convent School, where the Principal, Sister Margaret Wong, gave a brief account of the school's STEM initiatives to nurture students' creativity and its plan to use a new innovation-centric block, Smart Oasis, to teach with augmented reality and virtual reality. The school also worked closely with pilot Mr Hank Cheng on the Inspiration project to construct the empennage, wings and fuselage of Hong Kong's first homebuilt aircraft.

     As one of the eight partner schools of the Enriched IT Class Programme, the school motivates students to enhance learning in computer programming, as well as 3D manufacturing in building and driving robots. In his chats with students, Mr Yang said STEM fields are at the core of everything in an Internet-driven economy. He encouraged students to have more exposure to information technology programmes to better equip themselves with logical thinking and creative problem-solving skills at a young age.

     Mr Yang then toured WeWork, which opened its Asia arm in Hong Kong with two locations in late 2016. During his tour of the co-working space, Mr Yang said he was glad to see the strong presence of the start-up community, with like-minded people collaborating to help their businesses grow and succeed. He took the chance to exchange views with various start-ups.

     Before concluding the district visit, Mr Yang held a tea gathering with members of the Wan Chai District Council to listen to their views on a range of topics related to innovation and technology.

Ends/Friday, January 13, 2017
Issued at HKT 16:49

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