The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) today (June 11) signed a memorandum of co-operation (MOC) with five local universities and seven research institutions to establish a strategic partnership to support the application of innovation and technology (I&T) in government departments so as to improve their services and enhance efficiency.
 
     The Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, and the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, Mr Alfred Sit, witnessed the signing ceremony of the MOC. The areas of collaboration include promoting the use of the E&M InnoPortal, identifying I&T solutions for government departments and fostering knowledge and experience exchange, with a view to facilitating the application and development of I&T.
 
     Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Yang said that collaboration and partnership are key tenets for I&T development, fostering a new culture of collaboration among stakeholders. The universities, research and development (R&D) centres and start-ups in Hong Kong are never short of innovative technology solutions. What they need more is the culture that supports embracing I&T. The E&M InnoPortal of the EMSD and the Smart Government Innovation Lab of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer are the platforms that the Government uses to boost innovation. Through public-private partnership, government departments are encouraged to adopt technologies and local R&D results with a view to delivering better public services and driving applied R&D that benefits the local community.
 
     Also addressing the ceremony, Mr Sit said he was very pleased that the EMSD had the opportunity to act as a facilitator to promote the application of new technologies and match the needs of government departments with I&T projects from start-ups through the E&M InnoPortal. He expressed the hope for pooling together local I&T efforts to provide appropriate innovation and technologies to society, and accelerate the implementation and testing of innovative solutions from universities and start-ups, thus creating an all-win situation.
 
     The universities signing the MOC are the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the City University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, while research institutions are the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, the Hong Kong Productivity Council, the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited, the Logistics and Supply Chain MultiTech R&D Centre, the Automotive Parts and Accessory Systems R&D Centre, and the Nano and Advanced Materials Institute Limited.
 
     For details of the E&M InnoPortal of the EMSD, please visit https://inno.emsd.gov.hk.

Ends/Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Issued at HKT 15:00

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