The Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Alfred Sit, today (October 27) visited the Smart Government Pavilion at the International ICT Expo. Accompanied by the Government Chief Information Officer, Mr Victor Lam, Mr Sit reviewed the work of various government departments in promoting smart government and encouraged departments to foster closer collaboration with the industry to drive further smart government development and propel Hong Kong forward.

     Under the anti-epidemic new normal, government departments have been proactively adopting robotics and other technologies to discharge their duties and enhance the quality of public services. These include Disinfection Robot, Intelligent Robotic Monitoring System, Deliverbot, Robotic Dog for Landslide Inspection and Guiding Robot. Mr Sit said he was glad to see government departments constantly innovate, inject new ideas and impetus into public services, which in turns bring about innovation in service delivery and user experience.

     Mr Sit said artificial intelligence (AI) and big data are important technology areas underpinning smart city development. Their applications are conducive to delivery of data-driven quality public services. The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) set up the Smart Government Innovation Lab (Smart LAB) in April 2019. It promotes active participation by industry players to assist government departments in adopting technologies, including AI and big data analytics, with a view to improving public services. To date, the Smart LAB's thematic website has uploaded over 120 business needs and received over 370 IT solutions submitted by industry players. The Smart LAB matched over 70 business needs nominated by various departments with solutions, and arranged over 80 thematic workshops for relevant departments during the process. Trials and testing were also arranged in collaboration with concerned departments for proposals which meet their needs.

     The International ICT Expo has resumed as an in-person exhibition for the first time after COVID-19. The OGCIO, together with 11 government departments and public organisations, set up the Government Pavilion to showcase more than 20 technology solutions that facilitate smart city development and enhance public services covering different areas, including "Smart Mobility", "Smart Living", "Smart Environment", "Smart People" and "Smart Government". Through this exhibition, the OGCIO aims to help different sectors to gain a better understanding of the Government's initiatives in promoting smart city development and to act as a bridge to boost collaboration between the Government and industry to explore insightful ideas for smart city development in Hong Kong.

     Highlights of the five zones of the Smart Government Pavilion include:

Smart Government: Focusing on robotics technologies, robots adopted by various departments are on display. They include the Intelligent Robotic Monitoring System used by the Correctional Services Department to assist correctional officers in stepping up patrol duties; the Robotic Dog used by the Geotechnical Engineering Office of the Civil Engineering and Development Department to carry out inspections at landslide sites and other dangerous environments which are difficult to access and to enable digitisation of the site environment and the planning of subsequent emergency repair works; the Guiding Robot used by the OGCIO that serves as a smart receptionist, and the Disinfection Robot used by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department to carry out disinfection work in different government venues and offices.
 
Smart Mobility: Automated parking systems and technology solutions of autonomous vehicles that facilitate traffic management are showcased. The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute also exhibits the autonomous driving technology project to display the application of Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything technology and how it enhances road safety and efficiency.
 
Smart Living: The highlight is the one-stop personalised digital services platform "iAM Smart" and the service to help visitors to register for "iAM Smart" or upgrade to "iAM Smart+" with digital signing function. Currently, "iAM Smart" has more than 970 000 registrations, and over 150 government, public and private online services are now accessible through the platform. The services accessible through "iAM Smart" will continue to go up. It is expected that over 180 government, public and private online services will be accessible by end of 2023.
 
Smart Environment: The 3D Digital Map technology, the 4D Immersive CAVE system that supports environmental impact assessments and architectural designs, and the Government-Wide IoT Network that applies to Location Tracking of Hikers at Remote Areas Pilot Project, Smart Carpark, and Smart Toilet Pilot Programme are featured.
 
Smart People: The top 10 winning solutions of the Robotics Technologies Innovation Competition organised by the OGCIO which aims at fostering the culture of innovation and technology (I&T) within the Government are showcased. Some of the solutions such as "Robotics-enabled public services on toilet bowl cleaning application" and "Setting up Unmanned Aircraft System for Fire and Emergency Services" are piloted or being planned in government departments, with a view to enhancing both the quality and efficiency of public services with I&T to benefit members of the public.
 
     The four-day International ICT Expo is being held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from today (October 27) to October 30. Besides the Government Pavilion, the OGCIO also set up the Hong Kong ICT Awards Pavilion to showcase winning entries of the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2020 to encourage and inspire industry players to develop more innovative solutions. Interested parties from the trade can pre-register at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council's thematic website (event.hktdc.com/fair/ictexpo-en/HKTDC-International-ICT-Expo/).

Ends/Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Issued at HKT 15:51

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