Dr MAK (Chairman of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Hong Kong, Ir Dr SL MAK), Dr LO (Legislative Council Member, Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok), Duncan (Legislative Council Member, Hon Mr Duncan CHIU), distinguished speakers and guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning. It is my great pleasure to join you all today at this ICT Conference 2024. I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Informatics and Control Technologies Section of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Hong Kong for organising this meaningful conference for us to explore the opportunities and challenges in the era of generative AI, which echoes the Government’s policy to promote the development of AI ecosystem in Hong Kong.

Developing new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions is one of the initiatives unveiled in the Chief Executive’s Policy Address in October. The core element of new quality productive forces is to achieve high-quality economic development through technological empowerment, of which the development of AI is definitely one of the key drivers.

Adequate computing resource infrastructure is one of the prerequisites for taking forward the development of AI industry and advanced R&D in Hong Kong. Our ICT flagship, Cyberport, will soon commence its operation of the AI Supercomputing Centre (AISC) in phases to support the strong local demand for computing power and enhance Hong Kong’s R&D capabilities in various fields. The first phase of the facility is expected to commence operations within this year, and the computing power will progressively increase to reach a level of 3 000 petaFLOPS.

To accelerate the development of AI ecosystem, the Government has allocated $3 billion to launch a three-year AI Subsidy Scheme for supporting local universities, R&D centres, government departments and AI-related enterprises in leveraging the computing power of Cyberport’s AI Supercomputing Centre. The subsidy will also be used to strengthen the cybersecurity and data protection of the Supercomputing Centre. Cyberport will also organise a series of promotional and educational activities to attract AI experts, enterprises and R&D projects from around the world to come to Hong Kong.

Data is another powerful engine driving the development of AI ecosystem. From machine learning to deep learning, various fields of AI rely on processing a large amount of data. Back in 2018, the Government already formulated the open data policy to promote the opening up of data from various bureaux and departments and organisations. We have achieved remarkable results over the past few years. Currently, we have published over 5 400 datasets and more than 2 300 APIs through the Open Data Portal (DATA.GOV.HK) for free use by the public. We will continue to encourage government departments as well as public and private organisations to open up more data.

AI technology, including generative AI, is being applied to various products and services. The provision of public services must harness this powerful technology. In Chief Executive’s Policy Address delivered last month, it is announced that the Government will pilot the use of a generative AI document processing copilot application, developed on the basis of a locally trained large language model, within the Government to assist staff in writing, translating and summarising documents. This trial run will also lend support to Hong Kong’s exploration in generative AI technologies and enrich the use cases for better, accurate and localised outcomes. There are also other digital government and smart city initiatives that the Government presses ahead for rollout this year and next making use of AI technology.

While embracing the enormous opportunities that AI brings for digital innovation, paying due attention to AI and data ethics in implementing IT projects and services is equally important. The Government has formulated the Ethical AI Framework which provides clearer guidelines for bureaux and departments in developing AI technologies and applications, including generative AI. The Government will keep striking a balance between safeguarding public interest and facilitating innovation.

We must continue rise to whatever challenges that we may face and seize every opportunity in this AI era. Let’s join hands to take forward the development of AI and its ecosystem in Hong Kong, with a view to creating strong impetus for high-quality economic growth.

Before I close, I wish this conference every success and every one of you a fruitful sharing at this conference. Thank you very much.

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