Cyberport hosted a breakout forum on “Embracing Digital Technology in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) for the Post-pandemic Era” at the recent Belt and Road Summit, where start-ups and industry experts examined the opportunities offered by the Belt and Road initiative to the digital technology and innovation sector in the post-pandemic era.

Cyberport has supported the Belt and Road Summit for the fourth consecutive year and once again served as a forum partner and a supporting organisation. Cyberport hosted a fireside chat and a panel discussion to exchange insights on how business could seize new opportunities in the post-pandemic era and inject new impetus into the Hong Kong economy by leveraging the booming business opportunities brought about by the smart city development within the GBA.

Dr George Lam, Chairman of Cyberport, said in his welcome remarks, ”As Hong Kong’s digital technology flagship and key driver of innovation and technology, Cyberport can help enterprises to enter the GBA market. I am confident that our diverse smart living solutions, including education technology, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and remote work solutions, can help regional economies accelerate their transition into digital economies and smart cities in the post-pandemic era.”

Sharing insights into smart city transformation across the GBA Region

Duncan Chiu, Chief Representative at Hengqin Free Trade Zone (Hong Kong) Representative Office, chaired Cyberport’s fireside chat session “Empowering Smart City Transformation Across GBA in the Post-pandemic Era”.  Guest speakers included Anson Bailey, Head of Consumer & Retail, ASPAC, Head of Technology, Media & Telecoms, Hong Kong, KPMG China, and Prof. Dicky Shek, Vice President at GBA Business School, to share their insights into smart city transformation across the GBA Region.

With the release of the Hong Kong Smart City Blueprint 2.0 in 2020, smart city development has been further enforced as the public better perceives the benefits of smart city and I&T in their daily lives. Although the pandemic has brought unforeseen changes, innovative technologies have redefined and accelerated the transformation towards smart cities in the GBA. The development of the GBA as a whole has created valuable opportunities for Hong Kong’s innovation and technology industry.

The other panel discussion chaired by Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport was “How digital technologies are enabling innovation for the new normal”.  Panellists comprised Cyberport start-up founders Andy Chan, co-founder of Qupital, a FinTech company which provides offshore financing services for cross-border e-commerce, and Queenie So, co-founder and CEO of Syzygy, which developed a 5G virtual exhibition platform during the pandemic. They shared ideas on how to leverage business opportunities in the GBA and provide smart living solutions in the post-pandemic era.

Cyberport also took part in the virtual exhibition to showcase 10 community start-ups, namely RPA, FutureNow, ESG Matters, MindSense, Broadwood Innovation, Fintonium, Trademonday, OpenCBS, Aurora Tele-Oncology and Wizpresso.