According to a report by Sing Tao daily online on November 14, the latest ranking of digital competitiveness in the 2024 world by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) of Lausanne, Hong Kong’s ranking rose three places to seventh in the world. A government spokesman said the rise in the ranking affirmed that Hong Kong remained one of the most digitally competitive economies in the world.
The report said that among the three factors in the ranking, Hong Kong continued to perform well in terms of“Technology” and“Knowledge”, ranking 3rd and 5th respectively, there was also an increase in“Readiness”. A spokesman for the HKSAR Government said that innovation and technology (I & T) is a core element in nurturing new qualitative productivity and an important engine for quality economic development in Hong Kong. The HKSAR Government will continue to enhance its I & T infrastructure and work with various sectors of the community to continuously improve the I & T ecosystem in Hong Kong.
At the end of 2022, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) promulgated the“Blueprint for Innovation and Technology Development in Hong Kong”, which sets out a clear development path and a systematic strategic plan for Innovation and technology development in the next five to 10 years. In March, the Ministry of Science and Technology signed the mainland-hong Kong arrangement on accelerating the 2023 of Hong Kong as an international innovation and Technology Centre with the HKSAR Government. An article in Hong Kong’s economic daily said that in order to comprehensively promote the development of I & T and promote Hong Kong’s“New type of industrialization,” in addition to leading I & T talents, different types and levels of industrial technology professionals, for example, machine operators, maintenance personnel, etc. , is also very important. Therefore, in addition to the traditional universities, the SAR government also started from the vocational and professional education to nurture diversified innovation and technology talents.
In October, the chief executive, Donald John Lee, announced in his third policy 2024 that he would step up investment and lead market funds to reform the government’s thinking in investing in the I & T industry, including setting up a HK $10 billion“Innovation and technology industry guidance fund” to strengthen the guidance of market funds to invest in designated strategic emerging and future industries, including life and Health Science and Technology, artificial intelligence and robotics, semiconductors and intelligent equipment, advanced materials and new energy, the systematic construction of innovation and technology industry ecosystem.
Paul Chan said that apart from devoting substantial resources and providing policy support to universities and research institutions, the government also attached great importance to the Financial Secretary of science popularization and education in primary and secondary schools. In the 2022 PISA study, Hong Kong ranked fourth in math and seventh in science among 81 economies, with overall performance above the international average. Lu Jian, director of the Hong Kong branch of the National Centre for engineering and Technology of precious metals at the City University of Hong Kong, said that there used to be a saying in Hong Kong that whoever dabbled in high-tech industries would suffer; and whoever engaged in low-tech industries, on the contrary, “This situation has changed. Both the government and the public have realized that I & T is the key to Hong Kong’s future development”.