📋 Tender Overview
Following is a question by Professor the Hon William Wong and a written reply by the Secretary for Innovation Technology and Industry Professor Sun Dong in the Legislative Council today October 15
Question
There are views pointing out that artificial intelligence AI is advancing at a rapid pace and a number of countries such as Singapore and South Korea have formulated their AI development strategies In parallel this years Policy Address has proposed various initiatives to promote the development and application of AI The State Council also issued in August this year the Opinions on Further Implementing the Artificial Intelligence Plus Action the Opinions setting out phased objectives including realisation of extensive and indepth integration of AI with six key areas by 2027 full AI empowerment for highquality development by 2030 and full entry into a new stage of intelligent economic and societal development by 2035 Furthermore the Opinions propose accelerating the implementation of six key actions including Artificial Intelligence Plus in scientific and technology industrial development consumption upgrades peoples livelihoods and wellbeing governance capacity and global cooperation In this connection will the Government inform this Council
1 whether it will by drawing on the practices of other countries and regions comprehensively review the promotion of AI development in Hong Kong and map out future strategies
2 whether it will establish a phased target for Hong Kong to take forward the Artificial Intelligence Plus action by drawing reference from the objectives and key actions set out in the Opinions
3 whether it will formulate policy initiatives to apart from providing support to individual enterprises proactively promote the application of AI technology in various industries thereby enhancing the overall competitiveness of various industries in Hong Kong and
4 whether it has reviewed if existing efforts to nurture AI talent are adequate to meet future demand and whether targets have been set for manpower training in relation to the development of AI in Hong Kong
Reply
President
Having consulted the relevant bureaux my consolidated reply to the questions raised by Professor the Hon William Wong is as follows
AI is leading a new round of scientific and technological revolution as well as industry transformation Major economies around the world are leveraging their unique strengths to formulate AI strategies and objectives that align with their development needs We can see that the global AI development landscape and the strategic deployments of various countries including the AI initiative proposed by our nation last year as well as the Opinions on Deepening the Implementation of the AI Plus Initiative released in August this year focus on key areas such as scientific research innovation computing infrastructure data supply and talent cultivation These efforts aim to promote the deep integration and application innovation of AI across various industries and sectors of the economy and society
For Hong Kong since the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint the Blueprint put forth a strategic focus on the development of AI the Government has set out clear goals for the development of AI with a focus on strengthening infrastructure and promoting the applicationoriented approach Steady progress has been made in various key areas including research infrastructure data industry applications and talent nurturing The multidimensional AI policies and specific measures in Hong Kong are not only in line with the national AI initiative but also highly coherent with the global development path of AI We will also timely review the implementation status and optimise individual policies and support measures according to the latest development needs to enable AI to empower highquality development
In terms of innovative research and development RD the Government has funded the establishment of 16 RD laboratories focusing on AI and robotic technologies through the AIRInnoHK research cluster pooling over a thousand experts and strengthening Hong Kongs capabilities in foundational AI research
We have just obtained funding approval of 1 billion from the Legislative Council for the establishment of the Hong Kong AI Research and Development Institute AIRDI in 2026 which will facilitate upstream AI RD midstream and downstream transformation of RD outcomes as well as expansion of application scenarios
Regarding computing infrastructure Cyberports AI Supercomputing Centre AISC will further uplift its computing power within this year to meet the local demand of computing power To support local institutions RD institutes and enterprises in fully utilising the computing power of the AISC we have launched the 3 billion AI Subsidy Scheme to support largescale AI scientific research and applications To date it has successfully approved more than ten major projects
In addition we have just put up for tender a site at Sandy Ridge in the North District for the development of a data facility cluster It will provide advanced computing power facilities promoting the development of data and AIrelated industries
In terms of data supply the Government has been actively implementing the open data policy and encouraging public and private organisations to open up more highquality data with a view to providing essential elements for the development of AI in Hong Kong Currently the Open Data Portal has published over 5 600 datasets covering various industries and sectors including finance education transportation community and social welfare law and security etc providing important support for the industries in training algorithms and developing large language models
Regarding crossboundary data the Digital Policy Office introduced the Standard Contract facilitation measure based on the Memorandum of Understanding on Facilitating Cross
