On 17 July 2018, the Hong Kong Applied
Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) and Cyberport announced
that they would be partnering to foster an environment that would allow for the
growth and development of Hong Kong start-ups with particular focus on
innovations in Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain Applications, and other new technologies while also engaging
the varied members of the tech community.
Cyberport
is a digital tech community comprising over 1,000 technology companies and it partnered
with ASTRI for the ‘ASTRI Technovation
Day’, an event which aimed to introduce ASTRI to the Cyberport tenant
companies, particularly the technology start-ups in FinTech, Blockchain,
HealthTech and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Through similar events, ASTRI hopes to
develop fruitful connections with the technology start-up community and provide
necessary support to them. Held yesterday at Cyberport, the ASTRI Technovation
Day had a clear mission of fostering collaborations, boosting technological
capabilities, sharing useful information about funding resources, and updating
participants on ASTRI’s technology partnership models. Over 40 start-ups took
part in the event which also included insightful sessions on Blockchain
Applications, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Analytics, along with a facilitated
business matching session for AI and Blockchain stream start-ups.
Mr Hugh Chow, ASTRI’s Chief Executive Officer and Mr Peter Yan, the Chief Executive Officer of
Cyberport talked about the common goal shared by their respective organisations – enabling Blockchain and AI
stream start-ups to unleash a world of potential.
When commenting on the initiative, Mr Chow said that ASTRI hopes to provide a
platform for innovation catalysts to connect with innovation drivers – helping
the ecosystem to collectively maximise
the impact of their endeavours through
the event. Conscious that it is unusual for an R&D institution to
disseminate to other technology developers, Mr
Chow added, “ASTRI aims to act as a Technovation facilitator. As we all know,
together we always achieve more.”
Mr Yan, CEO of Cyberport said that he was glad that Cyberport and ASTRI
will be working closely together on this event that aligns with Cyberport’s key
cluster focus of AI, blockchain and big data. The partnership promises to be highly
beneficial to Cyberport’s tech community in gaining inspiration to enhance
their product development.
Cyberport’s community consists of over 1,000 digital tech companies and is keen
to work with partners like ASTRI to accelerate their growth and development to
create an impact on society. “I look forward to more collaboration with
ASTRI in the coming future,” he added.
ASTRI remains committed to its mission of
enhancing Hong Kong’s global competitiveness with the power of technology,
working as an important facilitator of Hong Kong’s I&T development.
Technology start-ups play a vital role in Hong Kong’s role in its global
I&T aspirations. Hong Kong not only boasts one of the most vibrant start-up
ecosystems in the world but also
consistently ranks at the top league of global innovation and business
competitiveness rankings. ASTRI recognises
its responsibility to better understand what rising technology entrepreneurs need and to share technological and funding
related information that they might find useful.
Cyberport is committed to nurturing youth,
start-ups, and entrepreneurs to grow in
the digital industry by connecting them to strategic partners and investors,
driving collaboration with local and international business partners to create
new opportunities, and accelerating digital adoption amongst corporates and SME.
Cyberport focuses on building key clusters of digital technology, namely
FinTech, eCommerce, IoT/Wearables and Big Data/AI to foster the development of
Hong Kong into a “Smart City”. With a
committed team of professionals providing all rounded value-added services to support our digital community and an array
of state-of-the-art tech facilities, Cyberport is the flagship for Hong Kong’s
digital tech industry.
The focus of various sessions during the
ASTRI Technovation Day was on Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Data
Analytics, Healthcare Technologies, and
Cybersecurity. The event has been a collective effort from ASTRI and Cyberport
as part of their common goal to cultivate talents to help turn Hong Kong’s
information technology aspirations into reality, and to help build a thriving,
innovation-led economy.
