The Hong Kong Police Force and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly explore innovative technology and nurture innovation and technology (I&T) talent to enhance policing services to the public, propel the development of the I&T ecosystem in Hong Kong and strengthen Hong Kong’s status as an international I&T hub.
The Force and HKSTP will collaborate on the application of innovative solutions over the next three years across five areas, including Natural Language Processing (NLP), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM), Augmented Reality (AR), and Search and Rescue Operations-related technology.
Tech ventures will be enabled to test their new tailor-made solutions for the Force in real-life operating environments and adopt data validation via HKSTP’s STP platform, which helps accelerate the commercialisation of innovations. Both parties hope that this collaboration can drive more organisations to adopt I&T and co-incubate potential tech ventures as well as improve service levels provided to the community.
The Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry attended and witnessed the signing of the MoU, and in his opening remarks, thanked the commitments of and efforts made by the Force and HKSTP in promoting the I&T development. He looks forward to seeing more collaboration between government departments and the I&T sector to further promote the smart city and I&T development in Hong Kong.
The Chairman of HKSTP stated that the Force was the first government body to sign an MoU with HKSTP to drive technology adoption and nurture I&T talent. It is hoped this collaboration would encourage more industries to utilise technology and further boost the development of Hong Kong as a smart city. HKSTP will continue its key role in driving I&T development and connect all the stakeholders to accelerate the research-to-commercialisation journey and create a robust I&T ecosystem in Hong Kong.
The Commissioner of Police stated in the opening speech that the Force, being the largest department of the Hong Kong Government, had long been supportive of the Government’s initiative to build Hong Kong as an international I&T hub.
To drive the I&T development, the Force both promotes a culture that encourages innovation and proactively nurtures I&T proficiency and cooperates with the industry and academia to create a vibrant I&T ecosystem with high-performance software and hardware support so that a win-win situation can be achieved through collaboration.
HKSTP has been working to propel success for 20 years and working with all stakeholders to expand the I&T ecosystem for Hong Kong and collaborated with over 250 enterprises in private sectors, including banking, construction and transportation industries to promote the technology adoption and nurture I&T talent.
HKSTP is extending the collaboration to the government bodies this year to encourage more enterprises and organisations to adopt technology, providing an opportunity for tech ventures to translate their research ideas into market-ready solutions in a real-life operations environment.
Recent research shows that the global law enforcement software market size is expected to grow from US$12.6 billion in 2020 to US$22.1 billion by 2026, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.8% during the forecast period. The report notes that this market will continue to grow post-COVID-19 as more law enforcement software agencies across the globe plan to migrate their IT infrastructure to the cloud, boost departmental operations, and improvise processes. While technology spending in APAC has increased, the setback due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic is imminent.
