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HK Science and Technology Park dolls out HK$7 billion worth of measures to tech tenants

According to a recent report, a little over HK$7 billion (US$893 million) worth of fresh measures ranging from rent exemptions to expanded subsidies will be up for grabs for hundreds of current and future tenants at Hong Kong’s innovation and technology hub, the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (HKSTP).

This will be the city’s latest effort to bolster its international standing in technology.

Recently, the HKSTP Corporation’s CEO stated that the measures aim to aid the tenants in levelling up their game in innovation and technology development and further improve the ecosystem. This is part of the government’s HK$10 billion funding to support and foster the park’s 709 tenants and upgrade its infrastructure.

The sweeteners could potentially benefit about 500 start-ups in the next five years as the park seeks to increase the number from about 270 now, he added.

The CEO noted that if a company does not have half of its staff engaged in research and development, the Corporation would not be welcoming it to settle at the Park. He added that Hong Kong has so far worked extremely hard and put in a great effort aimed at strengthening IT development, and it will be competing and cooperating with Shenzhen.

The CEO promised to constantly review the effectiveness of the measures.

Hong Kong has been known for trailing behind Singapore and Japan in technological readiness, according to the latest Economist Intelligence Unit study on 82 of the world’s largest economies.

Addressing this issue, the CEO of HKSTP stated that the group hopes to help companies execute their business plans, find capital and reach out to the market through the Park’s various programmes.

To ease funding needs, the first phase of corporate venture funding will be boosted to HK$200 million from the current HK$50 million.

The CEO noted that the aim is to encourage angel investors and venture capitalists to co-invest in the Park’s projects or start-ups from our incubation programmes.

A tenant at the park and the CEO of a start-up that uses artificial intelligence technologies to analyse or process speech in Chinese dialects for reviewing service at call centres stated that he welcomed the improved funding pools.

He noted that in 2015, when he gave up offers in Silicon Valley, California and came back to Hong Kong to start up his company, there were not many angel funds around and the ecosystem was totally unlike now. He added that his company received an undisclosed amount of investments from a Hong Kong business magnate, investor, and philanthropist a year ago.

In addition, The Park will waive rents for all of its hundreds of tenants for three months, with the owner of the aforementioned start-up hoping they will reallocate the savings to research and development work or other business opportunities.

Another tenant and CEO of a start-up company that has developed technology to stop LED lights and signs from failing in Hong Kong’s bad weather stated that he too welcome the move, which means a saving of about HK$128,000 for his 1,700 square foot-office over the three-month period. He stated that he would probably spend the savings on producing prototypes or taking part in trade shows.

Overall, the pool of money is expected to help hundreds of start-ups and boost innovation, collaboration as well as research and development.

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Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

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SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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