The Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) recently announced that it has received a donation pledge of S$521,000from the company, Digital Blockchain Technology Limited in order to support the development of the HKBU’s Department of Computer Science.
The Department, which was founded in 1988, is dedicated and committed to providing top-quality university education, with equal emphasis on high-quality research, training, and teaching in computer science and information systems.
Over the last 30 years, it has established research excellence with an international reputation in four selected areas, namely Computational Intelligence, Databases and Information Management, Networking and Systems, and Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning.
More recently the HKBU Department of Computer Science has been conducting research into various thematic application areas including “Health Informatics” and “Security and Privacy Aware Computing”. Like most research-active universities, its faculty members publish in top-tier journals, serve in editorial boards of major journals in their respective research fields, and obtain competitive research/technology grants from funding sources such as the Hong Kong Research Grants Council, Innovation and Technology Commission of HKSAR, National Natural Science Foundation of China as well as local and overseas industries.
There are also a number of teaching laboratories dedicated to supporting teaching and learning on campus. These laboratories contain regularly updated computer systems, which provide a holistic environment for the university’s current and potential students as well as visitors to conduct research in a wide range of research fields, to develop and enhance students’ learning skills.
In appreciation of the donor's generosity, the University held a recognition ceremony on 18 July 2018. Several high-level individuals officiated the ceremony including Mr Li Feng, Chief Executive Officer, Mr Huang Xiang, Chief Technology Officer, and Ms Zou Wenjing, Chief Marketing Officer, from Digital Blockchain Technology Limited, together with Professor Roland Chin, President, and Vice-Chancellor of HKBU.
According to the strategic cooperation framework agreement signed by the two parties, the donation will be used to establish a partnership in the areas of blockchain technology development, data sharing as well as talent training.
The partnership also includes the establishment of a Blockchain and FinTech Laboratory at HKBU in support of the teaching and research work of the Department of Computer Science on blockchain technology.
The donation will most likely be used to fund and run the research initiatives that will be undertaken at the Blockchain and FinTech Laboratory and the computer science research and innovation occurring at the other labs and research centres across the HKBU campus; i.e., the several computing laboratories used by the various research groups at HKBU.
HKBU representatives who attended the ceremony today included Professor Rick Wong, Vice-President (Research and Development); Mr Yeung Chee-kong, Associate Vice-President (Engagement); Professor Michel A Van Hove, Acting Dean of Science; Professor Xu Jianliang and Dr Chu Xiaowen, Acting Head and Associate Professor respectively of the Department of Computer Science; and Mrs Lily Chan, Director of University Advancement and Secretary-General of the HKBU Foundation.
Digital Blockchain Technology Limited is a renowned blockchain company in the industry. It is committed to the fundamental research as well as real-world applications of blockchain technology. Its research and development team is one of the pioneers in the design of ASIC chips for blockchain technology. The company is now developing a new blockchain technology that can harness the huge computing resources used for mining cryptocurrencies to support practical applications such as AI and scientific problems.
