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Innovation and Technology

Incubation programmes are also available to provide rental subsidies as well as marketing, financial and technical support to start-ups in their initial years, and to help them open up markets. The HKSTPC offers a Corporate Venture Fund, while Cyberport runs a Creative Micro Fund and Cyberport Incubation Programme. In 2016, Cyberport launched a $200 million Macro Fund to invest in its start-up community, and expanded its Smart-Space small offices and workstations by 60 per cent to yield a total floor area of 11,420 sq m, of which 4,400 sq m are designated for companies of financial technologies.

In October, the HKSTPC set up a 930 sq m, downtown start-up hub called Lion Rock 72 at the InnoCentre in Kowloon Tong, its first co-working space outside the Science Park, for start-ups to conduct business activities.

The Technology Start-up Support Scheme for Universities under the ITF provides funding to six local universities to support their teams in starting technology businesses and commercialising their R&D results. Each university receives up to $4 million annually.

In December, the Public Sector Trial Scheme was extended to benefit incubatees and graduate tenants of the HKSTPC and Cyberport in conducting trials of their products or services in the public sector. Each project gets up to $1 million.

Nurturing Talent

Talent is crucial for developing I&T. An eight-year Enriched IT Programme in Secondary Schools was introduced in the 2015-16 school year to provide IT training in programming, robotics, 3D printing and drones, and to organise activities to stimulate interest in IT. Some 700 students attended enriched IT classes at the eight partner schools during the 2016-17 school year, and 85 schools were funded to organise IT activities in 2016.

At the undergraduate and postgraduate level, an Internship Programme under the ITF supports organisations to recruit graduates from local universities as interns to help in ITF-funded R&D projects. More than 2,400 internships have been approved, involving a total funding of some $490 million. The monthly allowances were increased in 2016 to $14,000 for graduates with a bachelor's degree and $16,500 for those with a master's or higher degree. The programme was extended in December to benefit incubatees and SME tenants of the HKSTPC and Cyberport.

Promotion of Innovation and Technology

Re-industrialisation

Re-industrialisation, the development of high-value-added industries or manufacturing processes, is a new area of economic growth for Hong Kong. It encompasses robotics, smart city and healthy ageing as strategic development areas.

To promote and support smart production, the Legislative Council approved about $8.2 billion in 2016 to develop an Advanced Manufacturing Centre and Data Technology Hub at the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate. The government is also identifying sites near the Liantang/ Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point to meet the long-term needs of I&T setups.

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