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Innovation and Technology

Over four years from 2018-19, the HKSTPC will receive total government funding of $10 billion, about $7 billion of which will go towards supporting its tenants and incubatees, including through the launch of a new Science and Technology Entrepreneur Programme.

Cyberport finances its own Creative Micro Fund and Cyberport Macro Fund, providing early- stage funding to Cyberport's start-up community. Under the Space Sharing Scheme for Youth, Cyberport set up a Smart-Space 8 co-working space in Tsuen Wan in July to accommodate some 140 start-ups, offering entrepreneurial training and support to help young entrepreneurs carry out innovation activities.

Pooling and Nurturing Talent

Talent is crucial for developing I&T. In August, the government launched the Postdoctoral Hub and the Re-industrialisation and Technology Training Programme. The Postdoctoral Hub funds ITF recipients, HKSTPC and Cyberport incubatees and I&T tenants, and investee start-ups of the Innovation and Technology Venture Fund to engage postdoctoral talent for R&D work. Up to end-2018, the government had supported over 300 postdoctoral researchers with about $150 million in total funding. The training programme subsidises employees of local enterprises on a government-enterprise matching basis of 2:1 to receive training in advanced technologies, especially those related to Industry 4.0. As at end-2018, it had supported the training of 275 people with about $1.8 million.

The Researcher Programme, formerly known as the Internship Programme, supports eligible organisations in recruiting undergraduates and postgraduates from local universities as researchers to help in R&D projects. Since its inception in 2004, more than 3,700 researcher positions had been approved, involving about $880 million.

In June, the Technology Talent Admission Scheme was launched to provide a fast-track arrangement for eligible technology companies and institutes to admit overseas and Mainland technology talent to undertake R&D work in Hong Kong.

Smart City Development

The government seeks to build a world-famous Smart Hong Kong characterised by a strong economy and high quality of living. The Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong sets out development plans under six major areas, namely 'Smart Mobility', 'Smart Living', 'Smart Environment', 'Smart People', 'Smart Government' and 'Smart Economy, listing over 70 initiatives.

In particular, to support smart city development, the government is pursuing three key digital infrastructure projects:

• providing all Hong Kong residents, in mid-2020 and for free, an electronic identity (eID) as a single digital identity for authentication when conducting government and commercial transactions online;

⚫ implementing a pilot Multi-functional Smart Lampposts scheme to collect real-time city

data to enhance city management; and

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