The Force reaches new heights at 49th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva

Unleashing innovation: highlights from the 49th international exhibition of inventions in geneva

Officers of the Information Systems Wing of the Hong Kong Police Force reached new heights at the 49th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, which was held between April 17 and 21 in Geneva, Switzerland, and garnered five Gold Medals and one Silver Medal in total, including a prestigious Gold Medal with the Congratulations of Jury.

This year, the Information Systems Wing of the Hong Kong Police Force participated in the event with a theme of Reinventing of Public Safety for six digital entries regarding Smart Rescue Solutions and Intelligence Patrol, showcasing its achievements in technology-driven digital policing, enhancing technological applications to elevate public safety and improve public services.

These six solutions, five of which had been patented, utilise cutting-edge local technology to revolutionise the traditional search and rescue process and daily police patrol to save lives and maintain public order, setting a new milestone in existing work pattern.

Following a highly competitive judging process with international expert judges reviewing all the entries, the six entries demonstrating the innovative technological solutions professionally presented by the Force won one Gold Medal with the Congratulations of Jury, four Gold Medals and one Silver Medal in the "Security, Search & Alarm" category. The Force's six winning entries include:

1) HKSOS Mobile Application - Safeguarding citizens' lives with the new automatic and dynamic risk assessments and prediction function (Gold Medal with Congratulations of Jury);

2) Signal Radar Rescue Drone - Unique rescue drone with matchless capability for ultra-long range detection of SOS signals in the most difficult terrains without mobile coverage (Gold Medal);

3) HKSOS Emergency Wireless Mesh Connectivity - Providing data connectivity to remote places without mobile coverage (Gold Medal);

4) R-Map - Interactive multifunctional rescue map and mobile application designed to streamline interdepartmental rescue responses (Silver Medal);

5) Techsense - The world's smallest and lightest operational earpods to provide accurate real-time monitoring and ensure safety of search and rescue personnels (Gold Medal); and

6) i-Patrol - A mobile application that utilises AI to analyse real-time crime information and past crime hotspots, enhancing the intelligence-led policing capabilities of police officers (Gold Medal).

With the remarkable achievements of the team's second participation in the Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Information Systems), Ms Kwan Chui-ching, felt particularly honored by the HKSOS's previous achievement of winning the Gold Medal with Congratulations of Jury for its "Smart Rescue" concept at last year's exhibition. This year marked the successful rollout of HKSOS, which brought the concept to reality and has been enthusiastically embraced by the public. The project's "AI Mode" received high praise at this exhibition, earning the project the same prestigious award again, which greatly motivated the research and development team.

The Force's projects drew significant global interest, particularly from Swiss Police's search and rescue teams who highly appreciated the technology and practical applications of HKSOS. Its exceptional detection capabilities have been demonstrated in tests on snowy mountains by the Swiss Police and Hong Kong Police, proving its effectiveness in snow rescue operations.

The President of the Jury of the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, Mr David Taji, highly praised and acknowledged the level of sophistication and creativity of the Hong Kong Police's technology projects.

The Force reaches new heights at 49th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Force reaches new heights at 49th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Force reaches new heights at 49th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Force reaches new heights at 49th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Force reaches new heights at 49th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Force reaches new heights at 49th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Force reaches new heights at 49th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

High-level meeting with japanese officials: urgent concerns over fukushima's nuclear contaminated water discharge

The Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, met the Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Mr Takahashi Mitsuo, and the Consul-General of Japan in Hong Kong, Mr Kenichi Okada, today (May 3) upon request and discussed about the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water in Japan.

Mr Tse reiterated at the meeting that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has come to the view that there is currently no guarantee from the Japanese authorities that their purification and dilution system can operate continuously and effectively in the long term, and that the discharge will not pose any potential risks to food safety and marine ecology. Safeguarding food safety and public health in Hong Kong is the responsibility of the HKSAR Government, thus corresponding precautionary measures must be taken. The HKSAR Government will closely monitor developments of the discharge, so as to obtain more monitoring and scientific data in order to further examine the impact of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water discharge on food safety, and keep under review relevant counter measures. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.

In response to the Japanese Government's earlier decision to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear PowerStation into the sea, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.For other aquatic products, sea salt, and unprocessed or processed seaweed from Japan that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.

Besides, all vegetables, fruits, milk, milk beverages and dried milk originating from Fukushima are banned from importing into Hong Kong while such foods originating from the four prefectures nearby Fukushima, i.e. Ibaraki, Tochigi, Chiba and Gunma, are allowed to be imported on the condition that they are accompanied with a radiation certificate and an exporter certificate issued by the Japanese authority. Chilled or frozen game, meat and poultry, and poultry eggs originating from the above five prefectures are allowed to be imported on the condition that they are accompanied with a radiation certificate issued by the Japanese authority which shows the radiation levels do not exceed the guideline levels of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

Source: AI-generated images