Digital Policy Office holds AI+ Civil Services Technology Forum
The Digital Policy Office (DPO) held the first Technology Forum in its AI+ Civil Services series at Hong Kong Cyberport today (August 8). The forum, themed "Smart Governance Era - Digital Agents & Smart Meetings for Efficiency", was held in hybrid mode and attracted more than 1 300 professionals from over 100 government departments as well as public and private organisations to discuss and promote the applications and innovation of AI in public services.
In his opening address, the Commissioner for Digital Policy, Mr Tony Wong, emphasised that in response to the rapid development of AI, the Government must proactively adopt smart technologies to boost work efficiency and enhance the experience for citizens, ensuring that public services stay current and progressive. To support departments in exploring suitable AI solutions, the Smart Government Innovation Lab (Smart Lab) under the DPO earlier launched the "AI+ Tool and Solution Catalogue" (the Catalogue), featuring a wide range of quickly deployable AI solutions from the innovation and technology (I&T) industry that suit the needs of the Government. Mr Wong encouraged all government colleagues to explore and implement suitable solutions from the Catalogue to enhance work efficiency and optimise human resources. He also took the opportunity to invite the I&T sector to submit more high-quality solutions, fostering a shared commitment to transforming public services with AI.
At the forum, a number of technology companies were invited to share information and exchange insights on their technologies and solutions focusing on the two main themes: "Digital Human Customer Service" and "Meeting Minutes Summaries and Communication Collaboration", providing an opportunity for government departments and the I&T sector to delve into the latest AI products and solutions, as well as to explore practical applications of AI for better public services. Among all, the Judiciary shared its experience with voice-to-text technology in the courts, and Hong Kong Cyberport introduced the local AI ecosystem development.
The forum also featured a number of booths showcasing the latest AI technologies and products where attendees were able to visit and exchange ideas. These included the local large language model "HKGAI V1" developed by the Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Center (HKGAI), and its related applications, such as the clerical assistant "HKPilot", the intelligent assistant "HKChat", and the meeting minutes generator "HKMeeting". These tools have already been widely used across government departments.
This forum was organised by the Smart Lab in collaboration with Hong Kong Cyberport, the Hong Kong Productivity Council and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. Since its establishment in 2019, the Smart Lab has been committed to connecting the Government with the I&T sector, actively fostering close partnerships between local start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises, and government departments. Through regularly organising promotional activities and technology exchange workshops, the Smart Lab supports and assists government departments in accelerating the introduction of local innovative technology products and solutions, which in turn could facilitate business matching and achieve win-win outcomes.
To further promote the wider adoption of AI across government departments, the DPO is launching a series of promotional activities under the "AI+ Civil Services" theme. The forum today marks the first Technology Forum of the series. In future, the DPO will continue to hold Technology Forums spotlighting relevant topics. Interested parties are most welcome to stay engaged and participate in the upcoming events.For more details, please visit the thematic website of the Smart Lab (www.smartlab.gov.hk/en/).
Digital Policy Office holds AI+ Civil Services Technology Forum Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Digital Policy Office holds AI+ Civil Services Technology Forum Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Speech by FS at CUHK EMBA Annual Conference
Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at the CUHK EMBA Annual Conference today (May 9):
Professor Dennis Lo (Vice-Chancellor and President, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)), Professor Lin Zhou (Dean, CUHK Business School), Macy (Chairperson of Organizing Committee, Ms Macy Chan), Michael (Chairperson of Organizing Committee, Mr Michael Chan), CUHK EMBA alumni and students, business leaders, distinguished guests and friends,
Good evening.
Addressing a room full of Executive MBA students and graduates is both an honour and a privilege. There is a particular kind of ambition in this room — one that is not content with success alone, but driven to understand it more deeply, in the belief that better ideas lead to greater impact.
That kind of commitment — to learning, to growth, to asking harder questions — is precisely what today's conversation is about.
The theme of this conference, which focuses on innovation and agile leadership, could not be more timely. Most of us here have lived through the Internet age and the smartphone revolution, which made communication faster and more seamless than anyone had imagined.
Today, the rise of AI places us at a more fundamental tipping point. Technology is not merely changing the answers — it is redefining the questions themselves.
Consider what is already within reach. An AI assistant can learn your preferences, curate a personalised shortlist, and simply ask for your confirmation. We should even ask whether the smartphone and the search engine will remain our primary gateways to the digital world, or whether something altogether new is already taking shape.
To draw an analogy, the power of technology does not lie in drawing the old map with greater precision. It lies in revealing how much of that map remains uncharted — and in showing us that entirely new maps, with new co-ordinates, are being drawn.
This redefinition is unfolding across three dimensions simultaneously.
First, the redefinition of products. Products are no longer discrete, standalone objects. A smart car is a vehicle, but also a mobile platform for data. An insurance policy can be a contract, but equally a dynamic reflection of health data. Innovation today is born from cross-sector convergence and continuous evolution.
Second, the redefinition of services. Services are no longer delivered solely by enterprises. They emerge from collaborative networks of people and AI. But the more profound shift is in what customers now expect. In the past, good service meant reaching the right person quickly. Today, customers expect a solution that anticipates their needs before articulating them. This requires a new architecture of service delivery: human and machine, with AI handling the scale, the speed, and the personalisation that no human team alone could sustain.
Third, and most importantly, the redefinition of business models. In the past, we sought optimal solutions within established frameworks — when demand rose, we expanded capacity; when service needs grew, we opened more branches. Technology invites us to break out of those frameworks entirely. Intelligent manufacturing means that "economies of scale" is no longer the only answer; flexible supply chains have made customised, on-demand production the new normal.
These three redefinitions are opening a commercial frontier unlike anything we have seen before. But if the benefits of technology accrue only to a small circle, its power remains fundamentally constrained. This brings me to the second message I want to leave with you today: inclusivity.
Inclusivity is not charity. Yet it is the smartest business strategy available. The unmet needs of the broader public represent the largest and most underserved market opportunity in existence. When you make quality healthcare, education and financial services accessible and affordable to ordinary residents, you are not serving a group in need of handouts — you are unlocking a vast market that traditional business models have consistently overlooked.
Hong Kong has a distinctive role to play here. We can be a co-architect of standards, a hub for capital, and a bridge between innovation and real-world deployment — from clinical validation of smart healthcare, to green technology financing, to regulatory sandboxes for fintech. Our contribution draws not only on institutional strengths and international networks, but on our genuine commitment to broad-based participation.
Yet inclusive products and services are only the first step. The deeper dimension is empowerment.
History reminds us that the dividends of technological revolution need to be actively guided to reach the many. In the age of steam, and again in the Internet era, early gains concentrated among capital owners and top-tier talent. But today we have the opportunity to write a different story. AI, as an amplifier of human capability, is already enabling what was previously unimaginable: a solo entrepreneur, with the right tools and the right vision, can build a unicorn.
In other words, the unit of competitive advantage is shifting — from the size of your team to the skill with which you orchestrate your tools.
Our mission should be to make that shift available to everyone. To turn individual readiness into collective prosperity, and to ensure that the productivity gains of AI flow broadly across the society.
This is precisely why, in this year's Budget, I placed such emphasis on the "AI Training for All" initiative.
We are not trying to turn everyone into an engineer. We are ensuring that workers, managers, SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) owners, and ordinary residents become capable collaborators with AI: people who can access it, use it effectively, and put it to work as their assistant.
That may sound ambitious, but consider this: if AI can one day be as intuitive as the smartphone, then mass adoption is not difficult to imagine at all. Just as computers once migrated from specialist facilities into offices and homes, AI will find its way into everyone's daily work and life.
For business leaders, it may be tempting to think of AI as "digital employee" that can replace existing workers. But think of a different framing: equipping your workforce with powerful digital assistants can achieve productivity gains, while also freeing your people to do what humans do best — create, imagine and innovate.
Companies that take those extra steps, and think those extra moves ahead, will find that an empowered workforce is also a more innovative one.
All in all, the power of technology must ultimately be measured by its contribution to inclusive growth. And inclusive growth, in the end, depends on, yes, commercial acumen — but also empathy, compassion, and the conviction that a rising tide should lift all boats. I can see that those qualities live in this room.
I will close with this thought. Someone once joked that economists know the price of everything and the value of nothing. With AI, let us never fall into the same trap — in our race to price every efficiency gain, let us not lose sight of the deeper value we are trying to create: a society where the fruits of innovation are broadly shared, and where technology lifts not just the fortunate few, but everyone willing to reach for it.
So here is my ask: let us grow the pie together. And make sure we cut it well.
Thank you very much.
Source: AI-found images
Speech by FS at CUHK EMBA Annual Conference Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Speech by FS at CUHK EMBA Annual Conference Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Source: AI-found images
