Housing Bureau and HKU sign MOU on innovative technological research and applications for public housing developments in Hong Kong
The Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho, and the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, Professor Xiang Zhang, have signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today (March 31) to establish a co-operation framework for advancing research and practical applications of cutting-edge construction technologies in public housing projects. This partnership will leverage the research prowess of a global top university alongside the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA)'s full-cycle functions - from planning and design through construction and operations management to maintenance - and its comprehensive practical scenarios, bringing world-class innovations to local construction practices to pioneer industry leadership and accelerate Hong Kong's construction sector toward higher quality, more intelligent, and sustainable practices.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ms Ho said that the Housing Bureau (HB) is pleased to sign the MOU with the University of Hong Kong (HKU), the top university in Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia University Rankings and ranked 11th in the QS World University Rankings. The HB and the HKHA have consistently pursued the goals of "enhancing speed, quantity, quality, and efficiency, reducing costs, and ensuring safety", actively introducing innovative construction technologies. Public housing projects, with their vast supplies, standardised designs, and highly repetitive nature offer ideal scenarios for real-world testing and large-scale application of new technologies. Moreover, the HKHA's full-cycle sustainable functions spanning planning, design, construction, community development, estate management, maintenance, and redevelopment provide a solid foundation with complete practical scenarios and data accumulation for comprehensive, cross-disciplinary research collaboration with HKU.
Addressing the ceremony, Professor Zhang remarked that HKU has many researchers across faculties, departments, centres and labs conducting top-notch innovative research applicable to public housing development. The establishment of the Hong Kong Branch of the National Center of Technology Innovation for Digital Construction at HKU in October 2024 underscores its strength in digital construction. He said that the MOU marks a new milestone in interdisciplinary collaboration to construct high-quality public housing faster and safer to meet pressing demand.
The HB and the HKHA have been committed to enhance speed, quantity, quality, and efficiency, reducing costs and to ensure safety levels of public housing construction while actively adopting innovative construction technologies such as Modular Integrated Construction (MiC), digital twins, and AI applications. The HKHA has been collaborating with the iLab and the Department of Real Estate and Construction of HKU in the past with many useful applications. One of its collaborative projects, Agit - Agentic Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) System for Cross-border MiC Logistics has won a Gold Medal at the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, in Geneva, Switzerland in March this year, and the Smart Mobility Best Use of AI Award of the Hong Kong ICT Awards organised by the Digital Policy Office in last November. This project uses an integration of i-Core sensors affixed to MiC modules for real-time transport and vibration monitoring with AI multi-agent reinforcement learning that enables dynamic, real-time scheduling, accurate estimated time of arrival predictions, and proactive vibration alerts to ensure just-in-time, orderly, and safe MiC delivery.
Looking ahead, the HB, HKHA, and HKU will actively explore more collaboration opportunities, widely applying innovative research outcomes to public housing planning, design, construction, and operations management, aspiring to extend them to private housing and related infrastructure projects to lead a comprehensive industry transformation toward high-end, intelligent, and green low-carbon development.
The Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho (first row, left), and the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, Professor Xiang Zhang (first row, right), sign a Memorandum of Understanding today (March 31) to establish a co-operation framework for promoting research and the practical application of innovative construction technologies in public housing development, thereby leading Hong Kong's construction industry to accelerate its transformation towards high-quality, intelligent, and sustainable development. Photo shows the Under Secretary for Housing, Mr Victor Tai (second row, sixth left), Legislative Council members Ms Judy Chan (second row, fifth left); Mr Chau Siu-chung (third row, second left); Mr Duncan Chiu (third row, third left); Ms Elizabeth Quat (third row, fourth left); Mr Dennis Leung (third row, fifth left); Mr Chan Hok-fung (third row, sixth left), and other guests at the signing ceremony. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
The Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho (left), and the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, Professor Xiang Zhang (right), sign a Memorandum of Understanding today (March 31) to establish a co-operation framework for promoting research and the practical application of innovative construction technologies in public housing development, thereby leading Hong Kong's construction industry to accelerate its transformation towards high-quality, intelligent, and sustainable development. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
