AI Seminar Empowers Civil Servants to Enhance Public Services Through Technology and Innovation.

I&T leadership series thematic seminar held to promote co-creation of quality public services by leveraging power of AI ecosystem

The Digital Policy Office (DPO) and the Civil Service College (CSC) jointly held the fourth Innovation and Technology (I&T) leadership series thematic seminar today (July 2). Under the theme "Leveraging the Power of AI Ecosystem to Cocreate Quality Public Services", the seminar was attended by over 100 directorate and senior-level civil servants from various bureaux/departments (B/Ds).

The seminar brought together experts from the technology sector, including the Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, Dr Rocky Cheng; the Chief Information Officer of MTR Corporation Limited, Mr Wan Wai-yin; and the Vice President of Strategic Development of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, Ms Amy Lau, for a dialogue to jointly explore how the local AI ecosystem can bridge government operations and practical needs. They also shared insights on corporate culture and mindset change, success factors for business and technology synergy, as well as the challenges and response strategies in AI adoption, along with real-life cases for experience sharing. The experts' sharing and interactive discussion inspired participants to strategically lead their departments in leveraging the AI ecosystem and industry innovations more effectively, thereby advancing further towards smart government.

The Acting Commissioner for Digital Policy, Mr Daniel Cheung, shared at the seminar that the Government's multi-pronged approach in fostering the local AI ecosystem across various dimensions, such as policy governance, capability building, data, infrastructure and platform development, underpins the smart transformation of society. This includes a range of measures in place to support departments in leveraging AI to accelerate digital transformation, and provision of application development platforms and components to facilitate departments to design suitable agentic AI application scenarios, aimed to optimise daily operations and enhance administrative efficiency through harnessing AI technology.

As one of the strategies to accelerate the development of digital government and lead public service innovation, the DPO and the CSC regularly co-organise thematic seminars and training to enhance the core skills of the Government's senior management in using digital technology, with a view to promoting more effective use of technology by B/Ds in driving digital transformation to improve the efficacy and quality of public services.

I&T leadership series thematic seminar held to promote co-creation of quality public services by leveraging power of AI ecosystem Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

I&T leadership series thematic seminar held to promote co-creation of quality public services by leveraging power of AI ecosystem Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

I&T leadership series thematic seminar held to promote co-creation of quality public services by leveraging power of AI ecosystem Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

I&T leadership series thematic seminar held to promote co-creation of quality public services by leveraging power of AI ecosystem Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

DEVB invites market to submit expressions of interest for Central Procurement Scheme for Modular Integrated Construction modules

The Development Bureau (DEVB) today (July 2) invites the market to submit expressions of interest (EOI) for the Central Procurement Scheme for Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) modules (the Scheme).

As the Chief Executive announced in the 2025 Policy Address, the DEVB will conduct central procurement on a trial basis this year, piloting the procurement of commonly used materials including steel reinforcement and MiC modules, with a view to saving costs.

A DEVB spokesman said that the Government has completed a consultancy study on the central procurement of MiC modules. Following a preliminary market sounding and consideration to the procurement scale, the Government plans to enter into a three-year agreement with a single manufacturer. The manufacturer must be certified under the MiC Manufacturer Accreditation Scheme of the Building Technology Research Institute.

Under the current plan, the total procurement quantity for the Scheme over the next three years is approximately 2 000 steel MiC modules, mainly for public works projects such as government office buildings and schools. To cover the expenditure of this central procurement scheme, the Government will set aside the required procurement funds within the Approved Project Estimate for each participating project, based on the quantity of MiC modules required for individual projects.

The spokesman said, "Individual works departments have adopted direct procurement for commonly used materials under their projects, achieving cost savings. Building on past experience, the Government expects to go a step further by implementing the Central Procurement Scheme for MiC modules by the Architectural Services Department (ArchSD), consolidating the demand from multiple works projects to procure with a more cost-effective strategy.

"Furthermore, pooling Hong Kong's edge in testing and certification with the manufacturing and research and development strengths of other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) in MiC modules would facilitate the development of MiC as a leading regional industry and its global expansion.

The qualifications and specific requirements for MiC manufacturers are set out in the EOI invitation document. The Government welcomes the industry to submit EOI and provide suggestions. The feedback collected will help the Government formulate the details of the open tender. The ArchSD has commenced preparation, with the goal of launching the tender in the fourth quarter of this year.

The document for the invitation for EOI has been uploaded to the DEVB website (www.devb.gov.hk/en/issues_in_focus/index.html). Interested parties must place their EOI in the designated DEVB drop-in box at the 2/F Entrance, East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong, by noon on August 6 (Thursday).

The DEVB will hold a briefing session on the invitation for EOI on July 14 (Tuesday). Details can be found in the EOI invitation document.

Regarding the Central Procurement Scheme for Steel Reinforcement, the Government invited the market to submit EOI from April 14 to May 12, receiving a total of eight submissions. The Government is consolidating and analysing the views received. Substantive suggestions on logistics management, total procurement quantity, and digital platforms are being proactively considered to further refine the details of the tender documents, with the goal of launching the tender in the third quarter of this year.

Source: AI-found images