Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum Returns to Cyberport at Month's End, Exploring How AI Sparks Creativity in Hong Kong

Organised by Cyberport, the annual flagship event Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum 2026 will be held at Cyberport from August 28 to 30. This year's theme, "Dreamatic Circus," brings together creators, experts and industry leaders to exchange ideas and explore how AI can inspire creativity and bring brand-new experiences to digital entertainment and content creation. A media briefing was held at Cyberport on Wednesday (August 19) to introduce Cyberport's AI support advantages and the highlights of the forum's activities, offering a sneak peek at the value AI brings to contemporary artistic creation and supporting Hong Kong's development into Asia's leading IP innovation hub.

Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum 2026 will be held at Cyberport from August 28 to 30. Photo by Bastille Post

The briefing began with a welcome address by Cyberport CEO Dr. Rocky Cheng. Dr. Cheng said that as Hong Kong's digital technology hub, Cyberport provides technical support and application subsidies to enterprises from different industries that aspire to pursue AI innovation, with the hope of injecting new momentum into Hong Kong's industrial upgrading. On the emerging field of AI-driven creation in recent years, Dr. Cheng said Cyberport will actively seize the technological opportunities brought by the AI wave, build a cross-sector collaboration platform, promote the deep integration of AI with art, media, design and other fields, connect AI creation communities and industry partners at home and abroad, and drive Hong Kong to become a hub for AI creative industry development in the new era.

Cyberport CEO Dr. Rocky Cheng, Photo by Bastille Post

Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum 2026 will be held at Cyberport from August 28 to 30. Photo by Bastille Post

Afterwards, Ir Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport, moderated a panel discussion titled "From AI Creation to Global IP: New Opportunities for the Entertainment Industry." Industry experts joining the discussion included Mr. Frankie Tam, Creative Director of Ultra Instinct Limited; Ms. Polly Yeung, CEO of Gudo Inc.; and Ms. Louie Cheng, Director of AI Education & OPC Entrepreneurship Incubation, FizzDragon.

From left to right: Ir Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport; Mr. Frankie Tam, Creative Director of Ultra Instinct Limited; Ms. Polly Yeung, CEO of Gudo Inc.; and Ms. Louie Cheng, Director of AI Education and OPC Entrepreneurship Incubation, FizzDragon, Photo by Bastille Post

From left to right: Ir Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer of Cyberport; Mr. Frankie Tam, Creative Director of Ultra Instinct Limited; Ms. Polly Yeung, CEO of Gudo Inc.; and Ms. Louie Cheng, Director of AI Education and OPC Entrepreneurship Incubation, FizzDragon, Photo by Bastille Post

Among them, Mr. Frankie Tam believed that AI, as an auxiliary tool for content creators, helps substantially improve the efficiency of content creation, making originally cumbersome and time-consuming production processes smoother and freeing up more creative space. Ms. Louie Cheng pointed out that AI provides valuable hands-on opportunities for many young people with creative dreams, allowing ideas to be realised at lower cost and making dreams no longer out of reach. Ms. Polly Yeung said the rapid development of AI is accelerating the content industry's move towards the IP economy era, opening up broader commercialisation and internationalisation opportunities for Hong Kong's original IPs and laying a more solid foundation for the overseas dissemination of Hong Kong stories.

Mr. Terence Leung, curator of Cyberport’s Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum project, Photo by Bastille Post

Event highlights, Photo by Bastille Post

Event highlights, Photo by Bastille Post

Event highlights, Photo by Bastille Post

Event highlights, Photo by Bastille Post

Mr. Terence Leung, curator of Cyberport's Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum project, shared the highlights of this year's event at the briefing. He said the three-day forum will focus on hot topics such as AI collaboration, IP ecosystem building, cultural and creative economy, and smart living, with representatives from academia and industry invited to share their professional insights, including the University of Southern California, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, TVB Plus, Mei Ah Entertainment, and the Xi'an XR Film Content Production Base, to jointly explore how AI can drive innovation, commercialisation and globalisation in the creative industries.

He also mentioned that this year's forum will feature four themed interactive experience zones — "Culture and Art," "Digital Entertainment," "Smart Living and Business," and "Robotics and Drones" — offering visitors more than 35 exciting activities. At the same time, to encourage the public to explore various digital entertainment experiences, this year's forum has specially launched a "Play-to-Earn" activity. Participants can collect stamps by visiting the four themed experience zones and completing designated tasks, which can be exchanged for exquisite prizes, including limited-edition merchandise from the Hong Kong original animation IP "Another World."

Limited-edition merchandise from the Hong Kong original animation IP “Another World,” Photo by Bastille Post

Limited-edition merchandise from the Hong Kong original animation IP “Another World,” Photo by Bastille Post

Several experience booths showcasing featured activities were also set up at today's briefing. They included HTC's "Versailles: Lost Gardens of the Sun King" VR tour, demonstrating how immersive technology can recreate the royal gardens of King Louis XIV of France; the Genesis ONE online fashion platform, which helps creators use AI tools to quickly launch customised products and easily open virtual online stores; a showcase by the Hong Kong Blind Union on how digital technology can promote social inclusion and improve quality of life through accessible gaming, e-sports and assistive technology; Gudo's "Another World: A Chink of Light" immersive interactive art exhibition, which uses multimedia technology to recreate the wondrous journey of Gudo and Yuri from the film; a FizzDragon demonstration of the concrete production process of AI short animations and videos; and an on-site demonstration by JIN Technology Limited of combat robots and AI interactive smart cars, displaying the next generation of robotics and entertainment technology.

HTC’s “Versailles: The Lost Garden of the Sun King” VR tour, Photo by Bastille Post

Genesis ONE online fashion platform, Photo by Bastille Post

Genesis ONE online fashion platform, Photo by Bastille Post

The Hong Kong Blind Union showcases how digital technology promotes social inclusion and improves quality of life through accessible gaming, e-sports and assistive technology. Photo by Bastille Post

Gudo’s “Another World: A Chink of Light” immersive interactive art exhibition uses multimedia technology to recreate the wondrous journey of Gudo and Yuri from the film. Photo by Bastille Post

FizzDragon demonstrates the production process of AI short animations and videos. Photo by Bastille Post

FizzDragon demonstrates the production process of AI short animations and videos. Photo by Bastille Post

JIN Technology Limited demonstrates combat robots and AI interactive smart cars. Photo by Bastille Post

The SAR Government is pushing forward the development of the low-altitude economy. In the second phase of the "Sandbox X", some companies have applied to pilot manned electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, also known as "air taxis", and are pending for the SAR Government to formulate relevant legislation. In addition, there are also applications to establish an air traffic control system (UTM) to further promote the development of the low-altitude economy.

From left to right: Chairman of Owowww Alan Wan, Head of Engineering Services of Cyberport Dr Eddie Lock, Business Development Director of KC Smart Mobility Newton Ng. Photo by Bastillepost

The current application of drones mainly focuses on inspection and cleaning, for example, using drones to clean the outer walls and inspect the wires and railways. Last year, 38 testing projects were listed in the first phase of the low-altitude economy sandbox, with 32 having been implemented. According to the Civil Aviation Department (CAD)... 20 of the implemented projects are now more mature and low-risk, which are not used in high traffic areas, including the infrastructure examination and walls cleaning, and enter constant actual operation phase.

The next phase involves testing drones cross-border logistics, manned mission and UTM (Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management). The “Sandbox X” project, launched by the SAR Government on December 24 last year, focuses on five key applications including these.

Cyberport provides testing fields for both “Sandbox” and “Sandbox X” projects, Kwoon Chung Bus (00306) has applied for this low-altitude economy Sandbox X project with its eVTOL project.

Newton Ng, Business Development Director of KC Smart Mobility Company, tells Bastillepost that Kwoon Chung has reached cooperation with Mainland drones manufacturer EHang (Nasdaq: EH) to promote eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) in Hong Kong, which is a new electricity driven vertical aircraft without runway often referred as Air-taxi or Air-car. EHang has completed the first manned flight in Indonesia in the middle of 2025, its flagship product EH216-S also gained multiple permissions from CAAC.

Business Development Director of KC Smart Mobility Newton Ng. Photo by Bastillepost

Newton Ng says that EHang manned aircraft has been tested in the Mainland for many times, but it needed a fixed point test due to Hong Kong’s unique situation like the high building density. “We hope we can bring new technology and new travelling mode via eVTOL, ” says Newton.

When talking about the application of “Sandbox X”, Newton notes that although the drone cannot ride passengers currently, he hopes drones can really complete manned missions in the future to give citizens confidence. He also points out that eVTOL still needs to meet mant requirements in security and commercialization as a new traffic tool, and that details of commercialization, including security examination roles, technicians operation certificate and traffic rules for drones,  should be ruled by laws.

EHang completed its first manned flight in Indonesia last year. Photo from EHang official website.

Owowww creative, a company performing drone shows at Victoria Harbor, is also going to apply for the “Sandbox X” project. Last year, Owowww reached cooperation with Chu Kong Shipping Enterprises to use its Nansha bounded warehouse to develop cross-border logistics. Owowww also successfully developed the stable operation to do large-scale ensemble rises and falls performance on the ship and safe performance of drones carrying fireworks.

Provided by Owowww Creative

As for the “Sandbox X” project that Owowww is applying for, Chairman of Owowww Alan Wan introduces three applied projects including UTM, eVTOL and cross-border logistics. While conventional aircraft require instructions from airport air traffic control towers, the UTM can understand the air traffic control towers of drones and is responsible for managing drone traffic.

Chairman of Owowww Creative Alan Wan. Photo by Bastillepost

Dr Eddie Lock, Head of Engineering Services of Cyberport, which is  the field partner of low-altitude economy “Sandbox X” project, states that the most common problem discovered during the test of first round low-altitude economy “Sandbox” is the lack of a well-developed UTM. “We have spent so much energy managing the drone airport to make sure there is no interference nearby. However, the management will be much more difficult once the drones fly into the sky, ” he says.

Dr Eddie Lock, Head of Engineering Services of Cyberport

“If UTM is well developed, we can make good use of three-dimension space to sharply increase low-altitude economy benefits, which means that multiple drones can fly in one airspace,” says Dr Eddie Lock, “that is why we need to develop UTM in the “Sandbox X” project.”

Cyberport provides suitable drones airport and equipped infrastructures, including  charging and communication systems, for participating companies during the “Sandbox” and “Sandbox X”. According to Eddie, Cyberport has widely cooperated with CAD and Hong Kong Observatory, while CAD is mainly responsible for airspace management during the test, Hong Kong Observatory has the most advanced meteorological monitoring instrument to provide real-time data for participating companies to empower the tests.

Alan Wan from Owowww expresses his hope for the government to accelerate legislation to regulate eVTOL industry. As for the healthy development of the industry, he advises the government to fund an industrial fund, or cooperate with insurance companies to provide insurance service for infrastructure and operation of the industry. “In this way, the company cost can be cut down,” he says.