Lack of innovation and incentives holding back Hong Kong from becoming a smart city
The government has been slow in implementing the recommendations of the Smart City Blueprint and needs to attract the best talent if it wants to stay abreast of its rivals
Hong Kong will find it difficult to overtake pacesetters Singapore and Shenzhen in the race to become a smart city if the government delays implementing the goals outlined in the Smart City Blueprint released in December, according to an expert.
About 500 smart city pilot projects are currently under way in China, while Singapore’s Smart Nation plan has contributed to its top ranking in last year’s Global Smart City Performance Index.
“Shenzhen’s advantage has been that their economy was built on manufacturing, so they come from a very strong hardware platform already,” said Denis Ma, head of research at JLL in Hong Kong.
“From what we’ve seen they’re building on that and extending it. Hong Kong has always been a banking and finance hub, but it’s been very slow to transition towards technology.
“If we don’t take steps towards attracting the best talent available, we’re going to lose out down the road. And if we’re not able to grow innovation and technology in this city, we’ll fall behind.”