Hong Kong’s people are a great source of smart information: let’s make use of it
- Incorporating data and information provided by ordinary people into the city’s networks could save money and hasten the achievement of the government’s smart city goals
In this modern connected world, where we often hear of the need for Hong Kong to stay competitive and build a more resilient and harmonious society, our city managers should consider how to harness the power of our citizens’ willingness to share.
By that, I mean the sharing of information, for example the traffic situation, fires, flash floods and anything useful for people looking for smarter mobility, smarter living or just simply wanting to find a smarter way to get home or to work.
The amount of pictures and videos taken from social media and reused by mainstream media during the recent Typhoon Mangkhut is living evidence that such shared data is timely, accurate and could be life-saving.
Social media is often the main way of disseminating information in times of critical events such as disasters, and is very efficient. At the same time one of the objectives of the sharing economy is to bring things to those with less access to resources. Sharing from the haves to the have-nots is therefore instrumental in increasing efficiency when allocating the city’s limited resources.
The government’s Efficiency Office has been operating a service called 1823 which takes input from ordinary people on just about anything. The 1823 website also allows uploading of videos. Now the new HKeMobility and eTrafficNews apps from the Transport Department are also a big step forward in sharing traffic information.
From a public service standpoint, no one is going to dispute that investment in developing apps, building information technology infrastructure and having the right governance model are as important as building a miles-long bridge from one city to another.
