The Policy Research Centre for Innovation and Technology (PReCIT) was officially launched last month. A launch ceremony was held at the Jockey Club Auditorium followed by a forum focusing on integrating Hong Kong’s innovation and technology development with that of the GBA and the Nation’s science and technology development system.

Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, PolyU President, Prof. Christopher Chao, Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Director of PReCIT, and Prof. Eric Chui, Head of Department of Applied Social Sciences and Co-Director of PReCIT, hosted a media briefing to introduce the new PolyU think tank.

As a university-level interdisciplinary policy research centre, PReCIT aspires to be the leading I&T think tank in Hong Kong and the region. It has three major research foci – carbon neutral cities, the Greater Bay Area I&T development, and the Belt and Road Initiative development in Southeast Asia, with a view to dovetailing with the National 14th Five Year Plan in supporting Hong Kong to develop into an international I&T hub.

“I trust that the Centre will play an important role in facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration for more impactful research, particularly in the I&T field,” said Prof. Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, in his video remarks at the launch ceremony.

At the forum, Mr Charles Li, Co-Founder and Chairman of Micro Connect and Former Chief Executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, presented a keynote speech on how the GBA’s strengths in innovation and wealth of talents, coupled with Hong Kong’s global connectivity, help channel global funds to micro and small businesses in mainland China, and provide an alternative to impact investment.

A distinguished panel including Prof. C.C. Chan, Co-Founder of the Greater Bay Area Association of Academicians; Dr Otto Poon, President of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences; Dr Sunny Chai, Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries; and Dr Stephen Wong, Senior Vice President and Executive Director of the Public Policy Institute, Our Hong Kong Foundation, joined the discussion ahead of the release of the HKSAR Government’s Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint.