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The University of Hong Kong today (June 25) celebrated the inauguration of its Cyberport Institute of Hong Kong. This is a new institute set up by the University to provide market driven programmes to groom IT talent.
The Cyberport Institute will occupy around 25,000 sq ft at Level 4 and Level 5 of Cyberport I. This will be the second Cyberport building and it will be ready for operation by the Cyberport Institute around the middle of next year (mid 2003).
The Secretary for Information Technology and Broadcasting, Mrs Carrie Yau, welcomed the University's decision to set up the Cyberport Institute at the inauguration ceremony of the Cyberport Institute today. In March 2001, Mrs Yau's bureau, which spearheads the Cyberport project, invited proposals for designing and implementing driven programmes at the Cyberport. "The Cyberport Institute is a key soft infrastructure which we have instituted for the benefit of our future generation. This is also a centrepiece which will make the Cyberport stand out as a breeding ground for IT talent." Mrs Yau said.
Cisco, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Microsoft and Oracle are the first five Founding Industrial Partners. These five leading IT companies will contribute to the curriculum development, coursework and job placement of students of the Cyberport Institute of Hong Kong.
The Cyberport will provide an infrastructure for clustering of IT and IT-related companies of different sizes and at different stages of development. These companies will bring with them professionals from all parts of the world. "Apart from attracting and retaining professionals, the Cyberport will also be an ideal place to nurture talent," Mrs Yau said.
Mrs Yau believes that the Cyberport is well placed to address market requirements for IT skills - not only to increase the number of IT people, but to produce more talent to meet the actual requirements of different IT companies.
"The inauguration of the Cyberport Institute today inaugurates a new university-industry collaboration in developing and delivering postgraduate IT courses to match the manpower needs of the industry," Mrs Yau noted.
"Students will gain benefits of upgrading on cutting-edge IT knowledge and skills as well as gaining professional and academic recognition. On the other hand, our IT companies will enjoy the high availability of wanted talent," Mrs Yau added.
The Cyberport is a comprehensive development which will provide a mix of intelligent offices, a range of interesting entertainment and retail services and a 5-star deluxe international hotel, all set in a pleasantly landscaped, low-rise, campus-like environment.
Supported by state-of-the-art telecommunications facilities and many useful IT services, the Cyberport will make available a world-class infrastructure for clustering of companies specialising in IT applications, information services, multi-media content creation and related sectors.
The Cyberport is being developed at Telegraph Bay, close to the University of Hong Kong. The Cyberport is scheduled for completion between 2002 and 2004. The first phase building was completed less than three months ago (by end March 2002) and seven (7) companies have signed up leases to take up about 80% of the office space available (about 18,000 square metres in total) in this building.
End/Tuesday, June 25, 2002
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