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The Government believes that innovation and technology are essential elements to enhance an economy's competitiveness while research and development (R&D) is a key impetus for technological advancement, the Commissioner for Innovation and Technology, Miss Janet Wong, said today (March 26).
Speaking at the Hong Kong R&D Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management Enabling Technologies (LSCM) Annual Conference and Exhibition 2010, Miss Wong said LSCM, one of the five R&D Centres that the Government established in 2006, had managed and developed 26 R&D projects with a total funding of some $170 million from the Innovation and Technology Fund.
She noted that the applied research projects were market-oriented, focusing on the needs of industry during the past four years.
Miss Wong said, "Some of these projects have already been completed and the technologies developed have been transferred to the industry. They are benefiting the industry in different respects."
Citing the example of the project on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Enablement Middleware for Enterprise Applications, Miss Wong said it had developed middleware for connecting RFID devices to backend systems.
The technology has been deployed to many industrial sectors and incorporated in different types of applications including the library management solution of the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre and The University of Hong Kong; the baggage handling system of the Hong Kong International Airport; the asset management solution adopted by a public health care organisation and two leading local firms; the document management solution adopted by a listed bank in Hong Kong; and the educational kit adopted by a number of secondary and tertiary schools.
Miss Wong said, "LSCM's most crucial role is to transfer cost effective, market compatible and innovative technology to the industry for commercialisation. I certainly wish that the Centre will be able to deliver more R&D results for the benefit of the local industry in the coming years. It is their ultimate goal to see R&D results translated into products or applications that enhance the industry's competitiveness."
She added, "Innovation and technology are the key drivers of a knowledge-based economy in the 21st century. We shall all strive to continuously enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness and develop our city into an innovation and technology hub of the region."
Ends/Friday, March 26, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:01
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