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Following is the speech by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, at the Internet of Things (IoT) Symposium 2014 today (April 16):
Mr (Nicholas) Brooke (Chairman, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. It gives me great pleasure to join you all at this Internet of Things (IoT) Symposium 2014. I would like to express my warmest welcome to you all, especially to participants from the Mainland and overseas who came all the way to Hong Kong to join this symposium.
As one of the major events under the International IT Fest 2014, this symposium provides an excellent platform for experts and practitioners of Internet of Things, or IoT in short, to bounce ideas and share insights, and, more importantly, to explore collaboration opportunities in the creation of innovative IoT applications.
Internet of Things has become a hot topic lately. So, what is Internet of Things and why should we care? Internet of Things refers to a concept for network devices with sensing capabilities to collect data from the world around us, and share the data across the Internet where it can be processed and utilised for various purposes. IoT will have enormous impact on how Government and businesses operate. It is a disruptive technology that will radically transform our daily lives, businesses and global economy. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, the projected economic impact of IoT applications can be as much as US$5 trillion to US$7 trillion by 2025.
Hong Kong is an early adopter of IoT. Our telecommunications infrastructure provides a robust foundation for supporting the development and deployment of innovative services at competitive prices. Our average peak Internet connection speed of 65.4 megabits per second is the fastest worldwide. Our infrastructure is also IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) ready to provide sufficient IP addresses to meet the enormous demand generated by IoT devices interconnecting and interacting with each other over the Internet.
In our new Digital 21 Strategy, we propose to leverage on IoT and other emerging technologies like big data analytics to build smarter infrastructure and provide better public services for Hong Kong.
How? Let me illustrate with a couple of examples.
Hong Kong is already using sensor technology widely for logistics tracking. Since 2012, the Hong Kong International Airport has been using RFID (radio frequency identification) technology for efficient baggage handling. Every day, our airport tags 70 000 luggage items from more than 100 airlines, which is the largest scale of such operations in the world. The majority of the arrival luggage is delivered to passengers within 20 minutes from aircraft landing.
IoT is also used commonly for smart transport applications. By deploying sensors to detect the speed of vehicles installed with Autotoll tags, the Transport Department derives journey time estimation at major roads to provide drivers with information for better route planning. Through more extensive deployment of IoT and big data technologies, we can further optimise traffic flow based on weather and traffic data.
Apart from application on transport, IoT can also be a powerful tool for ensuring public safety and performing better utility management. The Civil Engineering and Development Department has been undertaking pilot projects to use sensors for landslide monitoring, while the Water Supplies Department has been using sensors to detect leakage of some main water pipes.
As we all see, IoT can have huge potential for building smart cities. With the concerted efforts of the industry, academia and Government, we can create more innovative applications harnessing IoT to achieve our vision of "Smarter Hong Kong, Smarter Living".
Before I close, I would like to thank the Science Park and the co-organisers, ASTRI (Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute), LSCM (Hong Kong R&D Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management Enabling Technologies) and GS1 Hong Kong, for organising this symposium. I am sure through the sharing from knowledgeable and insightful speakers, you will see encouraging opportunities in IoT. For our guests from the Mainland and overseas, I wish you an enjoyable stay in Hong Kong.
Thank you.
Ends/Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Issued at HKT 16:56
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