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S for IT begins two-day visit to Vienna (with photos)
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     The Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, began his two-day visit to Vienna, the capital of Austria, today (May 23, Vienna time) to foster collaboration on smart city development and start-up ecosystems between Hong Kong and Austria.

     Mr Yang visited the Austrian Institute of Technology, which is an application-oriented non-university research and development company partly funded by the Federal Government of Austria. It is a key player in the Austrian and European innovation systems by performing applied research for and enabling the market exploitation of innovative infrastructure-related solutions.

     This was followed by a meeting with the Vice Mayor of Vienna and City Councillor for Urban Planning, Traffic and Transport, Climate Protection, Energy and Public Participation, Ms Maria Vassilakou.

     Mr Yang was briefed by Ms Vassilakou on Smart City Wien, which is Vienna's long-term initiative to improve the city's design and development and also the perception of the federal capital. The project scope covers areas related to life, work and leisure, and encompasses infrastructure, energy, mobility and other aspects of urban development.

     Noting that Vienna is considered a forerunner in smart city development in Europe as well as worldwide, Mr Yang said that there is a lot to be gained from exchanges of experience with Vienna in the course of transforming Hong Kong into a sustainable smart city.

     "Information and communications technology can play an important role in building smart cities, in which there is wide application of new technologies such as sensors, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, mobile technology and big data analytics to develop intelligent systems in city planning, construction and management.

     "In this way, innovative applications can be created for the benefit of citizens in such areas as city management, health, culture, environment, transport and housing.

     "The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer will engage a consultant in 2016-17 to formulate a digital framework and technical standards suitable for Hong Kong as the foundation for smart city development," Mr Yang added.

     Mr Yang and his delegation attended a lunch hosted by the Chinese Ambassador to Austria, Mr Zhao Bin.

     Later, Mr Yang met with the Vice Minister of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology, Mr Andreas Reichhardt, to learn more about Austria's experience in supporting and applying innovative technologies in various industries.

     Before concluding the day, Mr Yang visited start-ups at the incubator WhatAVenture, where he had a good exchange with founders of a mobile app for parking assistance and robot education for children. WhatAVenture aims to help start-ups and corporate innovation teams to accelerate their business concepts.

     Mr Yang will continue his visit to Vienna tomorrow (May 24, Vienna time). He will join a panel discussion and officiate at an Invest Hong Kong reception at the Pioneers Festival.

Ends/Monday, May 23, 2016
Issued at HKT 23:53

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