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The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited:
A new initiative to energise local start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the creative industry by giving them access to advanced development tools and expert technical and business guidance at no upfront cost was unveiled at Cyberport today (March 9). A joint initiative between Cyberport and Microsoft, BizSpark Creativity Centre aims to give entrepreneurs in the local digital entertainment and creative lifestyle content development industry opportunities to accelerate the early stages of their businesses and ultimately generate employment and drive growth in Hong Kong in these difficult economic times.
Challenging economic conditions always bring new opportunities. In fact, troubled periods often see increases in business startups, as reflected in the record-high number of business establishments in difficult times such as with the SARS outbreak in 2003. In the Budget 2009/10, the Financial Secretary also stressed that creativity is an important element for enhancing productivity and competitiveness. The Government will, therefore, set up a dedicated office to co-ordinate the development of a creative economy and earmark HK$300 million for the development of other creative industries in the coming three years.
BizSpark provides startups with software, support and visibility when those resources are most needed and least affordable. Supported by the Innovation and Technology Commission and Cyberport as Network Partner, the Microsoft BizSpark Creativity Centre provides fast and easy access to current full-featured Microsoft development tools and production licenses of server products.
The centre will also provide Microsoft BizSpark registrants with technical support and market visibility. All participants can take advantage of the resources and support of a global network of hundreds of organisations such as economic development agencies, university incubators, hosters and investors. These BizSpark partner organisations provide guidance, mentorship and resources to help drive the success of nascent talent in Hong Kongˇ¦s creative industry and market their innovations to the world. In short, BizSpark will act as a comprehensive platform for nurturing local entrepreneurs by connecting and centralising other support from Cyberport and the government, including hardware, a mature business network and funding resources.
The programme is open to privately held startups building a digital entertainment and creative lifestyle content-based product or service that have been in business less than three years and have less than HK$7.8 million in revenue. The software support funding from the centre will vary according to how startups design their solutions; it could be as much as HK$2 million based on a standard five-person software company.
Local digital entertainment startup and Cyberport IncuTrain Excellence Award winner, Playmotion, has benefited from the centre's pilot programme. One achievement is a new solution called Dˇ¦fusion, which delivers immersive and interactive digital experiences. D'fusion is a real-time video processing technology to create augmented reality applications with standard PCs. The technology was successfully registered for a European patent, and, with the help of BizSpark, is being upgraded to the latest Windows platform.
"In view of the current economic downturn, the Government is strengthening its measures to help SMEs in the IT sector weather the storm. We will continue the existing aggressive outsourcing approach of the Government IT projects, and accelerate projects where possible, to create a local market of sufficient size to support the local IT industry," said Duncan Pescod, Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology).
"In addition, we will launch a sector specific IT training programme for SMEs to help them embrace IT as strategic tools for business, and enhance their operational efficiency and competitiveness through the application of IT. We plan to inject $6 million to the programme and estimate that the programme will create some 50 temporary jobs for the IT industry in areas of IT training, consultancy and advisory services," said Mr Pescod.
"The BizSpark Creativity Centre is a perfectly timed and innovative initiative for Hong Kong's young digital entertainment and creative lifestyle content development companies," said Nicholas Yang, Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Ltd. "Aiming at developing a regional centre of excellence for IT and digital media training for creating human capital in IT through collaboration and partnership with the industry, academia, and research institutes and professional bodies, Cyberport is proud to work with Microsoft to help incubatees, startups and SME bring innovative solutions to the market."
Cyberport is a US$2 billion (HK$15.8 billion) landmark project managed by Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, and wholly owned by the Hong Kong SAR Government. Focusing on enterprise and professional development, Cyberport helps commercialise creative ideas and incubate startups. Cyberport has a cluster of creative ICT and digital content tenants who enjoy synergies from being located near each other. Interconnected by a state-of-the-art broadband network, the Cyberport community is home to four Grade-A intelligent office buildings, a five-star hotel, a retail entertainment complex and about 2,800 deluxe residences.
Ends/Monday, March 9, 2009
Issued at HKT 17:57
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