*********************************************************
The Government spares no effort to promote the further use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in solving environmental problems and in the process strengthen innovation and technological capacity, the Commissioner for Innovation and Technology, Mr Eddy Chan, said in Denmark today (May 27).
Speaking at the High-Level Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Conference on "ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change" hosted by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Mr Chan said ICT applications had been assisting well in monitoring the regional environment and improving resources utilisation.
He said, "The Hong Kong Government has always strived to make sure that our citizens enjoy an environment that is both healthy and pleasant. To achieve this, we have formulated policies and implemented programmes to improve and safeguard Hong Kong's environment.
"We have also encouraged further research and commercialisation of relevant technologies by funding environmental protection-related R&D projects through the Government's Innovation and Technology Fund".
Mr Chan added that regional collaboration was an important part of the Government's efforts. In fact, Hong Kong and Guangdong had been working together closely in tackling cross-boundary environmental issues since the 1990s, with the first joint environmental impact assessment conducted in 1995.
"At the strategic level, governments of the two places have established a Joint Working Group on Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection to collaborate on tackling pollution problems of mutual concern, including regional air quality improvement, quality of drinking water supply and water quality management for the Pearl River Delta (PRD) estuary, greening and conservation", he said.
Mr Chan said one of the most important collaborative initiatives was the setting up of the PRD Regional Air Quality Monitoring Network in 2005, which allowed governments of the two sides to have instant access to real-time data on-line for air quality monitoring.
In addition, Hong Kong and Guangdong have jointly developed a water quality computer model capable of simulating the complicated flow distributions and water quality processes in both the river network and the coastal region.
Mr Chan said that another important application of ICT in regional environmental monitoring was the Satellite Remote Sensing Receiving Station at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The station's construction was funded jointly by the Hong Kong Government and the Ministry of Science and Technology in Beijing in 2006.
Mr Chan said, "The station is capable of capturing timely, all-weather, high resolution satellite images of Hong Kong, the PRD region, as well as neighbouring countries in East Asia, like Japan and Malaysia, through its connection with multiple satellites and across multiple spectral bands.
"We will fund the set up of another satellite station around December this year", he added.
The two-day conference, which aims to further develop policy instruments and analysis related to ICTs and environmental performance, was attended by policy makers, representatives from business and civil society and academic experts.
Ends/Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Issued at HKT 23:15
NNNN