A fruitful finale to Internet Economy Summit (with photos)
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     The Main Forum and Youth Forum of the Internet Economy Summit were held today (April 12), bringing a fruitful finale to the Summit. The three-day Summit staged from April 10 to 12 attracted some 4,500 participants. Over 60 information technology experts and industry leaders from Hong Kong, Mainland and overseas shared their insights at various forums under the Summit about the trend and opportunities brought about by the Internet economy.
 
     Speaking at the Main Forum, the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, said that the Internet economy has presented the world with abundant new business opportunities in an unprecedented way. Breakthroughs are seen not only in the traditional sectors, but also in the new sectors such as big data analytics, Internet of Things, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. With the theme "Shaping the Internet Economy for Growth", the Main Forum drew renowned experts and industry leaders to focus on the global trends and opportunities offered by the Internet in driving economic development, and on Hong Kong's strengths and opportunities for future economic growth.
 
     The Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, and the Deputy Director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, Mr Zhuang Rongwen, addressed the Main Forum on Hong Kong's advantages in developing Internet economy and the development of "Internet +" in the Mainland respectively. Other keynote speakers included the Chief Executive Officer of the Ant Financial Services Group, Mr Eric Jing; the President of Wireless Marketing Department, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Mr Wang Yufeng; the Partner of the McKinsey Global Institute, Mr Michael Chui; and the Senior Executive Vice President and President of Social Network Group of Tencent, Mr Dowson Tong, who analysed the latest development of Internet related technologies and challenges of the Internet economy. Speakers from technology firms and enterprises also exchanged their innovation experience and expert views in welcoming the Internet era during panel discussion sessions.
 
     Four thematic forums were conducted during the first two days of the Summit. On the first day, the thematic forum "Global FinTech Innovation" organised by Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited (Cyberport) explored the technologies applied in financial services, including the Blockchain and the distributed ledger technology. The development of FinTech in Hong Kong and digital transformation of future retail banking were also revisited. Keynote speakers included the Chief Technology Officer of the Ant Financial Services Group, Mr Cheng Li; and the Chief Executive Officer of the R3 Lab and Research Center, Mr Tim Grant.
 
     At the "Big Data and Artificial Intelligence in Business" thematic forum organised by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, IBM Fellow and Former IBM India Chief Scientist, Dr C Mohan; the Partner of Digital & Emerging Tech, Ernst & Young, Mr Kurt Solarte; the Head of Solution Consulting, Asia, TIBCO Software, Mr San Zaw; and Postdoctoral Fellow of the Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo, Dr Vlad Gheorghiu, outlined the latest technologies in big data analytics and artificial intelligence.
 
     The second day of the Summit started with the "Smart City for Better Living" thematic forum organised by the Smart City Consortium. At the forum, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Hong Kong’s Smart City Consortium and IoT Alliance Australia to foster exchanges between the two places. The audience was also briefed on technologies and applications in pushing forward the smart city development by experts including the Director General of the China Center for Urban Development and China Smart City Development Alliance, Mr Li Tie; the Chief Data Officer for the City of Los Angeles, Ms Lilian Coral; the Chairman of the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis of the University College London, Professor Michael Batty; and the Convenor of Working Group ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 27/WG 1, Professor Edward Humphreys.
 
     The last thematic forum themed "Forging Ahead with Doing Business Online" was jointly organised by major local chambers of commerce and trade associations. It explored the way forward and development of e-commerce, covering how enterprises overcoming challenges arising from digital transformation as well as the e-payment and "sales before build" business models. Keynote speakers were the Corporate Vice President and Managing Director of the Amazon Web Services Greater China, Mr Alex Yung; the Head of e-Commerce for Greater China, Facebook, Ms Nicole Chou, and the Chairman of the Hong Kong Television Network Limited, Mr Ricky Wong.
 
     Nurturing future talents for the Internet economy is also a key focus of the Summit. At the Youth Forum co-organised with the Our Hong Kong Foundation tonight, seven start-up entrepreneurs grew up and started their businesses in Hong Kong were invited to share with university and secondary students their successful founding tales. Four investors also revealed the reasons behind their specific interest in investing Hong Kong start-ups.
 
     The Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Dr David Chung, encouraged youngsters at the Youth Forum to embrace innovation and technology in learning and career development and prepare for the opportunities ahead. He noted that Hong Kong as a free and open city is providing the young generation a promising environment to ride on the blooming of Internet economy and unleash their potential for life-long career moves.
 
     The Internet Economy Summit is one of the major events to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is organised by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, with the support of Cyberport as Strategic Partner and the China Internet Development Foundation as Supporting Organisation.

Ends/Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Issued at HKT 22:01

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