The Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Alfred Sit, visited Victoria Park today (February 4) to see for himself footfall monitoring at points of sale of New Year flowers with the aid of technology to enhance anti-epidemic measures.
 
     Accompanied by the Deputy Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Miss Diane Wong, Mr Sit inspected onsite arrangements and was briefed by the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, Mr Pang Yiu-hung; the Chief Systems Manager (Data Analytics) of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), Mr Anthony Chiu; and the Assistant Commissioner for Transport (Technical Services), Mr Michael Law, and their teams. The Infrared Sensing and the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) devices will be deployed at entrances and exits. The footfall data collected will be disseminated to a dashboard developed by the OGCIO after computation, and displayed on the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD)'s thematic website and on the Transport Department's HKeMobility app for public reference.
 
　　Mr Sit expressed his gratitude for collaboration between departments in bringing about the adoption of technology in monitoring the footfall. Members of the public will be able to purchase New Year flowers at points of sale in an orderly manner and under a manageable risk while observing anti-epidemic social distancing measures. The Innovation and Technology Bureau will continue to promote using technology to fight the virus.
 
　　With the concerted efforts of the FEHD, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department and the OGCIO, information and communications technologies such as sensors, the Internet of Things and wireless networks will be used to count the number of visitors at points of sale of the New Year flowers. The estimated footfall will serve as a reference for FEHD officers to put in place suitable control measures at entrances of the points of sale. Footfall data of each point of sale will be released on the Public Sector Information Portal (data.gov.hk) in a machine-readable format, and will also be available via Application Programming Interface for use by the industry in developing mobile applications to make it convenient for public use.

Ends/Thursday, February 4, 2021
Issued at HKT 17:49

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