Letters | Here’s one more thing Hong Kong can do for the Greater Bay Area: lead in data management

City’s skills in using world-class information technologies for analysis and decision-making will boost the building of regional information platforms

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An aerial view of the Zhuhai port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. Hong Kong’s expertise in working with data sets would come in useful for creating Greater Bay Area information platforms. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 8:33pm, 21 Feb 2019Updated: 8:33pm, 21 Feb 2019

The central government has just released its development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau “Greater Bay Area”, to spur growth in the two special administrative regions and nine Guangdong cities. In Hong Kong, we mostly tend to focus on our strengths in banking and finance, transport, trade, our role as an international aviation hub, and our potential to become an international innovation and technology hub.

Actually, we have other advantages that can enhance our leadership in the Greater Bay Area, though they may not be obvious.

The development plan mentions two information platforms, in chapters 5 and 8, respectively: a “spatial information service platform” for developing smart cities, and a “coordination platform for contingency response” for major contingencies, such as accidents, disasters and public health crises.

It is estimated that 80 per cent of data is related to geographic location, so it is logical for data to be referenced with respect to their locations. That’s why both platforms are centred on location or geo-spatial information.

Hong Kong actually leads its neighbours in the Greater Bay Area in using world-class geo-spatial information technologies for analysis and decision-making. The government has a history of over 20 years of using the sophisticated geographic information system (GIS). Last year, the Lands Department integrated data sets from other government departments with locations making use of GIS for the convenience of the public. This is indeed a mini “spatial information service platform”.

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.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | Here’s one more thing Hong Kong can do for the Greater Bay Area: lead in data management

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} City’s skills in using world-class information technologies for analysis and decision-making will boost the building of regional information platforms

Letters | Here’s one more thing Hong Kong can do for the Greater Bay Area: lead in data management

City’s skills in using world-class information technologies for analysis and decision-making will boost the building of regional information platforms