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Letters | Hong Kong’s latest budget reveals gaps in plan to boost innovation and technology
- Previously marked-out areas for development received scant funding this year, while systems for planning and data sharing remain outdated
- The government needs to reassure the public it is spending its money wisely by setting clear, consistent targets and publishing all progress online
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Noting this year’s budget shows a lack of continuity in the government’s innovation and technology (I&T) strategy, I would like to put forward several recommendations.
Firstly, a catch-up plan for research and development expenditure is needed.
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R&D is key to Hong Kong’s I&T competitiveness. In 2017, the chief executive promised to increase spending to 1.5 per cent of the city’s gross domestic product in her five-year term. However, R&D only accounted for 0.99 per cent of GDP in 2020, in contrast to Shenzhen’s 5.46 per cent and the mainland’s 2.41 per cent. It is surprising that the issue is not mentioned in the new budget.
Secondly, smart city, fintech, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology were highlighted as the four main areas of I&T development in the 2019 budget. This year, however, while HK$10 billion (US$1.3 billion) was earmarked for biotechnology development, the other three areas were made secondary, or not mentioned at all. AI has been incorporated into the biotechnology category; only HK$10 million has been allocated to fintech to support proof-of-concept projects related to financial services and products, while HK$43 million will be spent on a training scheme for fintech talent. No reference was made to building a smart city.
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In the 2020 budget, HK$100 million was allocated under the label “smart city” to develop a platform for data integration to strengthen project supervision. The results are yet to be seen. Currently, data integration is lacking in many construction projects as the government adheres to old forms of information exchange. Even in evaluation and planning for projects like the Northern Metropolis, it seldom adopts advanced technology like the geographic information system, which has proven effective in government planning around the world.
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