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Letters | On research facilities, Hong Kong can work with the mainland or go solo

  • Readers discuss why Hong Kong needs a detailed road map for developing large-scale research facilities, whale watching, and the need for public education on animal protection

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Engineers work at the Wuhan Supercomputer Centre in Hubei province on May 24. Hong Kong faces a choice between developing its own research infrastructure and integrating with that of the mainland. Photo: AFP
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In a world increasingly characterised by digital transformation, supercomputers are gaining a more prominent role in pioneering research and innovation. With their computational prowess, supercomputers provide researchers with means of modelling complex systems, analysing large data sets and simulating theoretical scenarios. This helps propel scientific advances in a wide array of fields.

Despite the global trend towards supercomputing, a significant gap exists between the mainland and Hong Kong in developing large-scale scientific facilities. The mainland has been proactive in establishing such facilities to foster scientific innovation. Consequently, several Hong Kong research teams are seeking access to these large-scale scientific facilities elsewhere in the Greater Bay Area. For example, scientists from Hong Kong and Macau accounted for 10 per cent of more than 600 projects completed at the spallation neutron source facility in Dongguan last year.

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This underlines the need for Hong Kong to accelerate its efforts in this area to maintain its global competitiveness. Already, the Hong Kong government has allocated HK$3 billion (US$384 million) for boosting technological research and is conducting a feasibility study on setting up an artificial intelligence supercomputing centre.

However, Hong Kong still needs to draw up a detailed road map for advancing in this area. The construction of such facilities often involves a significant investment of time and resources, with projects typically spanning several years and possibly running over budget and schedule. Therefore, achieving such goals requires multinational collaboration and robust public support.

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Hong Kong is at a strategic juncture. It must choose between developing its own large-scale research facilities and pursuing a strategy of resource integration with the mainland. The latter approach brings its own set of challenges, such as managing data flow and transporting experimental materials across the border.

Solidifying Hong Kong’s position as an innovation hub requires keeping pace in research infrastructure development. A willingness to engage in international cooperation is equally important. The course of Hong Kong’s future innovation rests on these strategic decisions.

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