Hang Seng Bank and Cyberport: Expanded Public-Private Partnership to Drive Hong Kong's Innovation Ecosystem
- Setting up the city's first Hang Seng Index Innovation Lab, with AI and NLP to enhance data management and accelerate index development.
- Helping SMEs digitally transform, providing financial and digital advisory services
- Promoting Sustainable Finance and GreenTech development
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Front row from left: Rocky Cheng, CEO of Cyberport, Gilbert Lee, Head of Strategy & Planning and Chief of Staff to CE of Hang Seng Bank
Back row from left: Simon Chan, Chairman of Cyberport, Lillian Cheong, Under Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry
As Hong Kong positions itself as a leading innovation and technology hub, Hang Seng is partnering with Cyberport in a public-private collaboration. Building on their 2021 Memorandum of Understanding, they have already yielded more than 40 I&T projects. Additionally, Hang Seng has also supported over 100 Cyberport community members. Hang Seng and Cyberport are expanding their partnership to address three crucial areas: index innovation, SME digital transformation, and sustainability.
"Hang Seng supports the government's innovation and technology policies as well as the local innovation ecosystem development. Through this expanded cooperation, we aim to expedite the development of innovation and entrepreneurship in Hong Kong," said Gilbert Lee, Head of Strategy & Planning and Chief of Staff to the CE of Hang Seng Bank.
Index Innovation: Pioneering with Artificial Intelligence
Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited (HSIL), a subsidiary of Hang Seng Bank, will establish Hong Kong's first Index Innovation Lab in partnership with Cyberport. This initiative will leverage cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to enhance data management, as well as accelerate the development of sophisticated indices and diverse index offerings.
The Hang Seng Index Innovation Lab builds upon HSIL's successful collaboration with Rivermap, a Cyberport company. A key achievement was the launch of a new Index Review and Rebalancing (IRR) system in 2023. This cloud-based system has improved efficiency by automating processes and supporting a wider range of indexes, much enhancing HSIL’s scalability and turnaround times.
-Eddie---Rivermap.png?itok=4WgTruNR "“Our partnership with Hang Seng Indexes has been instrumental in our growth, allowing us to develop and refine our solutions for the financial industry” said Eddie from Rivermap.")
The Hang Seng Index Innovation Lab aims to invite more innovative companies in the coming months to contribute to HSIL's development, driving further innovation in index development and innovation.
HS-and-Cyberport-Representative-Group-Photo.jpg?itok=qNHhexhi "HSIL, a subsidiary of Hang Seng Bank, partners with Cyberport to launch HK's first Index Innovation Lab, using AI and NLP to enhance data management and develop advanced indices.")
SME Digital Transformation: Empowering Local Businesses
Another focus of the Hang Seng-Cyberport partnership is providing comprehensive financial and digital advisory services to SMEs. This initiative aims to accelerate digital transformation by focusing on areas such as digital payments, online marketing, and digital logistics.
Hang Seng has launched HK$33 billion SME Power Up Fund in March, supporting the growth, cross-boundary development, and sustainable progression of local SMEs. Hang Seng has also become the first bank to provide tailor-made banking offers to applicants of the Hong Kong Government's Digital Transformation Subsidy Pilot Programme (DTSPP), supporting SMEs in their digital upgrade efforts. The Bank will continue to support this initiative as part of its commitment to SME digital transformation.
Additionally, the collaboration between Hang Seng and QFPay HK has streamlined financing for over 10,000 SME merchants by leveraging the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Commercial Data Interchange (CDI).
-QFPay-rep.jpg?itok=-7vBfzW4 "“Partnering with Hang Seng on both DTSPP and CDI has improved our ability to offer efficient financing solutions to SME merchants” said Will from QF Pay HK.")
Sustainability: Embracing Green for Business
The partnership extends to promoting sustainability and innovation in the financial sector. Hang Seng and Cyberport will support GreenTech development through proof-of-concept projects, and a wide range of banking solutions is also available for GreenTech companies from Hang Seng.
Hang Seng's collaboration with Wizpresso enhances the Bank’s ability to extract and analyse ESG data from sustainability reports. Wizpresso's NLP solution, Wizpresso Discovery, is able to understand documents in the same way professionals would analyse paragraphs, tables and charts to generate insights, improving the accuracy and efficiency of ESG data analysis.
-Wizpresso.jpg?itok=Wm-Zyndi "“Our collaboration with Hang Seng helps improve the accuracy and efficiency of ESG data analysis with the AI enabled solution provided by Wizpresso,” said Calvin from Wizpresso.")
"The collaboration between Hang Seng Bank and Cyberport can achieve synergies to bring about higher-quality development and inject new economic momentum into Hong Kong's financial and I&T sectors," said Lillian Cheong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, while highlighting the Government's unwavering support for technological innovation and the digital economy.
The expanded Hang Seng-Cyberport partnership exemplifies the power of public-private partnership in driving Hong Kong's technological advancement and economic growth. From last year's e-HKD Pilot Programme to the initiatives mentioned above, this collaboration brings together diverse stakeholders beyond Hang Seng and Cyberport. By bringing together regulators, financial institutions, and innovation companies, this partnership not only accelerates Hong Kong's digital transformation but also fosters entrepreneurship, creating a model for future public-private collaborations in the digital age.