https://www.scmp.com/rss/316269/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com How innovative are Hong Kong’s organisations? Take Octopus; they have created a humble innovation, Octopus O! ePay. The name is hard to remember, and the app little-used. For another example, look to our bus companies. They have created many apps for checking routes, but it’s necessary to open several to look up alternate routes. Our Transport Department also has an app. It’s a bit better, but hardly user-friendly. All of this shows that innovating from the top of complacent organisations is... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2120377/drive-innovation-bottom-hong-kong-needs-deregulation-top?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2120377/drive-innovation-bottom-hong-kong-needs-deregulation-top?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Nov 2017 02:01:04 +0000 A question we seldom ask is what roles should governments play? Should they be regulators, facilitators, or do nothing? The government and the private sector often collaborate in unique ways. When people thank Steve Jobs for creating the iPhone, they forget it was the government that educated the software and hardware engineers, supported the birth and growth of the chip industry and invested in military communication which turned into civilian use. Hong Kong must take risks to nurture... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2025683/tech-flourish-hong-kong-government-must-invest-where-private?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2025683/tech-flourish-hong-kong-government-must-invest-where-private?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Oct 2016 06:10:56 +0000 We must give credit to Elon Musk for bringing up the issue of solar energy in Hong Kong. We should have a solar policy; when so many people here use sunscreens all year round, common sense tells us that there must be plenty of solar energy to harness. Hong Kong is located favourably in the subtropics, with an annual mean daily solar power of about 4 kilowatt-hours per square metre per day, even after accounting for overcast days during the rainy seasons. For an average village house with a roof... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1909276/bright-future-how-hong-kong-can-harness-potential-solar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1909276/bright-future-how-hong-kong-can-harness-potential-solar?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Feb 2016 09:47:18 +0000 Smartphones have changed the world. In many ways, they are more powerful than a personal computer because people carry them around all day, every day. App developers all over the world are constantly thinking of new ways to make them even better, doing things we never dreamed possible on a portable device. After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the subsequent nuclear disaster, many Japanese lived in fear of eating food contaminated with radiation, so they sought new ways to measure... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1725027/hong-kongs-way-forward-through-innovation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1725027/hong-kongs-way-forward-through-innovation?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Mar 2015 16:03:39 +0000 The underlying assumption for social mobility to exist is that there is room above, so that younger workers can indeed move up. But, in a stagnant economy, where there is no room above, the only way to break the social mobility deadlock is to create new industries, and thus new jobs and mobility. In the United States today, employment growth is mainly driven by the technology sector. For cities with little hi-tech industry, people simply move to seek work elsewhere. In Spain, Portugal and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/1615791/hong-kong-must-create-jobs-inspire-its-frustrated-youth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/1615791/hong-kong-must-create-jobs-inspire-its-frustrated-youth?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Oct 2014 10:15:15 +0000