LCQ11: Performance indicators for Research and Development Centres
7.6.2023

Following is a question by the Hon Jimmy Ng and a written reply by the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, in the Legislative Council today (June 7): Question: It is learnt that the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) has formulated six indicators (including "level of industry income", "number of on-going projects involving industry participation", "number of companies participating in on-going projects", "number of organisations benefitting from the Public Sector Trial Scheme", "number of researchers engaged under the Research Talent Hub" and "number of patents filed and granted") for five Research and Development (R&D) Centres (namely Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, Logistics and Supply Chain MultiTech R&D Centre, Nano and Advanced Materials Institute, and Automotive Platforms and Application Systems R&D Centre) to evaluate their performance in various aspects. ITC will also add new indicators and revise the relevant indicators in a timely manner. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: (1) given that ITC intends to raise the target for the indicator of "level of industry income" to 35 per cent, of the relevant implementation timetable; whether it will set the target for that indicator at a higher level to facilitate the aforesaid R&D Centres to transfer more technologies to the industry and commercialise their research results; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) apart from "level of industry income", whether ITC will set quantifiable targets for the other five indicators; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it will formulate new indicators for evaluating the performance of the aforesaid R&D Centres, such as the number of new projects undertaken each year, and set quantifiable targets for the new indicators; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that? Reply: President, In response to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Jimmy Ng, the consolidated reply is as follows: The Government has established five Research and Development (R&D) Centres, i.e. Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, Logistics and Supply Chain MultiTech R&D Centre, Nano and Advanced Materials Institute and Automotive Platforms and Application Systems R&D Centre, to drive and co-ordinate applied R&D in selected focus areas. The R&D Centres play an important role in creating a vibrant innovation and technology ecosystem and act as a focal point for technology collaboration among the Government, industry, academia and research sectors. The R&D Centres are platforms for co-ordinating applied research and facilitating technology transfer to the industry. The Government has been adopting the following six indicators since 2017-18 to evaluate the overall work progress and performance of various aspects of the R&D Centres: (i) Level of industry income; (ii) Number of on-going projects involving industry participation; (iii) Number of companies participating in the on-going projects; (iv) Number of organisations benefitting from the Public Sector Trial Scheme (PSTS); (v) Number of researchers engaged under the Research Talent Hub (RTH); and (vi) Number of patents filed and granted. Details of the performance indicators are as follows: (i) Level of industry income At present, the Innovation and Technology Commission's target of the level of industry income for the R&D Centres is 30 per cent and all the R&D Centres achieved this target in 2021-22. To further encourage the R&D Centres to strengthen co-operation with the industry, the ITC suggests considering raising the target to 35 per cent to facilitate the R&D Centres' technology transfer to the industry and promote the commercialisation of R&D outcomes. Nevertheless, it is noted that various sectors in Hong Kong were generally conservative over R&D investment when coping with the uncertainties arising from global supply chain and economy changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic earlier. The ITC will proactively keep in view the economic development and review in detail the arrangement with the R&D Centres before hammering out the timetable of adopting the new target with a view to avoiding imposing unnecessary burden on the industry and the R&D Centres. (ii) Number of on-going projects involving industry participation; and (iii) Number of companies participating in the on-going projects The R&D Centres have been working closely with the industry to carry out applied R&D projects that suit the needs of the industry and transfer technology to the industry. The objective is to take forward commercialisation of R&D outcomes. As regards the R&D Centres' performances in 2021-22, there were over 210 on-going projects involving industry participation with over 410 companies participating, representing an increase of about 13 per cent and 5 per cent respectively as compared to the previous financial year, demonstrating that the projects conducted by the R&D Centres could meet the development needs of the industry in Hong Kong. (iv) Number of organisations benefitting from the PSTS The R&D Centres have been carrying out R&D projects related to Government departments. The results are conducive to improving the latter's service quality and operation efficiency. In 2021-22, there were over 110 organisations benefitting from the PSTS, representing an increase of about 19 per cent as compared to the previous financial year. Under the PSTS, the R&D Centres can conduct trials of their R&D outcomes with various Government departments and public organisations to obtain feedback from users to improve their services/products. This can help refine the outcomes in scientific research, thereby increasing the opportunities for realising and commercialising the R&D outcomes. (v) Number of researchers engaged under the RTH; and (vi) Number of patents filed and granted The R&D Centres have been conducting applied R&D in selected focus areas. In addition to engaging R&D staff employed by the R&D Centres and collaborating research institutes, the R&D Centres also employed about 370 researchers under the RTH to take forward applied R&D projects in various areas, resulting in nearly 250 patents filed and 135 patents granted, representing an increase of 6 per cent and 16 per cent as compared to the previous financial year. As the nature, scale and focal points of the R&D Centres are different, it is difficult to devise a set of uniformed quantifiable key performance indicators for the items (ii) to (vi) of the above-mentioned indicators. Nevertheless, in the regular progress report on the R&D Centres to the Panel on Commerce, Industry, Innovation and Technology of the Legislative Council, the ITC will set out the Centres' respective performances under items (ii) to (vi) of the indicators. We believe that the aforementioned six indicators can assist the Government's assessment of the overall performances of the R&D Centres from various perspectives. The ITC will continue to maintain close liaison with the R&D Centres and review their performance from time to time, with a view to introducing and setting new key performance indicators as and when appropriate. The ITC will continue to monitor closely the operation and performance of the R&D Centres.