Speech by SITI at HKU Innovation & Entrepreneurship Day DreamOn 2023 (English only)
5.6.2023

Following is the speech by the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, at HKU Innovation & Entrepreneurship Day DreamOn 2023 today (June 5): Professor Zhang Xiang (President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong (HKU)), Ms Priscilla Wong (Chairman of the HKU Council), Mr Charles Li (Founder and Chairman of Micro Connect and HKU Council Member), Professor Max Shen (Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of HKU), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Good morning. I am very pleased to join you all today at DreamOn 2023, the annual event dedicated to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the community of the University of Hong Kong. HKU is well respected for its pursuit of academic excellence and groundbreaking innovations. Over its distinguished 112 years of history, HKU has been a nurturing ground for top-tier talents, a cradle for pioneering scientific discoveries, and a powerhouse for transformative innovations. Today's event highlights HKU's latest innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives. These pioneering endeavours underscore HKU's unwavering commitment to promoting entrepreneurship and exhibit the University's dedication to nurturing the dreams of our future innovators. Despite the upheavals caused by the pandemic in the past three years, the Government's commitment to I&T (innovation and technology) development has remained resolute. To realise the vision of developing Hong Kong into an international I&T centre, we published the Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint last December, setting out a clear development path and systematic strategic planning for Hong Kong's I&T development over the next five to 10 years. One of our major strategies set out in the Blueprint is to enhance the I&T ecosystem and to promote interactive development of the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. In this regard, the Government will adopt a multi-pronged approach to strengthen Hong Kong's unique advantage in scientific research and accelerate commercialisation of R&D (research and development) results from universities. We will launch a $10 billion Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme, RAISe+ in short, which will fund, on a matching basis, at least 100 university research teams with strong start-up potential, fostering an effective "from 1 to N" transformation of exceptional R&D outcomes from universities. It is inspiring to see the confluence of various I&T stakeholders today demonstrating their support for HKU. This is indeed a concrete example of cross-sector collaboration, which is particularly important in I&T development. This united vision will be instrumental in transforming Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology centre. The Government is dedicated to mobilising all sectors of the community towards this vision. With these words, I once again appreciate HKU for its relentless pursuit of excellence and its tireless efforts to translate deep tech into impactful solutions. Your contributions fortify Hong Kong's I&T ecosystem and create a lasting impact. Let us collectively harness the power of innovation and technology to turn dreams into reality. May I wish today's event a great success. Thank you very much.