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Original title: Breaking the blame on Hong Kong’s local science and innovation talents SenseTime led the establishment of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Artificial Intelligence Development Center
With the continued deepening of cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the importance of technological innovation talents has become more and more prominent.
Huang Keqiang, CEO of Hong Kong Science and Technology Park Corporation, candidly said on March 29 that Hong Kong’s tech talents are insufficient. Last year, the Science and Technology Park held 1,100 innovation and technology positions and received 70,000 applications. In the end, only 200 people were hired, reflecting the needs of the industry. There is a gap between talents and college students in terms of technical requirements.
In his opinion, this has undoubtedly sounded the alarm for the cultivation of local scientific and technological talents in Hong Kong. “In the long term, if the talent shortage persists, these companies may choose to leave Hong Kong.”
At the same time, like many advanced economies, Hong Kong faces a rapidly aging population, further exacerbating the talent shortage. According to the “Human Resources Projection Report 2027” previously issued by the Labor and Welfare Office of the Government of the Special Administrative Region, the Hong Kong innovation and technology industry labor demand will grow by 4.3% y-o-y in the coming years. years, the fastest growth rate of all industries. It is estimated that by 2027, the demand for human resources in Hong Kong’s innovation and technology-related industries will reach 57,600, and the talent gap needs to be filled urgently.
In fact, Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lam has vigorously promoted the science and technology industry since taking office and has actively turned Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology hub. His first political speech had a neutral goal: before the end of the current government’s term in 2022, the ratio of Hong Kong’s total R&D spending to GDP will rise from 0.73% to 1.5%, or around of 45 billion Hong Kong dollars per year. .
Gaps in education lead to talent gaps
As an international financial center, Hong Kong’s financial, legal, medical and other professional services industries are highly developed. As a result, local students in Hong Kong are eager to major in medicine, law and finance, while there is a lack of careers in engineering, mathematics, mechanics and other science and engineering careers.
In fact, this is inseparable from the trend of the labor market. According to the Graduate Salary Survey updated by the University of Hong Kong Education Scholarship Committee in January this year, the current average monthly salary of Hong Kong medical, dental and nursing graduates is as high as HK $ 38,500, which is higher than the The average monthly salary of about 19,000 Hong Kong dollars for careers in engineering, science and technology is almost double.
However, the shortage of science and technology talent has become one of the main constraints faced by Hong Kong’s science and technology innovation companies. “On the one hand, science and innovation companies are thirsty for talent and cannot find the right talents. On the other hand, Hong Kong’s youth unemployment rate reaches 15%. Many Hong Kong youth lack the skills they need. they own the science and innovation industry, “said AI leader Said Shang Hailong, CEO of Enterprise SenseTime Hong Kong.
Shang Hailong told a reporter for the 21st Century Business Herald that there is a certain gap between local talent in Hong Kong. “The local universities have very good talents in science and innovation. After these talents enter the company, they still need the support of many ordinary R&D personnel. It is difficult to recruit these talents and there is a mismatch between the educational system. location and the needs of the company. “
Only a few students in Hong Kong are currently reported to choose advanced math and science subjects in high school. Even if they choose repair topics, most of them only pick one topic, resulting in a weak scientific knowledge base.
According to the previous report issued by the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences, the enrollment rate in higher mathematics in Hong Kong is obviously low in major Asian cities. The rate of students taking advanced mathematics has dropped from 23% in 2012 to 14% in 2016. It is well below the level of around 40% in Singapore and New Zealand, and far behind Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (57% -80%).
In order to cultivate the next generation of artificial intelligence experts and strengthen the overall competitiveness of scientific and technological talents in the Greater Bay Area, SenseTime and Trumptech, a local educational technology company in Hong Kong, established Greater Bay. from Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao. Youth AI Development Center Area in Hong Kong Science Park The center will serve as a pilot development base for the Youth AI Development Center in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and plans to expand to other cities in the Greater Bay Area in the future.
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Youth AI Development Center plans to establish activity and practice bases in Hong Kong, Macao and Shenzhen, and cooperate with different partners to expand training, visits and training for students and youth in Guangdong. , Hong Kong and Macao with the theme of “artificial intelligence” Communication activities. Among them, the Hong Kong base will endeavor to train young people interested in AI / STEM education and provide Hong Kong primary and secondary school students with valuable scientific and technological innovation activities and resources. At the same time, it will actively cultivate young local science and technology elites and provide talent for companies in the greater Bay Area.
At the press conference, SenseTime and Zunke showcased a number of artificial intelligence and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) teaching tools, including artificial intelligence education under SenseTime Edu, a comprehensive education sub-brand of SenseTime. Courses, SenseStudy platform online artificial intelligence teaching experiment and SenseStorm intelligent visual robot kit, etc.
Mr. Liu Zhenhong, Principal of Hong Kong Leshantang Yu Jinqing High School and Chairman of the Board of Charter High Schools, told the 21st Century Business Herald that “The establishment of the Guangdong Bay Area Youth AI Development Center -Hong Kong-Macao complements the lack of STEM and AI education activities and courses, and can train cooperatives. Qualified tutors stimulate students’ interest in learning new technologies. I hope the center can provide Hong Kong students with an innovative platform to showcase their talents and exchange learning in the Greater Bay Area. “
Build an industrial chain of innovation and technology
The director of the Hong Kong Office of Innovation and Technology, Xue Yongheng, said at the opening ceremony that day that innovation and technology education must start from an early age to inspire a new generation of bold innovations and dare to try. . To this end, in fact, the government of the RAE has adopted a series of measures to nurture local talents in innovation and technology in a multiple way in the different stages of learning of young people, from inside to outside the classes.
The “Fourteenth Five-Year Plan” clearly supports Hong Kong’s construction of an international innovation and technology center. Xue Yongheng said that the development of innovation and technology will help Hong Kong’s economy to diversify and bring a new impetus to economic development. The Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Council will actively promote related work, including the construction of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone with the Shenzhen government. The first batch of related engineering projects for the development of the Innovation and Technology Park is currently underway at full speed and is expected to be completed in stages from 2024 to 2027.
In Shang Hailong’s view, Hong Kong has five universities ranked in the top 100 in the world. It is difficult to find places with such intensive and high quality higher education resources in the world. “Hong Kong has unique advantages to attract high-level scientific research talents, but mainland cities such as Beijing and Hangzhou Closer to the market, many application scenarios can be developed, and the two can form an industry chain of innovation and technology “.
The Hong Kong Science and Technology Park adjacent to the Chinese University of Hong Kong serves as a flagship platform for the Hong Kong government to promote the science and technology industry. Artificial intelligence is one of the key areas of the science park. SenseTime’s R&D headquarters is also located here.
In 2014, SenseTime entered the Science Park. In 2018, it cooperated with Alibaba Group and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park Company to establish the “Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence Laboratory” and proposed the “Accelerated Start-up Business Development Plan”. It is understood that more than 30 companies have been selected for this plan, including Arical, which focuses on urban planning, Cloudbreakr, which is based on big data marketing, and Dayta, which provides B2B artificial intelligence solutions.
In fact, the vigorous promotion of the technology and innovation industry has also created more job opportunities for Hong Kong’s youth. Due to the severe epidemic, Hong Kong’s labor market remains under pressure and youth unemployment is particularly severe. According to data released by the Hong Kong government, from December 2020 to February 2021, the unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 24 reached 15.6% and the number of unemployed reached 35,500. Among the unemployed youth, there are about 10,000 recent graduates.
To help Hong Kong youth solve the employment problem, the “Bay Area Youth Employment Program” previously announced by the SAR government has been launched. “In the Bay Area Youth Employment Program, launched in January this year, innovation and technology companies with operations in the Bay Area and Hong Kong organized innovation and technology positions for youth in Hong Kong The goal is to provide 700 jobs. In just two months, we already have 1,000 innovation and technology jobs, “Xue Yongheng revealed.
At the same time, the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission launched an innovation and technology internship program last year in a pilot format to encourage students to experience innovation and technology work and cultivate their interest in investing in innovation. and technology as soon as possible. plans to attract more than 1,600 university students and more than 1,000 companies or organizations to participate.
(Author: Zhu Lina Editor: Yanxia)
