Cultivate unicorn enterprises and build supercomputing centers

Cyberport has injected new impetus into Hong Kong's I&T development

Awarded the national science and technology business incubator, signed an industry acceleration plan with Shanghai Lingang Group, and held the Hong Kong branch of the 2023 Global Digital Business Conference... Recently, Hong Kong Cyberport has been crowded with people, with various activities taking turns and various businesses continuing to advance.

As the "cradle of start-ups" in Hong Kong, Cyberport, which opened in 2003, has just celebrated its 20th birthday. Over the past 20 years, with the support of the HKSAR Government, Cyberport has been actively building a technology and innovation ecosystem, focusing on nurturing innovative talents, nurturing start-ups, and focusing on three major technology application areas: financial technology, smart living and smart city, and digital entertainment, injecting new impetus into Hong Kong's technology and technology development.

The number of enterprises has doubled in the past five years

"Cyberport is home to a large number of tech talents and entrepreneurs, and its success is made possible by the many start-ups that have grown here." Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the Hong Kong SAR Government, recently pointed out that so far, Cyberport has attracted more than HK$375.7 billion in investment, and in the past year alone, Cyberport has cultivated seven unicorns and start-ups have raised more than US$10 billion.

Over the past 20 years, Cyberport has hosted more than 2000,2018 companies, with nearly 2023,1000 more companies in the five years from 70 to 1400. At present, more than 500% of the companies in the park are Hong Kong local enterprises. At the same time, Cyberport has successively launched a number of listed companies, and has won more than <>,<> local and international awards and more than <> intellectual property rights.

"Cyberport is Hong Kong's largest digital innovation community and fintech base, as well as a paradise for innovation and entrepreneurship teams." At the unveiling ceremony of the national technology business incubator held at Cyberport not long ago, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China expressed the hope that Cyberport will continue to support start-ups, promote the development of digital technology, and make positive contributions to the development of Hong Kong's technology innovation and entrepreneurship and the innovation and entrepreneurship exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong.

Today, the construction of Cyberport Phase 1 has begun, covering an area of about 6.2025 hectares, and is expected to be completed in <>. Upon completion, Cyberport Phase <> will build a data service platform to provide cloud-based data services and related supporting facilities to facilitate start-ups to conduct research and development of new products.

Focus on three major technology applications

"In terms of promoting the development of science and technology, Cyberport has focused on three major application areas and has achieved certain results." Jen King-shun, Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, said that the three areas are based on Hong Kong's financial advantages in financial technology, aiming to let ordinary citizens feel the convenience of smart city and smart life brought by technology, involving digital entertainment such as games, digital movies, and e-sports.

In terms of fintech, Cyberport has helped enterprises in the park obtain licenses for virtual banking, virtual insurance and virtual asset trading platforms. In terms of smart life, the park has gathered more than 700 smart life science and technology companies, most of which are mainly used in front-end applications, mainly to provide some entry-level software packages for the catering and retail industries, involving functions such as marketing, online ordering, and payment. In terms of digital entertainment, unicorns in this field have been born in Cyberport. It is worth mentioning that this year's budget of the Hong Kong SAR Government has mentioned that Cyberport will be responsible for the digital transformation of SMEs, and has allocated HK$5 million for this purpose.

In addition, Web3 (a new generation of the Internet based on blockchain technology and managed by a decentralized organization led by a community of users) technology has accelerated its development at Cyberport. In January this year, Cyberport set up the "Cyberport Web1 Base", and so far, there are more than 3 Web190 companies in the Cyberport Park, about 3% of which are from Hong Kong, covering areas such as applications, system tools and data infrastructure.

Give full play to our advantages and strengthen cooperation

Promoting the development of digital government, setting up artificial intelligence supercomputing centres, facilitating cross-border data flows... Not long ago, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), John Lee, put forward a number of measures for the development of Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology hub in his second policy address. Many of them will be undertaken by Cyberport.

"The construction of the AI Supercomputing Centre is a major investment by the HKSAR Government in promoting Hong Kong's digital transformation." Yam said that for Hong Kong's technology and innovation, this is a great improvement in infrastructure capabilities, especially to promote the commercialization of R&D results with AI applications. Many universities now have artificial intelligence research projects, which require greater computing power for data analysis, and supercomputing centers can help simulate the environment and develop faster. Starting from 2024, Cyberport will complete the AI Supercomputing Centre in phases to meet the needs of Hong Kong's I&T sector.

In order to enhance the attractiveness of technology enterprises, Cyberport provides technology companies with greater incentives and resources. Businesses can use the office for free for two years without paying rent. To help enterprises increase their financing, Cyberport has launched the Cyberport Investor Network to enable high-leverage financing for companies in the park. In response to the increasing number of companies in need of tax, overseas compliance, intellectual property protection and other services, Cyberport has strengthened the provision of professional services to better escort the development of enterprises.

While enhancing its own services and capabilities, Cyberport has also strengthened its cooperation with the Mainland in technology and innovation, especially in the digital economy. Recently, Cyberport and Shanghai Lingang Group signed an industry acceleration plan, proposing cooperation in activities, talents and corporate services. At the 11 Global Digital Commerce Conference held in Hong Kong at the end of November, Cyberport had in-depth communication with the Shanghai Data Exchange and the Shanghai Digital Merchants Association on cross-border data flow and strengthening cooperation in the digital economy.

Reporter Chai Yifei