Bilingual Editorial: Hong Kong lagging far behind in smart city development
雙語社評:香港智慧城市大落後 莫讓數據金沙輕流走
文章日期:2019年5月17日

雙語社評齊齊聽

[英語 (足本收聽)] Presented by Dr KWOK, Frieda Yuk-yin, Senior Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

[普通話 (足本收聽)] Presented by Mr CHOW, Raymond Wen-chun, Lecturer of Hong Kong Community College, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

ALEGCO DELEGATION on a tour of inspection to the Yangtze River Delta Region has returned to Hong Kong. Many lawmakers have said that Hong Kong is lagging far behind in the development of a smart city. More than a year after the government proposed a Smart City blueprint, ordinary citizens do not feel too many major changes to their daily lives apart from the advent of the FPS. This shows many public services are yet to be made "smarter".

[ENG audio 1]

During the four-day tour, the delegation visited many regions in the Yangtze River Delta Region that are related to innovation and technology, including the headquarters of the Alibaba Group located in Hangzhou. The delegation was received by Ma Yun, founder of the group. Members of the delegation said that Ma talked much about the problems facing Hong Kong's development of innovation and technology, such as laws failing to catch up with technology. Ma said that many people were still using "methods from yesterday" to tackle "today's problems", and that many things that were being done were aimed at "protecting the past" rather than "developing the future". Ma said that Hong Kong's inherent advantages are not set in stone. If it does not work hard to improve the situation, it will indeed be outcompeted.

[ENG audio 2]

Twenty years ago or so, Hong Kong led the world by rolling out the Octopus system. But technological advancements move in leaps and bounds, and a city either develops or regresses. Now Hong Kong is obviously lagging behind other major cities in the region on its path to build a smart city. In recent years, there have been all kinds of rankings of smart cities published by research institutes around the world. Despite the differences in criteria adopted by these institutes, it is an indisputable fact that cities in the region such as Singapore and Seoul are in the top positions. Not only is Hong Kong falling far behind, but it has also been surpassed by many mainland cities.

[ENG audio 3]

In recent years, innovation and technology has developed rapidly in mainland China. From mobile payment to the building of a smart city, it has been moving faster and further than Hong Kong. There seems to be a view in Hong Kong society that this is not something to be reckoned with. The popularity of mobile payment, for example, is down to the fact that mainlanders do not have credit cards, some people argue. They also think that the rapid development of smart cities on the mainland is first and foremost a form of "Big-Brother-style" dictatorial surveillance. No doubt the issue of privacy protection is one that has to be handled appropriately when developing big data and smart cities. What is important is to strike a balance. However, viewing the concept of the development of smart cities with the mindset "it is a blessing to fall behind" will only make Hong Kong fall far behind Singapore and Seoul. Many rapidly-developing smart cities have platforms for the sharing of data. Public resources are turned into data and shared by the public and corporations. All sectors are encouraged to make use of such data to develop applications for citizens' benefit. But in Hong Kong, the development of big data has been rather slow, so much so that a huge amount of useful data has gone to waste.

[ENG audio 4]

The biggest problem facing Hong Kong today is not the lack of data but the slow rate at which the government opens up data, with many providers of public services unwilling to make their data public. As Ma Yun says, for Hong Kong to develop innovation and technology, it is necessary for the government to be a smart government. If the government does not change its conservative mindset when it comes to opening up data, it will only be holding back the development of a smart city.

[ENG audio 5]

香港智慧城市大落後 莫讓數據金沙輕流走

立法會長三角考察團返港,多名議員均表示,香港在智慧城市發展方面大落後。港府提出智慧城市藍圖一年有餘,除了「轉數快」,市民日常生活並未感到太多突破變化,很多公營服務仍待「智慧化」。

[PTH audio 1]

考察團4天行程,造訪長三角多處與創新科技有關的地方,包括參觀總部位於杭州的阿里巴巴集團,並獲創辦人馬雲接待。考察團成員表示,馬雲談了很多有關香港創科發展的問題,例如法例跟不上科技,很多人仍在用「昨天的方法」,處理「今天的問題」, 現在做的很多事,都是為了「保護過去」,卻沒有做到「發展未來」。馬雲表示香港既有優勢並非必然,若不努力改善,一樣會被淘汰。

[PTH audio 2]

廿多年前,香港推出八達通系統領先全球,然而科技發展一日千里,城市發展不進則退,在建設智慧城市的道路上,香港已明顯落後於區內其他主要城市。近年國際研究機構發表的智慧城市排行榜林林總總,雖然評估標準各異,可是新加坡、首爾等區內城市名列前茅,乃是不爭事實,香港不僅遠遠墮後,還被很多內地城市趕超。

[PTH audio 3]

近年內地創科發展迅速,無論是流動支付還是智慧城市建設,都比香港走得更快更前。對此香港社會似乎有一種聲音,認為這沒有什麼大不了,例如內地流動支付盛行,只是因為他們沒有信用卡;內地智慧城市發展迅速,骨子裏其實是「大阿哥」專制監控,云云。發展大數據和智慧城市,私隱保障無疑是一個必須妥善處理的問題,最重要是求取平衡。抱着「落後是福」心態看待智慧城市建設,只會令香港被新加坡和首爾等城市愈拋愈遠。全球很多發展迅速的智慧城市,都有建立公開數據平台,將市內公共資源數據化,與公眾和企業共享,鼓勵各界利用這些數據開發應用程式,服務市民,然而香港大數據發展相當緩慢,大量有用數據都浪費掉。

[PTH audio 4]

當前香港最大問題,在於數據不足,政府開放數據步伐緩慢,很多公共服務營運商亦不願公開數據。馬雲表示,香港若要推動創科,一定要推動智慧政府。港府若不改變對開放數據的被動保守思維,只會拖智慧城市建設的後腿。

[PTH audio 5]

明報社評2019.04.26