Successful Tech Hubs:
Hong Kong
Hong Kong[1] is an
autonomous territory on the Southern Coast of China, with a population of over
7 million people. As in the case of Singapore, this was a British colony during
the occupation of China in the 19th century. The territory has
developed into a major trade hub and financial center, toping today the 10
richest economies measured in GDP per capita. However, it presents severe
income inequality amongst advanced economies. It is a free market economy, with
free trade and low taxation. It is one of the Four Asian Tigers[2] (Hong
Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) for it’s high growth rates and rapid
development from the 1960s to the 1990s. Culturally speaking, it is mainly
Chinese. However, due to it’s British influence in colonial times it is
described as a place were “East meets West”.
In Hong Kong everything advances
at a rapid pace: living style, education and a vision to make Hong Kong a
vibrant ecosystem for Innovation. Active Hong Kong is a smart city project for
a smart future. Hong Kong ranks 8th in Internet Usage with 96%
having access to Internet, and 2nd in Internet Speed. The idea
behind IT Hong Kong is to create a vast information network which combines pre-existing
technologies that is constantly available to every citizen in every city.
Contactless payments have resulted in easy paying goods and easy travel. The
future is about being environmentally friendly, including solar panels for pollution
free energy. The Active Hong Kong Hub allows greater connectivity,
video-conferencing and the ability to amass vast amount of information,
encouraging enterprise and product development. Larger businesses can work
together with smaller businesses creating job opportunities.
Hong Kong offers a unique
position, on the doorstep of a vast market and manufacturing base in mainland
China but benefiting from a British-influenced legal system, clear regulations
and low tax. Hong Kong’s economy has historically relied on financial services,
retail and tourism. But now they are hopping on the Revolution 4.0 by focusing
on two fast-growing global sectors: the IoT (Internet of Things) and financial
technology. The number of co-working space has grown from 3 to 40 in the last 5
years. As in the case of Singapore, it is a small market whose purpose is to
test the concept to enter the Chinese market and nearby regions. Having a
strong banking sector, Hong Kong’s financial technology start-ups are going
head-to-head with rivals in other banking centers such as Singapore and London.
For IoT, it offers and advantage by being close to Shenzhen[3] (city in
China home to Chinese tech groups Tencent and Huawei) and the ease with which
you can rapidly develop prototypes. Hong Kong has a fantastic history of consumer
electronics and product development. A challenge though is a conservative
business culture and lack of Venture Capitalists for funding.
Both Singapore and Hong Kong have
a long way to go, but success in Tech is vital to maintain their position as
leading world cities.
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