Secretary for Innovation & Technology Nicholas Yang started a two-day visit to Vienna today to foster collaboration on smart city development and start-up ecosystems.
Mr Yang visited the Austrian Institute of Technology, an application-oriented non-university research and development company partly funded by the Federal Government of Austria. It is a key player in the Austrian and European innovation systems by performing applied research for and enabling the market exploitation of innovative infrastructure-related solutions.
He then met Vienna Vice Mayor and Urban Planning, Traffic & Transport, Climate Protection, Energy & Public Participation City Councillor Maria Vassilakou and was briefed on Smart City Wien, Vienna's long-term initiative to improve the city's design and development.
Noting that Vienna is considered a global forerunner in smart city development, Mr Yang said there is much to be gained from the Austrian capital’s experience in transforming Hong Kong into a sustainable smart city.
"Innovative applications can be created for the benefit of citizens in such areas as city management, health, culture, environment, transport and housing. The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer will engage a consultant in 2016-17 to formulate a digital framework and technical standards suitable for Hong Kong as the foundation for smart city development," he added.
Mr Yang and his delegation attended a lunch hosted by Chinese Ambassador Zhao Bin and met with Austrian Transport, Innovation & Technology Vice Minister Andreas Reichhardt.
He also visited start-ups at the incubator WhatAVenture where he spoke with the founders of a mobile app for parking assistance and robot education for children.
