Hong Kong has rightly aimed high in its drive to become an innovation and technology center but recent progress is far from substantial. At this stage, it is worth learning from the experience of other cities. One of them is the hosting city of the China International Big Data Industry Expo 2018. This city is not among those advanced cities we have heard about, but Guiyang - capital of Guizhou, once a relatively poor southwestern province of China.
The lesson of Guizhou is one of transformation from a poor province to a big-data valley. For decades, Guizhou's economic development had lagged behind, thanks to the province's unfavorable geographic features. All the province owned were Huangguoshu Waterfall, Moutai and Lao Gan Ma, a notable spicy sauce. Now, Guizhou has become China's first big-data pilot zone housing the data centers of Alibaba, China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom; even Apple will set up there in future. Last year, the gross domestic product of Guizhou was 1.35 trillion yuan ($210 billion), a 10.2-percent increase from the year before. In comparison, national GDP grew 6.9 percent while Hong Kong's GDP expanded 3.7 percent.
The success of Guizhou stemmed from its leaders' insight. Several years ago, provincial leaders realized the potential of the big-data industry. They set up a task force on development of big-data industry in 2014. The strategy makes use of mild temperatures and low land and power costs in Guizhou to boost economic growth. In this sense, Hong Kong has also performed well. Realizing the need for economic and industrial development, former chief executive Leung Chun-ying suggested I&T industry development and set up the Innovation and Technology Bureau to coordinate, support and complement the field's growth. Current Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has retained this policy direction.
The insightful Guizhou authorities succeeded in drawing Beijing's support. It is hard to imagine that technology giants such as IBM, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Huawei would set foot in Guizhou without national policy support. In the case of Hong Kong's I&T drive, the central government's support is also a critical factor. The idea of massively promoting local I&T development was floated several years ago but Hong Kong had yet to see any remarkable advance until the launch of the Lok Ma Chau Loop Innovation and Technology Park - with support from the central government. Conceivably, President Xi Jinping's strong support for cross-boundary cooperation on the technology front - shown by his instructions to central government departments on opening up national funding to applications from Hong Kong-based academics - will go a long way to help advance I&T development in Hong Kong.
Guizhou benefits greatly from favorable national policies. It also proactively contributes to national efforts in areas such as national security and poverty alleviation, by leveraging on its big-data development. Hong Kong should learn from Guizhou and be more proactive in helping the nation. As suggested by the former science and technology minister Wan Gang, the mainland still has room to improve in areas such as basic research, grooming of scientific talent and forging international partnerships, and Hong Kong could contribute in these fields.
With a leader armed with the necessary insight and central government support, the missing piece of the puzzle is a strong collective will. Guizhou's plan to become a big-data center is supported by the public as they believe there is no other way but unity to improve the province's fortune. That explained why Guizhou welcomes talents from outside, known as "Gui Piao", to work and live in Guizhou as they realize that the province lacks talents. However, in Hong Kong, we have a strong anti-outsider sentiment which was evidenced by the strong criticism of the special administrative region government's move to introduce a Technology Talent Admission Scheme to fast-track admission of overseas and Chinese mainland research and development talent. Those critics are not pragmatic and supportive to the I&T industry.
Promoting I&T is not only a matter of economic development but also competition. Hong Kong's efforts to promote innovation and technology do not yet seem to have yielded satisfactory results when compared with peers in the region. According to the Global Innovation Index released last year, Hong Kong slipped for the fourth year in a row in a global benchmark of innovation, ranking 16th globally and behind regional competitors Singapore, South Korea and Japan. Instead of fighting alone, Hong Kong should collaborate closely with mainland cities, especially those in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh taught us: "Changing is not just changing the things outside of us. First of all, we need the right view that transcends all notions including of being and non-being, creator and creature, mind and spirit. That kind of insight is crucial for transformation and healing." If Hong Kong cannot adopt a right view toward the nation, any transformation attempt is doomed.
(HK Edition 05/31/2018 page12)
