Hong Kong – June 6, 2019 － IBM today officially opened the IBM Innovation Center in Hong Kong, which will connect the company’s global research and development resources to the city, and enable collaboration and co-innovation with the innovation community of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), partners, clients, government and academia. Located in Hong Kong Science Park, the city’s largest innovation, R&D and incubator ecosystem, the Center signifies IBM’s ongoing commitment to facilitating digital transformation in Hong Kong and supporting the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s (Greater Bay Area) emergence as an international innovation and technology hub.

The official opening ceremony was attended by Nicholas W. Yang, GBS, JP, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR; Albert Wong, CEO, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation; as well as industry and business leaders.

Congratulating IBM on reaching another business milestone, Mr Nicholas W. Yang said he was delighted to see IBM’s investment in setting up Innovation Center in Hong Kong, at a time when Hong Kong is actively participating and leading in the development of an international innovation and technology hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. He added that this new set-up is a strong indication of IBM’s confidence in Hong Kong’s innovation and technology development and will further fuel the thriving innovation and technology ecosystem here in Hong Kong.

The IBM Innovation Center provides linkage to 12 IBM Research Labs on six continents and a worldwide network of Client Innovation Centers in over 33 countries, providing global and local access to high technical skills, expertise and advanced technologies. Staffed with industry and solution experts, including consultants from IBM, the Center aims to enable digital reinvention of five major industries, including: banking and financial services; insurance; retail, distribution and trading; manufacturing; and travel and transportation. These industries are aligned with the Hong Kong government’s innovation and technology agenda, as well as the outline development Plan for the Greater Bay Area. Areas of innovation will focus on Fintech, InsurTech, Smart Retail, IoT, Video Analytics, Blockchain, AI and robotics, among others.

“To stay competitive amidst digital transformation, it’s critical for Hong Kong companies to gain quicker access to more advanced technologies, industry expertise and resources to help them realize their digital transformation. The IBM Innovation Center will serve as a connection hub for Hong Kong to access IBM’s leading edge global capabilities, enabling co-creation together with the wider industry. The Center is a major milestone in IBM Hong Kong’s vision of supporting Hong Kong’s innovation agenda by nurturing the local innovation and technology ecosystem,” said Francis Ngai, General Manager, IBM China/Hong Kong Limited.

“We are pleased that IBM is establishing an R&D base at Hong Kong Science Park. The IBM Innovation Center will enable innovation in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics, big data analytics, fintech and smart city, which are also focus areas of HKSTP. We believe that the presence of a multinational technology company of IBM’s calibre will help our tight-knit community to grow by leveraging its technology, expertise and global networks. The clustering effect of attracting more talent and companies to Science Park will make our innovation and technology ecosystem greater than the sum of its parts, delivering more opportunities for everyone in the ecosystem to flourish,” said Albert Wong, CEO, HKSTP.

To enable co-innovation, the Center is designed as a studio setting to facilitate design thinking workshops or Garage methodologies for ideation and co-creation, as well as realization of concepts. The Center will also accelerate local adoption of IBM’s global initiatives and technologies, such as application of blockchain to fintech and supply chain. In addition, the Center will serve as a platform for partnership programs to generate ideas to facilitate Hong Kong’s innovation and technology evolution, such as collaboration with HKSTP on ecosystem development programs, client innovation partnership programs, and talent nurturing programs.

(Left to Right) Albert Wong, CEO, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation; Nicholas W. Yang, GBS, JP, Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR; and Francis Ngai, General Manager, IBM China/Hong Kong Limited officiate the opening ceremony of the IBM Innovation Center at Hong Kong Science Park.

About IBM
For more information about IBM Hong Kong, please visit www.ibm.com/hk and the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/IBMHongKong.

Media Enquiries:
Florence Ma
IBM External Relations
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Email: maky@hk1.ibm.com

April Tsui
Weber Shandwick
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