Analogue

Issue 30, November 2021

Interdisciplinary Collaboration between Otto Poon Charitable Foundation and PolyU to Drive Forward Hong Kong’s Smart City Development
潘乐陶慈善基金与香港理工大学跨学科合作 推动香港智慧城市发展

Shaping a city’s smart transformation has become a global trend in city planning and development, featuring the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) for efficient management of resources. Hong Kong is well-positioned to pursue smart city development in view of its advanced development of ICT infrastructure over the years, with continuous technological innovation and sustainability being key to Hong Kong’s development as a smart city.

In support of Hong Kong’s smart city development, Otto Poon Charitable Foundation (the Foundation), founded by our Group Chairman Dr Otto Poon, has made a donation to The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) for the establishment of two research institutes in support of the University’s research endeavours in the areas of smart cities and sustainable energy.

The two research institutes are named the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI) and the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE) in appreciation of the Foundation’s contributions.

“The outbreak of pandemic and the resulting adoption of technology in combating the virus have further accelerated the development of Hong Kong as a smart city. The establishment of the two research institutes will serve as a catalyst to blend the various elements of smart cities to contribute to the success of Hong Kong’s Smart City Blueprint 2.0,” said Dr Otto Poon, Chairman of Analogue Holdings Limited.

To promote smart cities development in Hong Kong and mainland China, SCRI aims at being a global centre of excellence in urban informatics, and a living smart cities laboratory for Hong Kong and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), while RISE strives to pursue translational research on innovative solutions for energy-related problems. Innovations and world-class research of both institutes have gained worldwide recognition.

Sustainability plays a crucial role in smart city development, while technology can be adopted to help conserve resources and reduce the city’s environmental impact. As a strong advocate of innovation and technology, Dr Otto Poon is committed to driving innovation across the Group which encompasses different levels of our people, building an innovation culture at ATAL. We believe technological innovation creates shared value for our stakeholders and are critical enablers for delivering our engineering excellence and enhancing customer experience.

A recent recognition of the Group’s commitment to innovation is our achievement of “Organisation (Contractor Category B) Gold Award” at the CIC Construction Digitalisation Award 2021. Organised for the first year by the Construction Industry Council, the CIC Construction Digitalisation Award recognises outstanding local projects and organisations for their contribution in the promotion and adoption of digitalisation tools and workflows and in bringing about innovation in these areas to improve productivity, quality, sustainability and safety, with measurable KPIs.

Echoing with ATAL’s core strategy in driving digitalisation, the award is a testament to our success in developing innovative solutions that are tailored to the electrical and mechanical (E&M) engineering industry, with full coverage from products to construction methods, as well as application in construction process and maintenance. The applications help address the current challenges faced by the industry such as labour shortage, safety issues and cost effectiveness.

In the long run, we believe innovation and technology will not only promote Hong Kong’s economic development but is also vital in enhancing our livelihood. As a responsible corporate citizen, ATAL will continue to adhere to our core value of driving innovation and contributing to the community through our continuous interdisciplinary support to the city’s research and development efforts.

Naming ceremony of the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI) and the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE)