7 in 10 executives believe Hong Kong is being outpaced by other smart cities

They believe that Hong Kong lags behind in fostering a technology and innovation culture.

Seven in 10 (73%) Hong Kong executives believe that Hong Kong is being outpaced by other smart cities in terms of fostering a technology and innovation culture, according to a survey by KPMG China. 

Respondents are of the same mind that a vibrant technological ecosystem characterised by digitalised and well-connected public services is a key quality for a smart city.

The survey also revealed that education and healthcare are amongst the criteria of businesses for successful smart city.

It comes as no surprise that 83% of business executives believe that encouraging creativity in the education system is critical to accelerate innovation and that engineering are key educational disciplines that will help Hong Kong stay ahead of the pack. 

“In order to develop Hong Kong as a real smart city, it is necessary to create an innovative and technology-focused environment supported by the education system, which should also encourage more students to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics programmes,” said KPMG China ASPAC Regional Head for Global Infrastructure Advisory Julian Vella. 

On the other hand, business executives believe that Hong Kong’s smart city prospects are buoyed by its strong economic interconnectedness with the regional trade bloc ASEAN as the most important tie (61%) closely followed by the Belt & Road Initiative (55%) and the Greater Bay area (49%).

“The key to being a smart city is connectivity – not just locally, but globally, so we can bring ideas from outside to Hong Kong and share those from Hong Kong with others. A smart city is one that is able to harness technology to realise greater goals – that of a sustainable city, with enduring economic advantages, and above all, an enhanced quality of life for all its citizens,” said Smart City Consortium President Eric Yeung.