Tag Archives: China

     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) announced today (March 15) a case in which acoustic cameras were used to successfully track down an unknown noise source.
 
     Since March 4 this year, the EPD has received 18 complaints, alleging that at the inner garden of LP6, Wings at Sea and Montara of LOHAS Park, residents have been annoyed by an unknown and irregular high-frequency noise at nights, seriously affecting their daily living. Some complainants suspected that the high-frequency noise might originate from the nearby data centres.
 
     Upon receiving the complaints, the staff of EPD had conducted site investigation, found that the high-frequency noise was sporadically emitted, and the site layout was complex, involving various residential estates, commonly used garden and building services facilities; and the presence of multiple sound reflections among high-rise residential towers. After rigorous planning and deployments of staff to use acoustic cameras to conduct in-depth investigations during late nights, today the Department successfully tracked down the concerned high-frequency noise, which was found originated from a residential flat at mid-high level, facing the inner garden. The EPD believe that the high-frequency noise was caused by defective living utilities. The EPD has contacted the corresponding property management and urged them to follow up with the household to handle the concerned problem of high-frequency noise.
 
     A spokesman for the EPD said, the Department has been keeping abreast of the latest technological developments and applications in overseas and will timely introduce the relevant technologies so as to assist staff in enforcement of the environmental legislation in a more effective manner. Since the concerned high-frequency noise in this case was sporadically emitted from unknow source, the use of acoustic cameras has significantly shortened the time required to investigate the source, and hence speedily assisted the public in resolving noise nuisance issues. The EPD will continue to keep abreast of technological developments and applications, with a view to enhancing the Department’s efficiency and service quality.

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     The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) seized 53 kilograms of eel fry, including that of regulated species at Hong Kong International Airport yesterday (March 14).      &nbs… read more

     The Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, officiated at the Passing-out Parade at the Immigration Service Institute of Training and Development today (March 15) to review 209 officers on parade, including 103 Immigration Officers and 106 Immigration Assistants.
 
     In the parade, the Immigration Band played multiple pieces of Chinese military band music and Chinese folk music, while the Guard of Honour also demonstrated the Chinese-style footdrill. The Guard of Honour then smoothly joined the parade for a smart formation of the Chinese numerals “23”, demonstrating the Immigration Department (ImmD)’s full support for the legislation on Article 23 of the Basic Law.
 
     In his speech, Mr Tang thanked the ImmD and all sectors of community for their support, and hoped that at this important juncture when Hong Kong embarks on a new journey from stability to prosperity, all parties would continue to make new contributions for the development and prosperity of Hong Kong and the country.
 
     He expected that graduates would fulfil the three roles as a member of the ImmD, and turn them into their goals and original aspirations for future work. First, he expected the graduates to become “defenders of the rule of law”, who would always uphold the value of “integrity and impartiality”, give full support to enforce the law and safeguard the rule of law, shoulder the vital mission of safeguarding Hong Kong. Second, he expected the graduates to become “quality service providers”, who would continue to uphold the value of a “people-oriented approach and ongoing improvement”, care with their hearts to serve the public with professional and quality service. Third, he expected the graduates to become “facilitators of Hong Kong’s integration into our country and a connection to the world”, facilitating the Government’s drive to attract and retain talent, thus helping Hong Kong to fully capitalise on its distinctive advantages of enjoying the strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world under the “one country, two systems” principle, make better contributions to the high-quality development of the country and integrate into the national development.

     Mr Tang stated that graduates must adhere to the basic principles and core values of the civil service, shoulder the responsibility of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, steadfastly safeguard the constitutional order of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region set out under the Constitution and the Basic Law, so as to ensure the robustness of “one country, two systems”.

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The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:             The Judiciary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Judiciary of Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understa… read more

     The Award Presentation Ceremony for the “Innovative Application with AI” Innovation Competition, organised by the Smart Government Innovation Lab (Smart Lab) of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), was held today (March 15). The “Improving communications through generative sign language” project won the grand award, while the “AI Environmental Air Nuisance Investigation Robot Dog” project and the “Mass Deployment of Semantic Modelling using BIM, BIM-AM and iBMS” project won the first runner-up and the second runner-up respectively in the competition.

     At the award presentation ceremony, the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, commended the contestant teams for submitting quality proposals that fully encompass the needs of their departments and innovative ideas. The proof-of-concept exercise conducted for the proposals in the past few months had not only provided opportunities for the local innovation and technology (I&T) industry to participate in, but also fostered a stronger vibe of I&T within the Government.

     “Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a pivotal role in the latest wave of technology and the promotion of high-quality development, and will become an important engine for the development of new quality productive forces. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has always been encouraging departments to keep abreast of the times, and make good use of I&T in enhancing service standards and work efficiency for the convenience and benefit of the public and the business sector. This competition can thus grasp the latest technological development trends in the world and provide government departments with the opportunity to enhance their overall service standards by better utilising AI to empower public services,” Professor Sun added.

     In the competition, a total of 71 innovative proposals were received from 22 teams comprising personnel from different government departments. Ten proposals were shortlisted by a selection panel and then matched with technology solutions from the industry (including local start-ups) by the Smart Lab for a six-month proof-of-concept exercise. The judging panel selected the winners today after listening to the presentations of the 10 finalists on the progress and results of the proof-of-concept development. The results are as follows:
 

Awards	Project Title (Departments to which team members belong)
Grand Award	Improving communications through generative sign language (Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, Census and Statistics Department )
First runner-up	AI Environmental Air Nuisance Investigation Robot Dog (Environmental Protection Department)
Second runner-up	Mass Deployment of Semantic Modelling using BIM, BIM-AM and iBMS (Electrical and Mechanical Services Department)
Merit Awards (in random order)	AI Drone Building External Wall Spalling/Water Seepage Detection System for Deteriorated Buildings in Hong Kong (Architectural Services Department)
	AI-powered Long-range Video Analytics for Water Sports Activities (Electrical and Mechanical Services Department)
	Chatbot Kiosk for Police Foundation Training (Hong Kong Police Force)
	Intelligent Electro-optical Sensors (EOS) and Cameras Search System (Hong Kong Police Force)
	Intelligent Signboards Detection System (iSDS) (Buildings Department, Electrical and Mechanical Services Department)
	LiDAR-Based Fiducial Marker Positioning System (Civil Engineering and Development Department)
	Monitoring of Shoreline Cleanliness Using AI Image Recognition Technology (Environmental Protection Department)

     The winning solutions will be showcased in the Smart Hong Kong Pavilion at the InnoEX 2024 to be held from April 13 to 16 this year at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Details of the 10 shortlisted proposals are available on the theme page of the Smart Lab.
 
     The “Innovative Application with AI” Innovation Competition is the highlight of the “Catch the Innovation” Campaign launched by the OGCIO last year. With an aim of promoting the adoption of AI technology by government departments to enhance public services, the campaign features a series of thematic seminars, workshops and technology forums to strengthen government personnel’s know-how in applying innovative technologies including AI and stimulate their creativity, thus enabling various departments to develop more innovative and smart solutions to make Hong Kong a more efficient smart city. read more