The Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Institute, which will become fully operational later this year, will drive innovative AI research and development in the city and its industrial applications, the city’s attorney general said on Tuesday.
“Equally important, the Institute (Institute) will establish AI standards and build a cross-sector, cross-regional AI collaboration platform to promote the standardization and safe application of AI,” Paul Lam Tinkuk said while moderating the Personal Data Protection Commission’s 30th Anniversary Privacy Protection Summit.
He said the SAR government is determined to promote the safe and ethical use of AI as digital transformation and AI reshape societies and economies around the world.
Hong Kong, an important regional hub for the free and orderly flow of information, data and technology, has a long tradition of strict adherence to privacy standards, he said.
Secretary Lam mentioned the National 15th Five-Year Plan’s Digital China initiative, which aims to promote economic and social progress through the expansion of digital and intelligent technologies and AI+ applications, and said the plan also emphasizes the importance of privacy protection and cross-border law enforcement cooperation.
“As recently announced by the Chief Executive, Hong Kong will release its first five-year plan later this year, which is consistent with the nation’s 15th Five-year Plan and promotes Hong Kong’s deeper integration into overall national development,” he added.
He emphasized that public confidence in the privacy and security of new technologies is essential to their adoption, and said the work of the Personal Data Privacy Commissioner is critical to instilling public confidence that technology can and must be used in ethical and meaningful ways.
Established in 1996 as an independent privacy authority, the agency has served not only as a regulator but also as an enabler of responsible innovation, and serves as “a staunch guardian of personal data privacy,” the attorney general added.
He said the SAR government is committed to supporting the department as the city’s trusted privacy regulator and ensuring it has all the necessary tools to overcome the reality of globalized privacy threats.
The summit brought together approximately 400 privacy regulators, data protection experts, industry leaders, and academics from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mainland China, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Among the dignitaries who attended the event were Ms. Ada Chung Lai-lin, Deputy Director-General of the Office of the Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Ms. Liu Chunhua, Director-General of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr. Liu Chunhua.
