Entrepreneurship

Oxygen is vital for both human and marine life survival. A few years ago, Dr Ng Chi-on, a graduate of the Department of Chemistry at City University of Hong Kong (CityU), together with his team, developed a new type of photo-sensor that can effectively monitor oxygen concentration in seawater and reduce the monitoring cost. The team subsequently established a start-up company, called “NerOcean”. In collaboration with government departments such as the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, NerOcean tested the sensors in five to six marine zones, aiming to develop a marine surveillance network – “Nerve of the Ocean” – in the long run upon mass production of the sensors. This is expected to result in a breakthrough in sustainable marine environment monitoring and fisheries production management.

The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) held the final pitching for the 2023/24 edition of its Education+ and Social Entrepreneurs Fund (EASE Fund) yesterday (18 March). Each of the five winning start-up teams, comprising EdUHK students, staff and alumni, was awarded a comprehensive package of entrepreneurial support worth up to HK$300,000. This encompasses seed funding, consultation with experts, training, and essential resources, all geared towards empowering these aspiring entrepreneurs to transform their visions into reality.

The 12th Starch Value Chain ASIA conference was held in Vientiane, at Crowne Plaza Hotel, from February 27 to 29, 2024. The conference encompassed four key themes: Asia’s starch markets, industrial and food-grade tapioca starch in Laos with expansion plans, sustainable climate-smart agri-technology for rice and cassava cultivation, and challenges for future growth in Asia's biogas-to-energy sector.

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) shone once again in the 2023 rankings of the top 100 universities granted US utility patents, according to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). CityU was ranked 43rd in the world and for the 8th consecutive year, was ranked first among local institutions.

In collaboration with other universities and incubators in the region, City University of Hong Kong (CityU) launched the "HK Tech 300 Southeast Asia Start-up Competition" (HK Tech 300 SEA Competition) in Kuala Lumpur in May 2023. Since then, it has attracted over 100 participating start-ups from seven countries and cities in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Two start-ups from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) have been honoured at the “2023 Deloitte Hong Kong Technology Fast and Rising Star” awards. The awards aim to identify and recognise fast-growing and innovative local companies that promote the development of innovation and technology ecosystems in Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area, and beyond. One of the the CityU start-ups was recognised for its innovative liquid biopsy technology for accurate cancer diagnosis and disease monitoring, and for its high revenue growth rate. The other start-up was recognised for its expertise in electricity-free cooling technology, which is helping to facilitate the global transition to carbon neutrality.

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is committed to promoting innovative, inspirational and interactive education and research. In the latest World University Rankings 2024, announced by Times Higher Education (THE), CityU is ranked among the top 10% of universities worldwide for the fifth consecutive year. This year, CityU rose from 99th to 82nd in the global ranking. It is ranked No.1 in the “Industry” and No. 2 in “International Outlook” categories, top among local universities, and improved in the “Research Quality” category. CityU believes its rise in the rankings is related to capital investment and income driven by CityU’s flagship innovation and entrepreneurship programme, “HK Tech 300”, as well as the deployment of new ranking metrics.

Two biotech start-ups incubated by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) have been selected for the “Forbes Asia 100 to Watch 2023”, an annual list published by Forbes Asia highlighting small companies and start-ups on the rise across the Asia Pacific region that are targeting underserved markets with new technologies. These CityU start-ups are applying innovative biomedical technologies to address unmet medical needs, from blood-based cancer diagnostics to nanobody-based immunotherapy.

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) on 21 August 2023 to establish further collaboration on fostering closer ties between the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems in Hong Kong and Malaysia, and co-nurturing start-ups to shine on the global stage.

Greetings from JHSSR, Horizon is proud to announce the highly acclaimed publication of the latest issue of 2023, Vol. 5, Issue 1 (Jul. 2023). The issue is now live at the Journal’s webpage. You may explore our range of contributions within this Issue. Explore this issue, click the links below.

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with six venture capital and investment funds from the mainland on 14 July 2023, providing around RMB 1 billion in investment to promising HK Tech 300 start-ups.

Newcastle University (UK) and the Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University hosted a UK-Singapore symposium funded by the UK Government in April 2023. It aimed to foster partnerships and research for widespread electric vehicle adoption. The event featured discussions on technology, economics, and policy over three days, encouraging joint collaboration in advanced electric transport research and commercialization.

Annual innovation event brings together global innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers and scientists, and experts from various fields and industries to showcase their latest innovations, share ideas, and collaborate with industries to develop better technologies and solutions to shape our future. This is also a platform for innovators to meet potential investors and partners.

The National Health Innovation Centre, Singapore (NHIC) has launched a Clinical Innovation and Adoption Initiative to nurture promising healthtech projects for adoption and scaling across healthcare clusters in Singapore.

I am pleased to announce that a Regular Issue, JUL 2022 of the Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences Research, Vol. 4 (1) Jul. 2022 has been published ahead of time on 15 Jun 2022 and is now live at the Journal’s webpage. Explore this Issue at https://www.horizon-jhssr.com/current-issue.php

The theme of MTE 2022 is "Embracing the New Norm and Moving to New Frontiers," and this prestigious event is expected to attract over 10,000 online visitors from all over the world via its virtual exhibition platform.

The tourism industry’s performance was hampered first by the Easter Sunday bomb explosions in 2019 and then the COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka saw a decline in tourist arrivals from 1,913,702 in 2019 to 194,495 in 2021. It is estimated that revenue declined from USD 3600 million to USD 261 million during 2019-2021, reflecting a staggering 92.75% reduction due to a fall in arrivals.

A great deal of discussion is underway on what appears to be the latest wave of migration from Sri Lanka. While the exact scale and nature of youth migration remain unclear, the costs of brain drain dominate these discussions. The brain drain concern is valid, yet focusing on it alone can limit our understanding of the complex implications of migration. This blog argues that apart from its challenges, youth migration can also present some surprising opportunities for socio-economic development if strategically managed.

The size of benefits a company receives from bribing government officials is significantly correlated to the amount of bribe they pay, and how well informed people are in the bribe-taking country.

Sovereign debt restructuring can be pre-emptive or post-default. A default is inherently costly as it can result in a sustained loss of access to capital markets. That leaves pre-emptive restructuring when a country deems itself unable to service outstanding debt.

Giants in History: U Hla Myint (1920 – 2017) was a celebrated economist from Myanmar. Considered a prodigy, he was admitted to Rangoon University to study economics when he was just 14 years old.

The Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative (LEI) of Lingnan University (LU) in Hong Kong has developed the CREW Wheelchair Control System which intelligently predicts a carer’s intentions so as to better control a wheelchair, improving the safety of both wheelchair users and carers. The research team recently won the Gold award at the international MUSE Design Awards, and has already filed patent applications in Hong Kong and Mainland for this ground-breaking system.

Lockdowns and restricted mobility have devastated labour markets across the world. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the equivalent of 225 million jobs was wiped out globally due to employment and working hour losses in 2020 compared to 2019 (Q4). These working hour losses are four times higher than those experienced during the global financial crisis in 2009. The COVID-19-instigated recession has affected the quantity and the quality of jobs, with increasing levels of informal types of work with lower remuneration. Restoration of labour markets is important to minimise damage to human development and increase aggregate demand, thereby boosting economic recovery. This blog looks at why it is important to have targetted policy interventions to revive the labour market by illustrating that the impact of COVID-19 is different across occupations and industries.

The Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative (LEI) of Lingnan University has received two Gold awards at the MUSE Design Award in the category Conceptual Design for their “CREW Wheelchair Control System” and “12° Mask” respectively.

The MSME sector in Sri Lanka amounts to 1.017 million establishments, employing approximately 2.25 million persons. This approximates to more than 90% of total establishments in the country and 45% of total employment.

Following its earlier announcement of the launch of the flagship innovation and entrepreneurship programme “HK Tech 300” with an allocation of HK$500 million, City University of Hong Kong (CityU) held today (29 July) the HK Tech 300 Seed Fund Presentation Ceremony, presenting seed funds with the total sum of HK$6.5 million.

A Lingnan University (LU) survey assessing how undergraduate students perceive their development from service-learning programmes showed that the respondents’ overall personal qualities and skills were significantly strengthened. In particular, “knowledge application” and “personal and professional skills” rose by 10 per cent. The research team noted that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 70 per cent of respondents had to adopt the new mode of “service-learning from home”.

South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), in partnership with Class 101, expands quality online lectures.

A design team, affiliated with South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) honored with 2020 iF Design Awards in the communication design category.

This year’s ADB-Asian Think Tank Development Forum will provide a venue to share ideas and experiences among affiliated scholars on the policies and strategies that countries should pursue to mitigate the big slump in the tourism industry. Deadline 30 September 2020.