To align with the national 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) for National Economic and Social Development, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is fully committed to develop into an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub. Meanwhile, Shanghai is also dedicated to promoting international data co-operation and has made various attempts in terms of institutional frameworks and application scenarios.

 

The closer co-operation between Hong Kong and Shanghai can generate synergistic effects since the two cities share similarities in their economic development, cultural heritage, and future aspirations. To promote exchange and understanding between the two parties and further deepen co-operation within the business communities of both cities, "Hong Kong/Shanghai Co-operation Open Data Challenge 2024" has been established.

 

This event is a continuation of the high-level meetings between the governments of Hong Kong and Shanghai in 2021, specifically the 5th Plenary Session of the Hong Kong/Shanghai Co-operation Conference held on August 30, 2021, which was attended by the Hong Kong delegation led by the Chief Executive at the time, and the Shanghai delegation led by the Mayor. Item 20 of the "Co-operation Specialize Project List" in the "Innovation and Technology" section of the "Memorandum of Understanding between Shanghai and Hong Kong on Innovation and Technology Co-operation" signed at the meeting proposes "conducting SODA (Shanghai Open Data Applications Competitions) and B4B (Hong Kong Big Data for Business Challenge) and other open data competitions to deepen co-operation in the big data industries between Shanghai and Hong Kong. By collaborating on the "Hong Kong/Shanghai Co-operation Open Data Challenge 2024," the participating parties from Hong Kong and Shanghai can fully leverage the resources of SODA and B4B, actively developing it into an important platform for open data application co-operation between Shanghai and Hong Kong.

 

Hong Kong has long been internationally recognized for its superior business environment, robust institutional framework, and low tax rates. For instance, the latest annual report of Global Data Centre Market Comparison shows that Hong Kong’s data center market ranks fourth globally and second in the Asia-Pacific region, after Singapore. Following the appointments of the new term HKSAR Government in 2022, Hong Kong is fully committed to develop into an international Innovation and Technology (I&T) hub. 

 

Meanwhile, in recent years, Shanghai has actively promoted the expansion of digital economy, achieving significant results in the integration of digital technology with the existing economy. One example is the establishment of the Shanghai Data Exchange promoted by relevant departments and institutions of the Shanghai municipal government, which achieved institutional breakthroughs in data trading and compliance. The Shanghai Data Exchange was officially established on November 25, 2021, aiming to promote the circulation of data factor of production, unleash the dividends of the digital economy, and facilitate the development of the digital economy. It provides efficient, convenient, compliant, and secure data trading services while guiding diverse entities to increase big data supply, nurturing and developing new formats of the "data ecosystem," and establishing the Shanghai Data Service Provider Association (SDSPA) to promote the market of data production elements from the perspective of the institutional basic system, striving to strengthen, optimize, and enlarge the digital economy.

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The National Data Bureau was officially established in October 2023 and issued a notice on December 31, 2023, titled "Notice of the National Data Bureau and Other Ministries publishing the Three-Year Action Plan (2024-2026) For “Data Elements X”. Within the overall requirements, it clearly stated to "fully realize the value of crucial data , provide strong support for promoting high-quality development and advancing China's modernization with Chinese Characteristic" and laid down four basic principles, including "demand-driven, focusing on practical results," "piloting first, key breakthroughs," "effective market, proactive government," and "open integration, safe and orderly." 

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The action plan highlights important elements of China's modernization of data, combining innovation, market demand, government guidance, and orderly cross-border flow to promote an annual growth rate of the data industry of over 20%. In the final chapter of the three-year action plan, item 21 proposes "promoting use through competition: organizing ' Crucial Data' competitions to build professional competition platforms focusing on key industries and fields, enhancing data supply, stimulating various sectors of society to jointly explore market demands, and improving the level of data utilization. Supporting various enterprises to participate in the competition, strengthening the transformation of competition results, incubating new technologies, new products, fostering new models, and new formats, and improving the data ecosystem." The design of this competition program will refer to the three-year action plan as its core reference, combined with the actual situation of the two cities, creating demand and breaking limitations.

 

"Hong Kong/Shanghai Co-operation Open Data Challenge 2024" will closely align with the future five to ten-year macro goals for technological innovation development outlined in Hong Kong's “I&T Development Blueprint”, actively promoting the circulation and application of data. Therefore, establishing a big data innovation platform to serve both Hong Kong and Shanghai and deepening co-operation in the big data industries of the two regions is imperative.

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Co-Creating a Data Industry Platform for the Twin Cities

 

"Hong Kong/Shanghai Co-operation Open Data Challenge 2024" is jointly advised by the Hong Kong Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) and the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Data, curated by B4B (Hong Kong Big Data for Business Challenge) and SODA (Shanghai Open Data Applications Competition). With the theme of "exploring the value of data and promoting the circulation of open data '' and under the guidance of national data trading policies, this event aims to solicit open data-based tradable data products from the Hong Kong and Shanghai communities. The event comprises both a competition and a forum. During the forum, industry experts will discuss the responsibilities and roles of co-operation between the two regions based on national data development.

 

The slogan for this edition of the HK-SH Open Data Competition is "Co-creating a Data Industry Platform for the Two Cities" which, based on the open data of the two governments and combined with the latest demands of urban development, continues to search for open data that responds to societal development, aiming to promote the use of data through competition. In addition to last year's "Spatial Data Sharing Platform'' (from Hong Kong side) and this year's addition of the Shanghai Electric Vehicle Public Data Collecting, Monitoring and Research Center (from Shanghai side) providing the Shanghai electric vehicle data, arrangements for collaboration between mainland China and Hong Kong data will also be explored to jointly promote the collaborative development of smart cities in both cities.

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