Mr Austin R Bryan (2nd from right), Senior Director – Innovation, CLP Holdings Limited and Mr Eddie Wu (2nd from left), Director – Smart Energy Innovation, CLP Holdings Limited visited ASTRI on 9 March 2017 and discussed with Dr Meikei Ieong, CTO of ASTRI about the newest R&D on IoT Platform and Smart Energy.
‘Exploring digital disruption in financial services’ was the theme for the 8th BankTech Executive Summit that took place on 7 March 2017 in Hong Kong. Some of the most senior and accomplished executives from the banking industry, eminent technology leaders and FinTech experts took part in a day-long lively discussion on how FinTech is transforming banking; and how Hong Kong can rise to FinTech leadership in Asia-Pacific. Dr Frank Tong, CEO of ASTRI, delivered the opening remarks. Dr Tong pointed out that what is seen as ‘disruptive’ today will soon become industry norm, and Hong Kong must build a strong FinTech ecosystem to remain competitive in the global space. Dr Tong said Hong Kong must take charge in FinTech by leveraging its role as the regional hub, a super-connector between Mainland and the world.
Dr Frank Tong, CEO of ASTRI delivers the opening remarks at the Summit.
A large group of leaders and senior executives from banking industry and eminent technology attend the Summit.
Mr James M J C Hogan (7th from left), Regional Chief Operating Officer, CMB of HSBC and Ms Luanne Lim (6th from left), Chief Operating Officer of HSBC Hong Kong lead the delegation to visit ASTRI on 6 March 2017 to understand the FinTech solutions developed by ASTRI, including cybersecurity, blockchain and big data analysis etc.
Dr John Koo, Director, Cyber-Physical Systems of ASTRI delivered a talk on ‘Innovation and Hong Kong’s Competitiveness’ in the event ‘Journey to the Future: CIO Cocktail Series – Why We Need to Turn Innovation into New Revenue Streams NOW’ organised by IBM on 17 February 2017. He explained the latest adoption and commercialisation trend around the world on key technology innovations in the event.
Mr Andrew Hon (1st from right), Senior Manager of Security and Financial Technologies, ASTRI was invited by City University of Hong Kong to deliver a talk on “Unveiling Blockchain – the next generation disruptive innovation”
A full house of students from City University of Hong Kong attended the talk on blockchain technologies
[Hong Kong, April 7, 2017] Organised by Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) and iChunQiu.com, ‘Inter-tertiary-institution Capture the Flag Contest (CTF) 2017’ is the first-ever competition of its kind in Hong Kong and Macau. ASTRI and iChunQiu.com successfully hosted the first-round of this contest on 1 and 2 April 2017.
Since being launched on 7 March 2017, the contest has attracted 96 teams with 317 tertiary institute students, representing 14 tertiary education institutes in the two SARs to participate in the contest. In terms of the most enthusiastic and prolific participation, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (HKIVE) led the chart with 81, 64 and 40 students respectively. Most of the participants came from computer science, computer engineering and electronic engineering disciplines.
Throughout the month of March, the participants went through rigorous online learning. They underwent simulation training and practical training on 24 modules which covered, among other topics, CTF case analysis, web-security planning, reverse engineering analysis and a number of international large-scale CTF tournament analysis including DEFCON CTF, XCTF and Baidu Cup.
The first-round contest on 1 and 2 April was split into 13 sessions and followed an ‘ethical hackathon’ format. Participants competed in a 36-hour, non-stop on-line challenge on topics like web-security, cryptography, secure coding and computer forensics etc. Over 50% of the participants ‘captured the flag’ and scored at least in one session in the race while 20% finished over 8 sessions or more.
| Top 5 Tertiary Institutes | No. of Participants |
| HKUST | 84 |
| CUHK | 61 |
| HKIVE | 40 |
| PolyU | 35 |
| CityU | 33 |
| No. of Participants in Total | 317 |
“We are excited to see enthusiastic and promising performance of the students from Hong Kong and Macau in this contest,” said Cai Jingjing, founder of iChunQiu.com. “They are fast to learn the skills and eager to prove their potential – that is clearly visible from their excellent performance and scores so far. We hope they will continue to put up a good show and make the final round of this contest a very interesting one,” he added.”We have had an overwhelming, expectation-beating response in this competition – ASTRI is extremely delighted to see the participation of so many enthusiastic and bright students. I believe the teams have found the training modules rich and useful – our sole objective is to equip them with the right, practical skills in cybersecurity,” said Dr Duncan Wong, Vice President of Financial Technologies (FinTech) of ASTRI. He wished the participants the very best for this contest and also “in their endeavour to embrace cybersecurity as a promising career choice for their future.”
The final contest will be on 10 Jun and will follow an ‘attack and defence’ format. Participating teams need to demonstrate high skills in attacking the vulnerable parts of other contestants’ servers and at the same time defend their own against attack from others. Please stay tuned to our final round which looks all set to be an exciting, fiery showdown.
About CTF
CTF is a globally recognised popular platform modelled as a series of simulated cyber-attacks that emulate what happens in the real-life digital space. This exciting, competitive platform will gauge the students’ skills in managing information security and deterring cyber-attacks. The Contest is sponsored by HKT – Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications service provider and leading operator in fixed-line, broadband and mobile communication services, and Hong Kong Information Security Academy (HKISA) – a leading provider of cyber and information security insights and training, as well as Cyberworld (Asia) Ltd and FireEye. The initiative is backed by ‘GovCERT.HK’ of The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), HKSAR Government.
About ASTRI
Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) was founded by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2000 with the mission of enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness in technology-based industries through applied research. ASTRI’s core R&D competences in various areas are organised under seven Technology Divisions, namely Communications Technologies, Electronics Components, Mixed Signal Systems IC, Advanced Digital Systems, Opto-electronics, Security and Data Sciences, and Intelligent Software and Systems. Five areas of applications including financial technologies, intelligent manufacturing, next generation network, health technologies, and smart city are identified for major pursuit. For further information about ASTRI, please visit www.astri.org.
Media enquiries:
For enquiries, please contact Ms. Cherry Au (Tel: 3406 2993, email: [email protected])
The Automatic Meter Reading System developed by the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) has received The Hong Kong ICT 2017: Best Business Solution (Application) Bronze Award on 31 March 2017.
ASTRI’s Automatic Meter Reading System allows operators to monitor water systems in real-time. Applied through both wired and wireless detectors across the systems, it facilitates data analysis, supports user enquiry, and allows timely access to water quality information.
In addition, the ultrasound meter detects water leakage and improves the efficiency of water usage. The water leakage alert system, along with the leakage detection hardware, uses Complex Event Processing systems to solve water leakage problem and improves the service providers’ operational efficiency.
By installing a mobile app, end-users can check and settle the payments accordingly The operating party can also run promotional campaigns by sharing latest product and marketing information with the consumers through the mobile app.
ASTRI’s Automatic Meter Reading System has smart valve with built-in sensors to transmit critical data (e.g. pressure, flow rate) that helps to ensure for efficient leakage management. The valve even works in unfavourable and hostile conditions.
Hunan, Henan, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces in China have already deployed this system with over 10,000 end users.
The Hong Kong ICT Awards aims at recognising and promoting outstanding information and communications technology (ICT) inventions and applications, thereby encouraging innovation and excellence among Hong Kong’s ICT talents and enterprises in their constant pursuit of creative and better solutions to meet business and social needs.
Mr Kent Wu (2nd on the left), Principal Engineer (Intelligent Software and Systems); Mr Vincent Wong (2nd on the right), Senior Manager (Business Development) and Ms Amy Lam (1st on the right), Deputy Manager (Intelligent Software and Systems) represent ASTRI to receive the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2017: Best Business Solution Bronze Award
The Automatic Meter Reading System developed by the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) has received The Hong Kong ICT 2017: Best Business Solution (Application) Bronze Award
The delegation from Catalonia led by Ms Mariona Sanz (3rd on the left), Director of business innovation of the Catalonia Trade and Investment (ACCIO), visited ASTRI on 31 March 2017. Dr Justin Chuang (5th on the right) welcomed the delegates and introduced the latest R&D projects on Next Generation Network and Health Technologies to the group. Delegates included Ms Pilar Navarro Munoz (2nd on the left), Director of Life Sciences & Chemistry BU, Fira Barcelona; Ms Imma Vidal (4th on the left), Manager, Business Innovation (ASIA), Catalonia Trade and Investment (ACCIO); Ms Myriam Garcia (5th on the left), Berro , Director of Technology , Eurecat and Mr Albert Barberà (4th on the right), CEO of BIOCAT.
According to a recent media report, global banking group HSBC is stepping up its compliance procedures this year to meet more stringent global standards. With immediate effect, the bank’s customers need to disclose additional set of information on the nature and purpose of transactions – including a series of supporting documents as well as source of funding and reasons for operating the accounts. The bank recognised that “this process can be frustrating for customers” but added that collecting the information is “essential to enabling the bank to detect those who are trying to abuse the financial system.”
Adding to the fact that increased information disclosure is part of the bank’s rigorous compliance plan to meet enhanced anti-money-laundering requirements, Diana Cesar, HSBC’s Chief Executive for Hong Kong, said that “Criminals involved in drug trafficking and terrorism use the banking system to transfer about US$800 billion to US$2 trillion every year globally”. She stressed the need to have up-to-date client information to be able to crack down on money-laundering activities.
HSBC also announced that it is teaming up with Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) to invite students and start-ups to develop online solutions which will facilitate the collection of client information in a convenient and secure way.
The bank will invest significant resources in this partnership with ASTRI – launching a programme that aims to engage Hong Kong’s youth to develop technological solutions that makes it easier, simpler and safer for customers to meet banks’ information requirements. This programme will involve tertiary students and start-up companies using a technology platform developed by ASTRI to come up with solutions to specific challenges identified by HSBC. The winners of the contest will have the opportunity to work with ASTRI and receive seed funding from HSBC to commercialise their idea, so that the benefits of these innovations can be delivered to the community.
“HSBC has a history of 150 years and many clients had their accounts opened some decades ago when the information requirements were much lower than today’s standard,” Diana Cesar said. “We wish to establish a culture where customers will automatically update their information with us regularly,” she added.
Blockchain is more than just a hot buzzword – the technology is already transforming the financial sector and opening possibilities for many innovative and dynamic applications. From identity authentication to valuation of properties, trade finance to crypto currencies, Blockchain offers solutions that can benefit the banks and customers alike. At the CIO Leadership Forum 2017 held recently in Hong Kong, experts and leaders from the technology space across industries took part in a lively ‘executive debate’ on the topic “Is Blockchain The Most Overrated Technology In 2017?”. Dr Duncan Wong, Vice President, Financial Technologies of ASTRI, took part in the debate as one of the panel speakers on the negative, refuted the motion by defending the vital role Blockchain technology is expected to play for the industry.
Speaking alongside senior executives from regulatory, commercial, financial and consulting sectors, Dr Wong highlighted the immense potential of Blockchain applications for the benefit of Hong Kong’s financial services sector. He cited recent examples of successful application of Blockchain technology into banking products and processes, and discussed the possibilities of using Blockchain to improve risk management and customer experience.
Commissioned by Hong Kong Monetary Authority, ASTRI has developed a white paper on ‘Distributed Ledger technology’ a.k.a. Blockchain. As Hong Kong strives for a more digital, agile and efficient future for its financial services industry, Blockchain technology can be applied to improve core banking processes and offer convenient, innovative and secure services to the customers. As a major global financial hub with a burgeoning FinTech ecosystem, Hong Kong has all the right ingredients to leverage the immense potential of this technology.
Organised by Computerworld Hong Kong and currently in its 7th year, the CIO Leadership Forum was took place from 16-17 March 2017. The event brought together world-class business and technology leaders who shared their views and insights on what it takes to drive technological innovation through strategic leadership. Over 200 business and technology leaders from across industries took part.
Dr Duncan Wong, Vice President, Financial Technologies of ASTRI shared his views on why Blockchain is not the Most Overrated Technology.
Dr Duncan Wong (2nd from right) attended the CIO Leadership Forum 2017 with other leaders in the market
