Briefings by the Secretary for Innovation and Technology and the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development on the Chief Executive’s 2020 Policy Address
“LeaveHomeSafe” exposure notification mobile application
Mr CHAN Chun-ying referred to his suggestion raised at the Council meeting of 18 November 2020 that the Administration should improve and enhance the operation of the “LeaveHomeSafe” mobile app, such as setting up new functions to help users check out of a venue automatically, allowing people to review visit records. He then urged the Administration to expedite the enhancement of the app.
S for IT said that the “LeaveHomeSafe” mobile app was launched on 16 November 2020. It provided a convenient tool for the public to record their visits to different venues, including taxi rides. The “LeaveHomeSafe” mobile app had more than 270 000 downloads so far, with more than 30 000 public and private venues participating in the scheme to display the “LeaveHomeSafe” venue QR code. Users could check into participating venues by scanning the venue’s QR code to log their arrival time and clicking the “Leave” button in the app during departure. The Administration had been implementing the “LeaveHomeSafe” mobile app in an orderly manner and it might introduce further enhancements as necessary, having regard to the development of the epidemic situation.
GBA Youth Employment Scheme (I&T sector)
Mr CHAN Chun-ying pointed out that in the third quarter of 2020, the unemployment rate of young people aged 20 to 24 stood as high as 20%, the highest level in the past 35 years. Moreover, the total number of unemployed persons with post-secondary education had reached 107 700. He enquired about the concrete timetable for implementing the proposed GBA Youth Employment Scheme and the number of enterprises that had joined the Scheme to recruit local university graduates. Mr CHAN also asked whether and how the Administration would remove obstacles arising from the different practices in areas such as social security insurance,namely pension, medical, work-related injury, unemployment and maternity insurances among Mainland cities and Hong Kong. He further enquired about the Administration’s measures to help local graduates solve accommodation problems in the Mainland cities while the Scheme did not provide short-term accommodation for these young people.
S for IT said that the Administration sought to provide facilitation to Hong Kong’s young people to develop their careers in the GBA. Indeed, there were already quite a number of Hong Kong’s youth working in other GBA cities. HKSTPC and Cyberport had launched corresponding measures and schemes to facilitate the expansion of business of local enterprises in the GBA market. The Administration would continue to collaborate with enterprises operating business in both Hong Kong and GBA to support Hong Kong’s youth in entrepreneurship and employment in GBA.
Global STEM Professorship Scheme
Pointing out that the world was competing intensely for technology talent, Mr CHAN Chun-ying enquired about the supporting measures to attract technology talent from outside Hong Kong, such as whether the Administration would incentivize overseas talent by, for example, providing international school places for their children. Mr CHAN suggested that I&TB should set up a task force and examine, in collaboration with the Education Bureau (“EDB”) and universities, one-stop support services and measures to facilitate entry of overseas talent into Hong Kong.
S for IT said that the Global STEM Professorship Scheme would strengthen support for the universities to attract world-renowned scholars as well as their teams to work in Hong Kong, thereby enabling local universities to scale new heights in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (i.e. STEM) teaching and research. I&TB, together with EDB, would discuss the details with relevant universities in due course. S for IT added that the facilitation measures available in Hong Kong were conducive to attracting talent. As regards education for the children of non-local talent, the Government was committed to developing a vibrant international school system through various measures.