HKSTP launches Data Studio and online portal for enhancing big-data flow and data applications R&D to capture socio-economic benefits

(Hong Kong, 20 February 2017) - Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) announced today the official launch of the Data Studio and online portal in Hong Kong Science Park. The new facility will provide a convenient collaborative environment for co-creating data applications between the business sector and developer community. Business sector can better extract the value of their data banks, while the software development community is allowed to develop functional apps based on the shared data. The collaboration platform is expected to help expedite the development of Hong Kong's data-driven economy.

On this platform, companies can publish data they are willing to open up in Application Programming Interface (API) format. Data engineers, software developers or consulting firms can go through the list of business data available for use. The developers can access the data after registering as a member of the Data Studio, and will have a 90-day experimental period to develop proof-of-concept applications. HKSTP will line up face-to-face discussions between data publisher and developers at the Data Studio to review the feasibility, business model and data requirement of application prototypes, with the facility's advanced data visualisation equipment. The ultimate goal is to commercialise experimental projects and establish win-win data partnership for longer term development.

An effective mean for businesses to harvest benefits from corporate data resources 

As the increasing presence of the Internet of Things and sensors is enabling companies to collect a massive amount of real-time data, they become valuable corporate resources that can be analysed and used to identify opportunities and risks. However, many companies are not yet collecting and aggregating data in machine-readable formats, making it difficult for software developers to leverage their data for innovation and R&D. On the other hand, businesses are generally conservative in publishing and sharing data online given the perceived cyber-security concerns. These are deterrents to the development of data-driven, effective business tools in Hong Kong.

HKSTP's Data Studio and online portal provides comprehensive online tools for companies to convert corporate data into API easily and publish the data on the online portal, in either "Locked"  or "Unlocked" modes. Developers are required to submit a data application proposal before accessing "Locked" data. Through data sharing, businesses are connected to a vast, innovative software development community, who can use the corporate data or even integrate data from various publishers to experiment data applications. Meanwhile, HKSTP will provide consultation service and big data training courses to help businesses identify operation and technical considerations before they embark on data collection and sharing.

The stage for data engineers to demonstrate technical and innovation capability

HKSTP's Data Studio and online portal also provides a resource-rich environment for data analysts and software developers to devise socio-economically beneficial solutions. The online portal provides different categories of real-time and historical data, where developers may also suggest data sets required for their applications. Individuals and enterprises interested in making an data experiment shall register on the online portal as a "developer". They can then subscribe to APIs and take a 90-day period for proof-of-concept. HKSTP will arrange the data publisher and developer for necessary collaboration meetings in the Data Studio. Both parties can also use the visualisation equipment in Data Studio for prototype demonstration and further discussion on business partnerships and technology commercialisation.

Data Studio and online portal receives extensive industry support

The Data Studio has been undergoing a pilot run since the end of September last year. More than 10 industry partners, including Hong Kong Airport Authority, UBER, Rehabus, Green Minibus, Pricerite and MewMe, have published more than 200 data collections related to transportation, energy and trade. HKSTP has also shared the data of energy consumption and waste disposal in Hong Kong Science Park. More than 100 developers have registered on Data Studio online portal to build application with the shared data resources.

HKSTP Chief Executive Officer Albert Wong said: "HKSTP accelerates the development of innovation-driven economy through a full array of value added services. The Data Studio project is our strategic initiative with which we hope to help businesses reap the potential benefits of corporate data resources. This will help boost Hong Kong's smart city development, diversify Hong Kong's economy and bring social benefits to our community.”

"As innovation and technology development is taking off, we are committed to supporting all stakeholders of the innovation and technology ecosystem in realising innovative ideas. The Data Studio and online portal is a virtual extension of Hong Kong Science Park. This one-stop platform facilitates the circulation of data and R&D of innovative solutions. It is a safe and reliable environment to test the viability and applicability of innovative concepts with real business data, and explore co-creation of purpose-driven applications. We are very pleased to gain extensive support from businesses and developer community during the pilot run, who have joined in fostering our data-driven economy," Mr Wong added.

During the year, HKSTP will organise solution design competitions of various smart-city themes to attract talents to big data application development and add impetus to Hong Kong’s economic diversification.

To find out more information about the Data Studio, please visit http://datastudio.hkstp.org/.