HKSTP InnoAcademy Reveals 2021 Cohort for its Technology Leaders of Tomorrow Programme to Usher in a New Wave of Technology Talent

(Hong Kong, 27 September, 2021) — Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) InnoAcademy has confirmed the 2021 cohort for its flagship programme - Technology Leaders of Tomorrow (TLT) programme. The TLT 2021 comprises a total of 12 innovation and technology (I&T) talents with five female and seven male selected from over 900 applicants, who are recent graduates with a Bachelor’s to Doctoral degree in the science or engineering in local as well as overseas universities including University of Cambridge and Nanyang Technological University.

Under the theme “Start Now, Impact Tomorrow”, the 26-month TLT programme aims to cultivate Hong Kong’s technology leader capabilities across four key areas: Vision and Entrepreneurial Mindset; Grit and Passion; Technology Expertise and Business Sense; and Effective Communication and Team Building.

Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP said, “Attracting and nurturing top talent is critical for supporting the development of Hong Kong into a world’s leading I&T hub. For HKSTP InnoAcademy’s TLT programme this year, we are glad to see increasing interest from local and overseas young talent with more gender diversity. This programme will continue to be instrumental in building the pipeline of next generation technology leaders to reinforce Hong Kong’s competitive edge in deep tech and innovation.”

The TLT 2021 programme has engaged partner companies and outreached to companies outside Science Park, across the fields of Artificial Intelligence & Robotics, Biomedical Technology, Data and Smart City and FinTech. The participating companies include: FreightAmigo, Infotronic Technology, Kin Shun Information Technology (Zeek), Precision Robotics, SenseTime, Speechless Financial Technology (Apoidea), Take2 Diagnostics, TCL as well as Airport Authority Hong Kong. The 12 TLT 2021 talents have already been on-boarded in August with a two-month internship at HKSTP, which is followed by full-time R&D roles with one of the participating companies for another 24 months.

Comprised of forward-looking learning opportunities, the two-month HKSTP internship includes a one-week “Innovation Challenge” where the talents stayed at HKSTP’s smart living and co-creation space InnoCell for the week and ideated as a real start-up team to tackle real-world challenges. HKSTP InnoAcademy partnered with the University of Chicago Yuen Campus Hong Kong to provide a series of innovation and leadership trainings during the Innovation Challenge to ignite entrepreneurial spirit. During the two-month internship, the young talents also joined visits to research centres, exclusive dialogues with leaders from technology unicorns such as SenseTime and SmartMore, as well as leadership sharing by HKSTP executives to gain first-hand exposure to local I&T ecosystem.

After completion of the two-month internship in mid-October, the TLT talents will join their respective companies to receive on-the-job training and gain practical work skills and experiences. The host company will provide a full career development plan with assigned dedicated mentors. Ongoing feedback and evaluation will be given while HKSTP will also facilitate mid-term and final assessments to evaluate the talent development progress throughout the programme.

Appendix:

Key statistics from the application of the TLT 2021 programme:

• 904 local and overseas applications received (+42% comparing to 2020)
• 46% were holders of a Master’s degree or PhD
• 17% were non-local graduates

The 12 talents are highlighted below with their corresponding companies, arranged in alphabetical order by surname.