Hong Kong's Environmental Database Wins IAIA 2025 Corporate Initiative Award for Innovative EIA Support.

2025-03-26 15:00 Last Updated At：15:08

EPD's technological achievement reaffirmed as Hong Kong Environmental Database wins international innovation award

The Hong Kong Environmental Database (HKED)(hked.epd.gov.hk/), developed by theEnvironmental Protection Department (EPD), has been awarded theInternational Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) 2025 "Corporate Initiative Award". The recognition highlights theHong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government's efforts and achievements in leveraging innovative technology to support theenvironmental impact assessment (EIA)process.

The HKSAR Government implemented several measures in 2023 to optimise the EIA process, including the establishment of the HKED. The database utilises geographic information system and three dimensional mapping platforms to integrate over100 types of environmental baseline survey data, significantly reducing the data collection time for preparing EIA reports. The HKED not only tracks changes in the environment over time and with development projects but also provides a range ofonline tools and datasets, such as air quality, water quality and traffic noise. These resources enable project proponents to effectively carry out project planning and simulation assessments, improving theaccuracyandconsistencyof EIA studies.

The Director of Environmental Protection, Dr Samuel Chui, said, "The database is a cornerstone of our efforts to optimise the EIA process by utilising advanced smart technology and a robust data system to support the entire EIA process and significantly shorten the time needed for EIA. The recognition from the IAIA reaffirmed the international community's acknowledgement of the HKSAR Government's innovative thinking and technological achievements. The EPD will remain committed to environmental protection and sustainable development, leveraging cutting-edge technology to contribute to environmental efforts in Hong Kong and globally."

Dr Chui added that the EPD will continue to enhance the HKED's functions and integrate artificial intelligence to support EIA studies. The department is currently collaborating with theHong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Center (HKGAI)to develop and integrate a newAI-powered applicationinto the foundation of the HKED. This application will utiliselarge language models such asDeepSeekandHKGAI V1, combined with the HKED's rich data, with a view to further boosting theefficiencyandqualityof the EIA process.

Since its launch, the HKED has recorded over20 000 users annuallyand has received positive feedback fromvarious sectors, including government departments,industry stakeholders,consulting firms, andacademia. To date, more than 100 EIA and planning projectshave benefited from the application of the HKED.

TheIAIA's Corporate Initiative Award honours outstanding individuals or institutions that have made significant contributions to EIA, management or policy practice. The award ceremony will be held onMay 1, 2025, at the 44th IAIA's Annual ConferenceinBologna, Italy. An EPD delegation will attend the ceremony to accept the award and share insights on how the HKED'sspatial dataandinformation technologysupport the EIA process, promoting transparency and efficiency in environmental governance.

LastDecember, the EPD also won the Best Environmental Innovation Award at the2024 Southeast Asia Forum International Conferencefor the HKED. In addition, EPD representatives will attend the7th Ecological and Environmental Protection Industry Innovation and Development ConferenceinBeijingin mid-April to share the positive impact of smart technology on EIA with Mainland experts.

The EPD continues to promote the application of innovative technology in environmental protection. One of the notable initiatives is the Territory-wide Sewage Surveillance Programme, which detects the viral concentration of the SARS-Co V-2 virus in the sewage network through a non-intrusive approach, assisting in effectively tracking the source of the virus in different anti-epidemic phases and serving a sentinel surveillance function. It has also received regional and international awards.

Museum Summit 2025 in Hong Kong Attracts Over 7,000 Registrants from 39 Countries, Fostering Global Cultural Exchange.

2025-03-29 22:01 Last Updated At：22:18

Museum Summit 2025 successfully concludes

Organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) in partnership with The Guimet – National Museum of Asian Arts in France, the Museum Summit 2025, an international mega event in the museum sector, successfully concluded today (March 29). The Summit was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre for two consecutive days, receiving a record-high total registration of over 7 000. One-third of them were non-Hong Kong registrants, from 39 countries.

The registrants of the Summit were from a wide range of sectors. Apart from local, the Mainland and overseas museum counterparts, representatives from cultural and art institutions and galleries, there were also practitioners from various industries including museum-related service or product suppliers, educational institutions, production houses, public institutions, as well as finance, technology, tourism, cultural communication, vocational training, etc. The Summit proved to be an expanding platform for dialogues, networking and business opportunities.

With the theme of "Going Beyond", this year's Summit brought together over 30 cultural leaders and professionals from renowned museums and institutions across 17 countries to exchange and share their professional experiences, research findings and innovative concepts, as well as delegations comprising over 40 museum practitioners from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Museum Alliance and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

Addressing the closing ceremony, the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms Manda Chan said, Hong Kong has been achieving progressive developments. For museums, there are M+ and the Hong Kong Palace Museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District. The LCSD manages 15 museums and two art spaces, with the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Museum of History, Hong Kong Science Museum and Hong Kong Heritage Museum as our flagships. There are also many interesting private museums like our partners this year, the Tsz Shan Monastery Buddhist Art Museum, the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, amongst others. They are all telling the Hong Kong stories with a multiplying breadth and depth.

Ms Chan said, like museums, and the society at large, the Museum Summit endeavoured to reinvent itself and go beyond usual parameters in its fourth edition. This Summit included topics like cultural tourism and social wellness in our dialogues, alongside the need to leverage technological advancements and achieve sustainability as its themes. These expanded roles were reflecting the transformative power of museums to connect people with heritage. She said, museum was no longer something about the past; rather it had become an integral element of the city's cultural life. It was also an indispensable part of the city's pride of its people and warm welcome to guests from across the globe.

Other than the discussion sessions, this year's Summit also arranged various extended programmes for speakers, moderators, delegation and attendees, which received an attendance of around 1 000. Highlights included local cultural visits, such as visiting Tai Fu Tai Mansion in San Tin, Yuen Long, and experiencing and intangible cultural heritage items including Cantonese Opera and Nanyin performances. They also visited local museums, and participated in Museum Night at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, enjoyed live music performances and guided tours of the galleries. They will travel to Shenzhen to visit the Shenzhen Museum, the Shenzhen Museum of Contemporary Art and Urban Planning, the Shenzhen Art Museum (New Venue), and the Sea World Culture and Arts Center.