Guest Sharing in Policy Leadership and Entrepreneurship Workshop

This workshop aims to enable students to analyse and apply the knowledge about public policy making, leadership and entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, guided with the anticipation of career opportunities and future development of policy leadership and entrepreneurship, students are inspired to make impact in the society. To aid student engagement in this workshop, four Guest Sharing sessions would be arranged. Details are as follows:

Thank you very much for your attention and we look forward to meeting you in the workshop!

Our DSPS team has collaborated with Internet Society Hong Kong, in contribution to the Hong Kong Open Data Index Report 2021/2022. Our Programme Co-Director, Professor Wong served as the academic advisor; meanwhile, three of our students, Ms. Anna Ng, Ms. Miranda Ding, and Mr. Joi Fun Lam took up the role as researchers, to support the launch of the report. The report sheds light on the progress and development of open data in Hong Kong by assessing different data categories with multiple indicators. With additional foci such as data governance and data literacy, the report also strives for improving the value and impact of open data in Hong Kong with recommendations based on the research findings.

To learn more about the report, please refer to the following links:

• Full report in English
• Report summary in Chinese

The report also received outstanding and notable attention by the mass media below:

• (AM730) 研究指天氣交通開放數據有改善 互聯網協會：管理仍需努力
• (HK01) 香港開放數據評分微升-疫情資料不完整-土地-政府運作仍低分
• (HKEJ) 香港公開數據總體得分微升
• (HKET) 【開放數據】香港開放數據整體評分微升　商業登記、房屋指數未有改善
• (HKET) 【數據管治】港府數據管治政策不足　宜針對公眾、公務員加強技能教育
• (Ming Pao) 團體研究指政府數據開放有改善-促政府進一步公開透明
• (Ming Pao) 港「開放數據指數」微升-「數據管理」分項0分
• (Sky Post) 港開放數據情況有改善 交通天氣類別得分 升幅顯著
• (Sky Post) 智慧城市｜本港數據開放評分微升　互聯網協會：惟乏統籌倡改善
• (SCMP) Hong Kong minibuses, observatory help lift city’s data openness score, but government efforts ‘inadequate’, advocacy group finds
• (HKFP) Hong Kong urged to continue improving data governance

Our Programme Co-Director, Professor Wong was invited by “talent.gov.hk” to share his insights about the career prospects in data science. The interview concentrated on the overview of data science as a technical profession. Besides technical competence of data science, if a graduate could develop an interdisciplinary knowledge base as emphasized in the positioning of our DSPS Programme, he/she can have a faster career track with a more attractive salary package by serving in a managerial or consulting position in a major organization in either the private or the public sector.

“talent.gov.hk”, supported by the Human Resources Planning Commission of the Hong Kong government, works as the information portal which disseminates information of different career development pathways. To know more about the details of the interview of Professor Wong and talent.gov.hk, please refer to the links below:

• Interview details
• talent.gov.hk

Our DSPS lecturers are also actively engaged in research activities infused with data insights and solutions. Dr Kelvin Lo, one of our lecturers, has his latest article published in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, a Q1 journal in “Complementary and Alternative Medicine” which gathers evidence-based research on interventions and resources working as the complement or replacement of conventional therapies. Dr. Lo’s article is titled “Predictors of the intention to use traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) using extended theory of planned behavior: a cross-sectional study among TCM users in Hong Kong”. It investigates the predictors of the intention to use TCM in Hong Kong by conducting an online cross-sectional survey with reference to Theory of Planned Behavior. Analysing the survey responses by partial least square structural equation model (PLS-SEM), it showed the significant mediating effect of the variables such as Attitude and Satisfaction.

If you are interested in the research article, please visit the link below:

• Research article

The research is collaborated with the Centre for Ageing and Healthcare Management Research, School of Professional Education and Executive Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Our Lecturer, Dr. LO was invited to share his knowledge on the integration of data analytics skills by using Python with research related to tourism industry in an online seminar funded by the Inter-Institutional Development Scheme and organized by School of Professional Education and Executive Development, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The research seminar discussed about how Artificial Intelligence is evolving the tourism industry. To provide the data science perspective in this research project, Dr. LO presented his session, which covered the review of research framework for smart tourism, web scraping and sentiment analysis.

Please refer to the link below to learn more about the research project:

• Abstract of the research projec

The talk by Ekimetrics was successfully held with the purpose of connecting the power of data science and social science to its application and introducing its career prospects on 20 May 2022 in the state-of-the-art Digital Scholarship Lab. The Ekimetrics team consists of Ms. Celine Wong, manager and the main speaker, and two consultants, Mr. Kevin Wong and Andrea Wong. Ekimetrics, a global data science consulting firm, helps companies from small assessments to enterprise level deployments through cutting-edge data science technology in an innovative and advanced approach.

During the talk, two real-world projects tapping the power of data science were shared with the participants (refer to the photos). The first is the creation of the thematic Big Data funds, led by the concept of Big Data and Data Science for Good Life. The second is the Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability project, an embodiment of the usage of data for good life, which applies advanced techniques including machine learning for optimization such as minimization of energy consumption.

Not only did the Ekimetrics team illustrate some of their projects in the talk, but after that, the team also enlightened the participants in the panel discussion by explaining the importance of data visualization and storytelling skills while providing solutions to their clients. In the delivery of knowledge and practice of data science in the consulting industry, the social value of data science was also emphasized. Importantly, it was highlighted that social science students like DSPS students were very competitive in applying for the data science positions in the consulting industry because of their good mix of soft and hard skills.

Please refer to the link below if you are interested in knowing more about Ekimetrics:

• Ekimetric

Ekimetrics is the European leader in data science, with +320 data scientists and 1,000 projects since 2006. It helps companies steer their data opportunity, build data capabilities, and deploy actionable solutions, to power up marketing and operational performance, as well as (re)energizing business models. With global presence in Paris, London, NY, HK, their consultants lead projects in +50 countries in all industries (automotive, financial services, retail, telecom, health, etc.).

The talk has a dual purpose of showing how data science is put into action and introducing its career prospects. It would illustrate the power of data science through real-world consulting cases and discuss the career paths in the data science industry including data science consulting. It is especially suitable for students who would like to combine their hard and soft skills in data science, such as students with a social science background.

Details are as follows:

Thank you very much for your attention and we look forward to meeting you in the talk!

Our DSPS team (Professor Wilson Wong, Dr. Kelvin Lo, and Professor Annie Tam) is invited by the Executive MBA (EMBA) Programme of the Business School of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) to speak on the topic “Data for Social Good: Theory and Practice” in its online forum. The CUHK EMBA, as the first EMBA programme in Hong Kong, aims to nurture top-level management talent and enhance the well-being of the business community and society. In the forum, focusing on public organizations and the non-profit sector, our DSPS team would discuss the strategies, tools, and challenges of using data science and digital transformation to create a data-driven organization for enhancing social good.

This online Executive MBA (EMBA) Forum would be organized on 30 May 2022. Details are as follows:

To learn more about CUHK EMBA, please see the link below:

• CUHK EMBA

Producing impactful research for enhancing public good is one of the core missions of our Data Science and Policy Studies (DSPS) Programme. In this connection, Professor Wilson Wong, our co-director, publishes two academic articles to find out the underlying factors of good government performance in fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic.

In “When the State Fails, Bureaucrats and Civil Society Step Up: Analysing Policy Capacity with Political Nexus Triads in the Policy Responses of Hong Kong to COVID-19” published by Journal of Asian Public Policy (Q1 in Sociology and Political Science), he examines the importance of an autonomous bureaucracy and a strong civil society in the combat against COVID-19 by analysing the policy responses of Hong Kong under the combined framework of policy capacity and Political Nexus Triads (PNT). He concludes that from the perspective of collaborative governance, it is crucial for citizens to be engaged as partners in public policies, highlighting the complementarity between state and non-state actors in the co-production of public policies.

The second article “State or Civil Society – What Matters in Fighting COVID-19? A Comparative Analysis of Hong Kong and Singapore” co-authored with Professor Alfred Wu of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, is published by the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis (Q1 in Sociology and Political Science). It investigates the nuanced and disaggregated role of state and civil society in the fight against COVID-19 in Hong Kong and Singapore. Professor Wong and Professor Wu consider Hong Kong combats COVID-19 with greater dependence on its civil society and bureaucrats, while Singapore relies more on a state-centred approach. The two contrasting cases represent the diversity of state-society relations and multiple configurational causality in the COVID-19 responses.

If you are interested in reading the two articles, please visit the links below.

Journal of Asian Public Policy Article (Professor Wilson Wong):

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17516234.2021.1894314

Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis Article (Professor Wilson Wong and Professor Alfred Wu):

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13876988.2021.1978819

Professor Wilson Wong, our DSPS co-director, has contributed a guest lecture “Governance in the Digital Era: Concerns, Issues, and Options” for the Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA) Programme of Tsinghua University in June 2022. All students in the EMPA Programme are major and active actors in the policy and public management arena of Hong Kong. In the lecture, Professor Wong examined five of the key challenges of disruptive information and communication technologies (ICTs) which are Big Data, Open Data, AI, Social Media and Smart City and discussed their impacts on governance. The rankings and performance of the digital governance of Hong Kong was also critically reviewed. Importantly, he offered advice and recommendations on how governments and public organizations could successfully transform these challenges and turned them into opportunities of digital transformation for improving the performance and accountability of the public sector.

Professor Wong would share some of the main content with the broader audience through his column in Mingpao. To have the full learning, apart from joining the Tsinghua EMPA,  an easier and more direct way is joining our DSPS programme as he will teach these core topics of technology and policymaking in his DSPS courses offered for major and elective students.

If you are interested in reading the Mingpao article based on the EMPA lecture, please refer to the link below:

• 人定勝AI—— 推動數碼轉型 切忌妄自菲薄（文：黃偉豪） (09:00) – 20220620 – 文摘 – 即時新聞 – 明報新聞網 (mingpao.com)

As our DSPS is now in its third year after its launch, we have invited some of our students to share stories and reflections of their studies and accomplishments in the Programme. We hope their experiences in their own words would help to guide the DSE students for understanding the focus and identity of our Programme better and serve as an invitation for any of them who share our vision to join us.

“The DSPS programme guides me to develop a global mindset and to think creatively. The combination of hard and soft skills allows me to win the D.H. Chen Scholarship and other awards.”

Miranda DING, Year 2 in DSPS, Recipient of D.H. Chen Scholarship, Second Prize of Huawei ICT Competition, Administrative Officer Intern 2022

“With English being a dominant language in academics, little before do I learn about the governance on digital platforms and data of non-English-speaking countries. The exchange experience in Italy offers me a unique opportunity to do so. ”

Wesley HO, Year 3 in DSPS and Exchange Student at Luiss Guido Carli, No. 1 University in Italy for Political Sciences and International Studies (QS Ranking 2022)

“The DSPS program has provided me with a solid foundation that helped me excel at the trading floor at Morgan Stanley. Through a combination of practical and theoretical knowledge, the program inspired me to explore the private and commercial sectors.”

Amanda HO, Year 3 in DSPS and Intern at Morgan Stanley (Class of 2022)

In our Data Science and Policy Studies (DSPS) Programme, learning and impact does not stay inside classrooms. All our teachers are ready to take their teaching to the next level for knowledge transfer and public engagement. For example, Professor Wilson Wong, our DSPS Co-Director, are contributing to Mingpao on a regular basis. This help to serve three major purposes. First, students and individuals who are not in DSPS could still benefit from our teaching and knowledge. Second, it showcases the integration between the analytical power of data science and the insights of policymaking. Third, it shows how teaching and learning can be easy and fun.

In sum, they give students who are interested in DSPS a glimpse of the impact and excitement of our learning which is distinctive from a hard science department and a traditional social science programme. If you would like to read some of the latest contributions by Professor Wong in Mingpao, please refer to the links below:

推動智慧城市 必先做好「開放數據」（文：黃偉豪） (09:00) – 20210712 – 文摘 – 即時新聞 – 明報新聞網 (mingpao.com)

被遺忘了的架構重整：天文台應屬哪個政策局？（文：黃偉豪） (09:00) – 20211018 – 文摘 – 即時新聞 – 明報新聞網 (mingpao.com)

盲創科：被遺忘了的管理科技人才（文：黃偉豪） (09:00) – 20211108 – 文摘 – 即時新聞 – 明報新聞網 (mingpao.com)

Don’t Look Up：是人類戰勝了病毒 還是自然放過了人類？（文：黃偉豪） (09:00) – 20220103 – 文摘 – 即時新聞 – 明報新聞網 (mingpao.com)

Don’t Look Up下娛樂至死——缺media training還是政策思維？（文：黃偉豪） (09:00) – 20220117 – 文摘 – 即時新聞 – 明報新聞網 (mingpao.com)

抗疫迷惘：欠缺開放數據下的無所適從（文：黃偉豪） (09:00) – 20220321 – 文摘 – 即時新聞 – 明報新聞網 (mingpao.com)

數據素養：善用數據與有效抗疫的距離（文：黃偉豪） (09:00) – 20220328 – 文摘 – 即時新聞 – 明報新聞網 (mingpao.com)

人定勝AI—— 推動數碼轉型 切忌妄自菲薄（文：黃偉豪） (09:00) – 20220620 – 文摘 – 即時新聞 – 明報新聞網 (mingpao.com)