Unleashing the Power of Data Innovation

Hitachi sees Hong Kong as a perfect launchpad to set up its first innovation center with an aim to offer smart city solutions to the city

Data is always a great asset to a company but how to use it effectively to increase revenue, enhance customer experience or lower business cost is a popular topic among many enterprises. In view of this, Hitachi Vantara, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd opened an innovation center in Hong Kong in 2018 with the goal to co-create data-driven solutions and insights with its partners to drive business growth and foster social innovation development.

The innovation center in Hong Kong is a first-of-its-kind by Hitachi in Greater China region to carry out its new business concept. The HKSAR government released the Smart City Blueprint in end 2017 with a vision to develop Hong Kong into a world-class smart city by making use of innovation and technology. The company believes Hong Kong is an ideal place for the new rollout. “The government’s emphasis on technology development creates a favourable environment for innovation in the city,” explained Andrew Sampson, Vice President and General Manager, Hong Kong and Taiwan, “we are seeing a lot of potential for our center to grow here.”

“Companies in Hong Kong also have a long history and good reputation of being creative and entrepreneurial, which makes the city an excellent base for our operations,” he added.

The center is strategically situated in the Hong Kong Science Park, making it easy for Hitachi Vantara to collaborate with partners to develop different kind of smart city solutions for their clients.

Soon after its soft-launch, the center has partnered with a number of technology companies and startups in the Science Park to develop widely applicable sensors and alert systems for healthcare, security and space management applications by utilising Internet of Things (IoT), cloud service, data intelligence, big data and analytics platforms.

At present, there are six staff based in the center, providing instant help to its customers and partners. In addition, over a hundred employees including more than 70 technicians in Hitachi Vantara’s Hong Kong office are ready to offer additional technical and marketing and sales assistance at any time.

Sampson appreciates the quality of talent in Hong Kong. “We are able to find very talented technicians here thanks to the high productivity and deep talent pool,” he said. “As local universities are launching a range of innovation and technology-related programmes, I am very confident in finding high-skilled talent to join our venture.”

With the assistance of InvestHK, Sampson and his team were connected to other government departments and oraganisations to broaden their business network.

“The technology startup ecosystem is booming in the city and we are excited about the enormous opportunities to co-create smart city solutions with different partners,” Sampson concluded.