Accelerating the Development of an AI Blueprint to Create Socio-Economic Value
Accelerating the Development of an AI Blueprint to Create Socio-Economic Value
The source text is in Chinese. This English version is for reference only. In case of any discrepancy between this English version and the Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published the 2025 Technology and Innovation Report: Inclusive Artificial Intelligence for Development (the report) last year, to which Our Hong Kong Foundation also contributed.
The first three articles in this series provided in-depth analyses of the global AI development divide, the impact of AI's rise on the labour market, and the three key enablers driving AI development. This article focuses on how Hong Kong can accelerate its progress towards becoming a global AI hub by formulating a forward-looking AI development blueprint.
Leveraging the Right Tools to Avoid Rising Policy Costs
As different economies increasingly prioritise the development of frontier technologies including AI, authorities often find themselves caught in a timing dilemma when rolling out related policies. As illustrated in the accompanying chart, during the early stages of technological development, although the cost of policy intervention is relatively low, the necessity for such intervention is also limited — given that the impact on the labour market remains unclear and public acceptance is yet to be ascertained. However, once the technology matures and is widely adopted across industries, the cost of government intervention has already risen significantly.
Take social media as an example. Platforms such as Facebook emerged in the 2000s, yet at the time there was no legislation governing how these platforms handled users' personal data. It was not until 2018 that British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica was accused of exploiting the personal data of approximately 50 million Facebook users in an attempt to influence the 2016 Brexit referendum and the US presidential election, sparking global public concern over privacy and security on social media.
However, once the relevant regulatory policies were introduced, they met fierce opposition from a number of tech giants, who argued that such regulations would severely threaten the operating models of social media platforms. This illustrates precisely that, for AI as today's most prominent frontier technology, the impact on the economy and society is already quite evident, and the cost of policy intervention will only continue to grow. It is therefore advisable to deploy appropriate policy tools in a timely manner, so as not to miss the window of opportunity.
Phased Targets and Action Pathways in Tandem
While governments around the world may differ in their choice of policy tools, formulating an AI development blueprint has become the most common international practice.
The value of a blueprint lies in establishing a vision and subsequently consolidating disparate policies into concrete action pathways.
The mainland last year issued the Opinions on Deepening the Implementation of the "AI+" Initiative, which sets out priority actions across six domains — science and technology, industrial development, consumption upgrading, people's wellbeing, governance capacity, and global cooperation — while establishing three phased targets, with the ultimate goal of fully entering a new stage of intelligent economy and intelligent society by 2035. The recently released 15th Five-Year Plan Outline further specifies the full implementation of the "AI+" initiative, strengthening the deep integration of AI with scientific and technological innovation, industrial development, cultural development, people's livelihood, and social governance, thereby empowering all sectors across the board.
Similarly, the Singapore Government released National AI Strategy 1.0 and National AI Strategy 2.0 (NAIS 2.0) in 2019 and 2023 respectively. NAIS 2.0 notably positions AI as a "national necessity" rather than merely a nice-to-have option, and proposes 15 specific actions organised around ten enablers (industry, government, research institutions, talent, capability, community building, compute, data, trusted environment, and thought and action leaders). It aims to drive government and enterprises to harness AI for economic and social value creation within three to five years, attract more top innovation and technology talent, and establish Singapore as a global AI hub.
Seize the Opportunity and Strengthen Systematic Strategic Coordination
It is evident that neighbouring economies have all launched AI development blueprints containing specific and clear development strategies and phased targets. By contrast, Hong Kong has yet to produce a dedicated AI development blueprint. Relevant measures are often scattered across the annual Policy Address and Budget, and while directions such as "industrialising AI and AI-ising industries" have been articulated, there remains a lack of a systematic strategic framework to provide overarching coordination.
It is worth noting, however, that in the Budget delivered in February this year, the Government proposed the establishment of an "AI+ and Industrial Development Strategy Committee" chaired by the Financial Secretary, tasked with formulating strategies for AI-driven industrial transformation and development. This body could also assume responsibility for charting an AI development blueprint.
In fact, Hong Kong is not without experience in formulating innovation and technology blueprints. The Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint, published as early as 2022, set out a number of clear policies to promote the technology industry and specifically mentioned a focus on AI and data science industry development. Building on this foundation, a dedicated AI development blueprint could be formulated, incorporating phased, quantifiable key performance indicators (KPIs) — such as AI adoption rates in specific industries, the supply of different categories of AI talent, and contribution to GDP. Progress against these KPIs could be reviewed periodically, and the blueprint updated according to actual circumstances, ensuring it remains responsive to the needs of society and industry, while upholding a people-centred principle and incorporating the views of diverse stakeholders.
In concluding this four-part series, we hope to inspire readers to reflect on the critical issues surrounding AI development from multiple perspectives, while offering practical directions for action as Hong Kong advances towards becoming a global AI hub — thereby fully unlocking the city's potential in the AI domain and elevating its position in this global race.
The source text is in Chinese. This English version is for reference only. In case of any discrepancy between this English version and the Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published the 2025 Technology and Innovation Report: Inclusive Artificial Intelligence for Development (the report) last year, to which Our Hong Kong Foundation also contributed.
The first three articles in this series provided in-depth analyses of the global AI development divide, the impact of AI's rise on the labour market, and the three key enablers driving AI development. This article focuses on how Hong Kong can accelerate its progress towards becoming a global AI hub by formulating a forward-looking AI development blueprint.
Leveraging the Right Tools to Avoid Rising Policy Costs
As different economies increasingly prioritise the development of frontier technologies including AI, authorities often find themselves caught in a timing dilemma when rolling out related policies. As illustrated in the accompanying chart, during the early stages of technological development, although the cost of policy intervention is relatively low, the necessity for such intervention is also limited — given that the impact on the labour market remains unclear and public acceptance is yet to be ascertained. However, once the technology matures and is widely adopted across industries, the cost of government intervention has already risen significantly.
Take social media as an example. Platforms such as Facebook emerged in the 2000s, yet at the time there was no legislation governing how these platforms handled users' personal data. It was not until 2018 that British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica was accused of exploiting the personal data of approximately 50 million Facebook users in an attempt to influence the 2016 Brexit referendum and the US presidential election, sparking global public concern over privacy and security on social media.
However, once the relevant regulatory policies were introduced, they met fierce opposition from a number of tech giants, who argued that such regulations would severely threaten the operating models of social media platforms. This illustrates precisely that, for AI as today's most prominent frontier technology, the impact on the economy and society is already quite evident, and the cost of policy intervention will only continue to grow. It is therefore advisable to deploy appropriate policy tools in a timely manner, so as not to miss the window of opportunity.
Phased Targets and Action Pathways in Tandem
While governments around the world may differ in their choice of policy tools, formulating an AI development blueprint has become the most common international practice.
The value of a blueprint lies in establishing a vision and subsequently consolidating disparate policies into concrete action pathways.
The mainland last year issued the Opinions on Deepening the Implementation of the "AI+" Initiative, which sets out priority actions across six domains — science and technology, industrial development, consumption upgrading, people's wellbeing, governance capacity, and global cooperation — while establishing three phased targets, with the ultimate goal of fully entering a new stage of intelligent economy and intelligent society by 2035. The recently released 15th Five-Year Plan Outline further specifies the full implementation of the "AI+" initiative, strengthening the deep integration of AI with scientific and technological innovation, industrial development, cultural development, people's livelihood, and social governance, thereby empowering all sectors across the board.
Similarly, the Singapore Government released National AI Strategy 1.0 and National AI Strategy 2.0 (NAIS 2.0) in 2019 and 2023 respectively. NAIS 2.0 notably positions AI as a "national necessity" rather than merely a nice-to-have option, and proposes 15 specific actions organised around ten enablers (industry, government, research institutions, talent, capability, community building, compute, data, trusted environment, and thought and action leaders). It aims to drive government and enterprises to harness AI for economic and social value creation within three to five years, attract more top innovation and technology talent, and establish Singapore as a global AI hub.
Seize the Opportunity and Strengthen Systematic Strategic Coordination
It is evident that neighbouring economies have all launched AI development blueprints containing specific and clear development strategies and phased targets. By contrast, Hong Kong has yet to produce a dedicated AI development blueprint. Relevant measures are often scattered across the annual Policy Address and Budget, and while directions such as "industrialising AI and AI-ising industries" have been articulated, there remains a lack of a systematic strategic framework to provide overarching coordination.
It is worth noting, however, that in the Budget delivered in February this year, the Government proposed the establishment of an "AI+ and Industrial Development Strategy Committee" chaired by the Financial Secretary, tasked with formulating strategies for AI-driven industrial transformation and development. This body could also assume responsibility for charting an AI development blueprint.
In fact, Hong Kong is not without experience in formulating innovation and technology blueprints. The Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint, published as early as 2022, set out a number of clear policies to promote the technology industry and specifically mentioned a focus on AI and data science industry development. Building on this foundation, a dedicated AI development blueprint could be formulated, incorporating phased, quantifiable key performance indicators (KPIs) — such as AI adoption rates in specific industries, the supply of different categories of AI talent, and contribution to GDP. Progress against these KPIs could be reviewed periodically, and the blueprint updated according to actual circumstances, ensuring it remains responsive to the needs of society and industry, while upholding a people-centred principle and incorporating the views of diverse stakeholders.
In concluding this four-part series, we hope to inspire readers to reflect on the critical issues surrounding AI development from multiple perspectives, while offering practical directions for action as Hong Kong advances towards becoming a global AI hub — thereby fully unlocking the city's potential in the AI domain and elevating its position in this global race.
