A spirit of innovation has taken root at our University. The HKUST Entrepreneurship Center, established in 1999, was the first of its kind among Hong Kong’s universities. Being proud of our accomplishments, we must further our efforts to become a visionary of innovation and entrepreneurship. Strengthening our innovation ecosystem will synergize different segments of the entire spectrum from research to impact, and nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators to create economic and societal impact.

With a rich history of translating discoveries into solutions, HKUST is well-positioned to contribute to the development of Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology hub. We bring innovation to the world effectively and deepen the reach of our impact. Strengthened collaboration with governmental, industrial, and community partners will bring in greater support and resources to accelerate the transformation of discovery. Apart from technology translation, we step up our efforts to transform cutting-edge research into meaningful non-technological solutions, such as evidence-informed policy ideas, for the betterment of the community.

Another direction is to develop critical innovation infrastructure and programs for knowledge transfer endeavors. We will improve the competency and capacity of our knowledge transfer units and upscale our investment capacity sustainably to support the growth of HKUST innovators.  A critical direction is to develop innovation facilities in off-campus site(s), which will facilitate university-industry collaboration and strengthen our innovation ecosystem in the long term. Looking beyond Hong Kong, the University will enhance our knowledge transfer collaborative framework in the Mainland to synergize the development of our existing Mainland platforms, new innovation centers in strategic locations, and cross-campus innovation pursuits. At the same time, a network with global incubators will be established to advance our innovation with more collaborative possibilities.

Since the early days, HKUST has been a place that promotes entrepreneurial spirit by providing a variety of entrepreneurship-related initiatives, including formal education and other activities, across multiple units to support our members in their business journey. Now, the University recognizes the need to coordinate all these entrepreneurship education efforts across students of different interests and backgrounds to maximize benefits and optimize delivery. A review of existing entrepreneurship programs and activities will be conducted. Additionally, we leverage our dynamic alumni community to fuel entrepreneurship through university-wide activities and targeted programs for innovators and founders.