Hugh Chow, CEO of ASTRI, told Chamber members that the key to understanding the value of the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) is the A – Applied.

“It’s what sets us apart and it sums up our mission, which is to apply cutting-edge technology and innovation to solving the pain points in our society,” he said.

Since its inception 20 years ago, ASTRI’s mission has been to enhance Hong Kong’s competitiveness in technology-based industries through applied research.

To learn about some of the latest developments at ASTRI, a Chamber delegation visited the institute in Shatin on 10 July. Chow briefed the visitors, who then enjoyed demonstrations of some of ASTRI’s recent R&D achievements, including a compatible spectrometer that can be used to identify and classify gemstones, a bilingual AI chatbot that can communicate in Cantonese and English, and an electronic road pricing system. 

ASTRI is Hong Kong’s largest government-funded technology research institution, and has completed 500 research projects, transferred more than 750 technologies to industries, and received 800 patents since its launch. It focuses on five key areas: smart city, intelligent manufacturing, financial technologies, next generation network and health technologies.