Hong Kong has always been a bit of a cutting edge place. The birthplace of the biggest bank in the world, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation a.k.a HSBC. Hong Kong is a bit of a special place, separated from mainland China it has a certain character about it that sets it apart from many of the other major cities. As with many of the large cities in Asia, technology is a major part of life. The 21st century has seen an incredible boom in the amount of technology used by everyday people in their everyday lives. So how has this famous city adopted this increase in technology usage?
Mobile
With the invention of the smartphone in recent years it seems that everyone is adopting this ball of technology. I do not know what the statistics are but I would be confident in saying that phones are now used more for non phone related activities than they are for what you would consider to be what you traditionally use a phone for…i.e speaking to people. Smartphones are now used for emails, GPS, Google searches and possibly most significantly Apps. Apps are now big money. A certain drawing app sold for $175 million 5 weeks after launch! Smartphones are now being utilised by companies to engage remotely and almost instantly with a database of users. For example, a market research company based in Hong Kong called Decision Fuel use mobiles to compile what they call ‘Bite-Sized’ research reports. Companies like this based in Hong Kong are utilising the world of mobile phones to offer a service to their clients that would otherwise take weeks or maybe months to produce. Information is key, and Hong Kong not only devours the stuff but also comes up with innovative ways to garner more information and data.
Start Up Heaven
Hong kong is embracing the start up community with incubator schemes and office sharing helping make Hong Kong a centre for start ups. One might not originally think that Hong Kong would be the best place for a fledgling company – it just looks expensive. But actually there are some incredible opportunities for young companies in Hong Kong, not least because of the potential of investment. Tech start ups are attracted to Hong Kong for these very reasons and it is these companies who are promoting Hong Kong as the Asian Silicon Valley.
Transport
Hong Kong’s public transport network is embracing technology with the MTR using an electronic entry system and the trains have monitors that display how far you are from the next station. A bit gimmicky maybe, but just another example of how Hong Kong is not some gigantic old behemoth city that refuses to move with the times. No, like most cities in Asia, Hong Kong is embracing this technological boom with open arms.