The Grand Hall was exceptionally crowded this year as the Career Expo saw keen interest from Park companies. Additional booths and professional job pairing services were arranged for tech enterprises at HKSTP to hire talents from local university students and graduates, tech enthusiast and practitioners, to overseas and Mainland talent with more than 3,000 1-on-1 interviews conducted on the spot.

The new "StartUP Power Hub" zone made its debut, not only providing an opportunity for talent to learn the passions of startups in innovation and their vibrant culture, joining to work for teams with shared visions, but also a dynamic engagement for young people aspiring entrepreneurship with over 30 successful startup founders, to gain their entrepreneurial experience, insights into building innovative businesses, and the comprehensive services provided by various incubation programmes at HKSTP.

The "Talent Power Up" themed Expo put the spotlight on unravelling myths of AI with a full-day experience offering an extensive range of activities, uplevelling people as businesses set sights on a future of AI, digital technologies, and data-centricity.

As the super-connector in the I&T industry, workshops were organised with leading global AI platform providers, including AWS, LinkedIn and Google, to indulge participants who were looking to empower career development by exploring the top-notch skills of AI. Leveraging the database and algorithm of LinkedIn, job seekers acquired tactics to be seen by Gen AI and the recruiters behind it, maximising one's employability.

"Rather than an option, it's an obligation for us to be aware of not just our capabilities in the current technology trends, but also our constant curiosity in adapting to changes, and that mentality is key to thrive in this fast-and-faster growing digital age," said Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP. "We hope to upskill Hong Kong talent with Gen AI trends and knowledge in this year's Expo. The overwhelming response from companies and talent confirms the rise of the city's world-class I&T ecosystem, and significantly bolsters the tech talent pipeline which is critical to a new era of growth for Hong Kong."

Apart from the happenings at the Grand Hall, a series of activities and sharing sessions around Science Park attracted a total of over 800 participants. Leading tech enterprises including SenseTime, Deloitte Digital, and HKSTP x ARROW Hardware Lab also opened doors to visitors, providing them with immersive experiences to their cutting-edge tech showcases.

To explore the infinite possibilities in I&T, an exclusive career and entrepreneurship sharing session was held to give an overview to non-local talents of the distinctive advantages of Hong Kong I&T development, golden opportunities in the thriving ecosystem and the comprehensive support available to talents from all over the world.

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) was established in 2001 with a mission to position Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub. HKSTP has created a thriving I&T ecosystem supporting over 10 unicorns with more than 13,000 research professionals and around 1,700 technology companies from 26 countries and regions focused on healthtech, AI and robotics, fintech and smart city technologies.

We offer comprehensive support to attract and nurture talent, accelerate and commercialise innovation for technology ventures on their I&T journey. Our growing innovation ecosystem is built around our key locations of Hong Kong Science Park in Shatin, InnoCentre in Kowloon Tong and three modern InnoParks in Tai Po, Tseung Kwan O and Yuen Long. The three InnoParks are realising a vision of new industrialisation for Hong Kong, where sectors including advanced manufacturing, micro-electronics and biotechnology are being reimagined.

Hong Kong Science Park Shenzhen Branch in Futian, Shenzhen, opened in September 2023 to support Hong Kong's future development and its growing demands of the I&T industry and to strengthen cross-border exchange, attract technology companies as well as talent from around the world, helping them go global. It has both dry and wet laboratories, co-working space, conference and exhibition spaces, and more. We will focus on attracting enterprises in seven key areas: Medtech, big data and AI, robotics, new materials, microelectronics, fintech and sustainability.

Through our infrastructure, services, expertise, and network of partnerships, HKSTP will help establish I&T as a pillar of growth for Hong Kong.

More information about HKSTP is available at www.hkstp.org.