Futurist addresses post-COVID-19 issues at E-Day online platform

HONGKONG, CHINA - Media OutReach -15 July 2020 - In light of the COVID-19 situation, this year's HKTDCEntrepreneur Day (E-Day) has undergone a transformation in terms of formatand content, with a series of seminars being broadcast live on 16 and 17 July. Thepublic can register for free at https://hktdc.hermeslive.com/en/.

HKTDC Assistant Executive Director Stephen Liangsaid: "Start-ups have been bearing the brunt of the unprecedented challenges,such as the impact on capital flow, brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. However,the new normal has given rise to business opportunities through the use of pioneeringinnovative technologies."

Mr Liang added that this year's E-Day, under thetheme "Revive‧Redefine", highlightsthe practical and inspirational aspects of start-ups that can help to ensurethe survival, growth, transformation and sustainability of the current businessecosystem in the face of significant changes and challenges, while promotingthe agility necessary to embrace future challenges. The seminars feature more than 30 heavyweight speakersfrom such fields as smart logistics, education technology and biotechnology toshare how to deploy pioneering ideas and innovative technologies to disrupt existingindustries and tap into new markets.

Insightsinto the future of entrepreneurship

E-Day willbe joined by Gerd Leonhard, a futurist who will address the audiencefrom Switzerland tomorrow (16 July) to shed light on emerging issues in the post-COVID-19economy and future trends in such areas as business, society and governance inthe context of exponential technological progress. Mr Leonhard will share how thefuture of jobs, work and commerce is being redefined amid the challenges andtransformation brought about by the pandemic; examine the role of innovation,creativity and entrepreneurship in creating major breakthroughs in atechnology-dominated future; and look at what start-ups and entrepreneurs cando to be future-ready. He will be joined by Karena Belin, CEO &Co-Founder of WHub, Dr Toa Charm, Associate Professor, BusinessSchool, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Herbert Chia, VenturePartner at Sequoia Capital China, to discuss how COVID-19 will shapedecision-making for start-ups, incubators and venture capitalists in Hong Kongand Asia.

Gerd Leonhard, CEO of The Futures Agency

Anotherseminar tomorrow, titled From Crisis to Chances will examine howentrepreneurs are able to turn challenging situations into opportunities,offering inspiration to the audience. Highlighting Hong Kong's researchexcellence and the city's experience in containing the COVID-19 outbreak,Professor Yeung King-lun from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technologywill share how his team reacted to the challenges presented by the globalpandemic to develop a smart anti-microbial coating, the MultilevelAntimicrobial Polymer (MAP-1) coating, to control infectious diseases.Designed for use on different surfaces including wood, glass, metals, concrete,plastics, fabrics, leathers and textiles, the coating provides lastingprotection and surface disinfection against microbial contamination for aperiod of up to 90 days. The smart coating has already been applied in morethan 70 day-care centres, homes for the elderly, kindergartens and primary andsecondary schools. In addition, Professor HC Man, Dean of the Faculty ofEngineering at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, will share on how his teamlaunched the General Use Face Shield to provide enhanced protection forthe public and minimise the risk of virus transmission within the community.

Businessopportunities are also arising for start-ups in fields such as fintech, smartcity and education technology. Katherine Cheung, Chief Marketing Officerof on-demand online tutoring platform Snapask, will share on how recent socialdistancing measures have unleashed opportunities for the Hong Kong-basedstart-up in both local and overseas markets. Founded five years ago, Snapask isnow serving over 3.2 million students with more than 350,000 tutors acrosseight Asian locations -- Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia,Thailand, Japan and Korea. The start-up has registered an increase of 1.3million users over the past 12 months, including a big surge due to thesuspension of classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In Hong Kong, the platformcurrently has some 40,000 tutors and 200,000 active users, most of whom arehigh school students with a high percentage of them preparing for the Hong KongDiploma of Secondary Education examination. Some parents also seek advice whilehelping their primary school kids with their homework. Understanding the demandfrom students studying late at night, Snapask has pushed the boundaries oftraditional tutoring to offer a 24-hour service. Apart from its app, Snapask isalso developing business-to-business (B2B) solutions using AI technology toprovide personalised learning resources through big data analysis.

Disruptingindustries with pioneering ideas

At theevent's plenary session tomorrow morning, titled Revive‧Redefine,William Ip, Managing Director of Carousell Hong Kong, and Crystal Pang,Co-Founder of Pickupp, will share how their start-ups are working to redefinetheir respective industries through pioneering ideas. Mr Ip will share how the company has promotedthe concept of a "sharing" future through its customer-to-customer (C2C)marketplace. Ms Pang will introduce how the start-up is redefining thedelivery industry and expanding its business in the Asian market. Pickupp alsoworks with genetic testing and digital health company Prenetics toprovide a door-to-door saliva specimen collection service for patientswho need to undergo COVID-19 testing.

In addition, the newlylaunched Enterprise Connect series, featuring Arup, Epson and FungGroup, will showcase how enterprises can join hands with start-ups tocreate shared value and revive businesses across different industry pillars.

Representativesfrom the media are welcome to join the closed-door seminars, which will be heldat S226-228 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Details are asfollows:

16July (Day 1)

Please click here for details of all seminars overboth days of E-Day.

Photodownload: https://bit.ly/328BLYh

About HKTDC

The HongKong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong's trade. With 50 officesglobally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as atwo-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises internationalexhibitions, conferencesand businessmissions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly smalland medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets.The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via tradepublications, researchreports and digitalnews channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus.Follow us on Twitter @hktdc and LinkedIn