The Hong Kong government has set a "Digital 21" information and technology (IT) strategy to make Hong Kong a leading digital city in a globally connected world of the next century, Director of Information Technology Services Lau Kam-hung said on October 23.

　 Speaking at the Second ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Hong Kong Postgraduate Research Day held in the University of Hong Kong, Lau said the government is committed to developing IT manpower and industry to achieve the objective of developing Hong Kong into an innovation and technology hub.

　 "To achieve that, it is of vital importance that we have the people who are equipped with the necessary skills," he said.

　 Under the IT manpower development initiative of the "Digital 21 " IT strategy, the government is dedicated to promoting IT in education so that the young generation can grow up with the knowledge, skills and vision to play an active part in the next century of IT, Lau said.

　 Apart from providing all schools with basic facilities like IT and Internet access, Lau said the government will also fund training programs and projects so as to equip university students and the workforce with better IT skills.

　 IT industry development was another key initiative of "Digital 21." Lau said that "The government has an important role to play in creating the right environment for innovation and technology to develop and flourish."

　 The government has established the Innovation and Technology Fund as a statutory fund with an injection of five billion HK dollars (641 million US dollars), according to him.

　 "The Fund aims to increase the added value, productivity and competitiveness of our industries through financing projects that contribute to innovation and technology upgrading in both the manufacturing and service industries," he said.

　 Other facilitation programs include the establishment of the Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, and the implementation of the Hong Kong Industrial Technology Center's Business Incubation Program, he said.