A memorandum of understanding signed between City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and Tsinghua University will prepare for the establishment of the Hong Kong Branch of a national engineering research centre.

 

Professor Lu Jian, Vice-President (Research and Technology), and Professor Gu Ming, Vice-Director of the Chinese National Engineering Research Centre on Enterprise Informatization Software (CNERC-EIS), signed the memorandum for setting up a Hong Kong branch for CNERC-EIS on 17 May.

 

Academician Sun Jiaguang, Director of CNERC-EIS; Professor Zhao Xibin, a member of CNERC-EIS; Professor Li Qing, Director of CityU’s Multimedia software Engineering Research Centre; and Dr David Cheng Xing, CityU’s Associate Vice-President (Mainland and External Affairs), also attended the ceremony.

 

Professor Lu Jian and Academician Sun Jiaguang discussed future collaborations at a meeting after the ceremony. They said they would strongly support the application for the establishment of the Hong Kong Branch and any subsequent cooperation. 

 

CNERC-EIS commissioned CityU to set up the Hong Kong Branch to achieve synergy and complement each other’s technology strengths. CityU and Tsinghua University already have a long and multifaceted history of cooperation.

 

The Hong Kong branch, to be located at CityU, will promote the commercialisation of research outcomes by applying multimedia technology into, among many possible areas, manufacturing informatisation, e-commerce and modern logistics, intelligent management for urban cities, and online education research.

 

CityU and CNERC-EIS also plan to have joint programmes for training professionals in enterprise informatisation and multimedia software technologies.

 

Headquartered in Tsinghua University, CNERC-EIS was established in 1997. It is the only renowned research institution in this research area that is approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

 

The mission of the branch will be to set up an internationally renowned organisation with open platforms for R&D, technology transfer, and information and technology exchange. The Hong Kong branch will also serve as a base for educating and supplying enterprise informatisation professionals in the region.

 

Specifically, backed by CityU, the branch will target the areas of enterprise informatisation and multimedia knowledge engineering. The branch will orchestrate the excellent technological resources in Hong Kong through innovation and cooperation among industrial, educational and research organisations.

 

Partnered with CNERC-EIS, the branch will conduct technical transfers, cultivate top-class engineering professionals, establish experimental engineering facilities, and provide demonstrative applications and public services. The aim is to promote industrial upgrading in Hong Kong and the region, and expand the impacts to related industries and larger areas.

 

Equipped with strong capabilities in technological innovation, engineered research, and industrial penetration, the branch will become an open and internationally competitive base for enterprise informatisation and multimedia knowledge engineering both regionally and globally.

 

The application for establishing the Hong Kong Branch is currently underway.