Sinovation, our corporate incubation programme, is integral to fostering innovation among colleagues, encouraging innovative ideas for efficiency and quality improvements that can benefit our operations and the wider community. The third edition, focusing on energy saving, received more than 40 entries from colleagues proposing ways to enhance energy efficiency in our day-to-day operations. Five teams were shortlisted, and had the opportunity to present their ideas to management at the final presentation session.

Organised by Sino Group and Hongkong Land, PropXTech is a proptech acceleration programme that brings start-ups and established companies from around the world together to advance technological applications for the long-term and sustainable development of the real estate industry. The latest edition attracted more than 3,000 applications from 70 countries and territories, with ten finalists invited to present their solutions and business plans to industry professionals and investors on Showcase Day.

Participants needed to develop solutions that prioritise sustainability and digitalisation in property development and management in five categories, namely Green Tech; Smart Building; Smart City; Smart Construction; and Customer Engagement.

Showcase Day saw the ten finalists, including six from Hong Kong and one each from Germany, Israel, The Netherlands and Singapore, present to more than 100 industry professionals, including all 16 members of the Hong Kong PropTech Alliance, which is presided over by Sino Group and Hongkong Land. The innovations span a wide range of ideas, such as AI-powered recycling bins to automate waste sorting; noise reduction technology; self-healing concrete; an AI-based, chemical-free maintenance and cleaning system; the replacement of concrete by plastic waste; a mobile AR app to simplify facilities management; and preventive maintenance solutions to optimise heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

‘Hong Kong is in a unique position with advantages that are conducive to pooling I&T talents and enterprises from around the globe,’ said Ir Andrew Young, Consultant (Innovation) of Sino Group. ‘Sino Group fully supports the development of the I&T ecosystem in Hong Kong and is committed to nurturing innovation and technology talents to support Hong Kong’s development into an international innovation and technology hub. The finalists show promising potential, and we look forward to creating positive impact together.’

The Hong Kong Science Fair, presented by the Hong Kong Innovation Foundation and supported by Sino Group, returned for the third year with an exhibition and award presentation ceremony in June 2024. Themed ‘Think Big Be Innovative’, the two-day fair provided an interactive platform for Hong Kong primary and secondary school students to showcase their creative creations to the public.

Responses have been very strong, with some 330 submissions in categories of ‘Smart City & Smart Home’, ‘Medical & Healthcare’, ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Education’ received from more than 1,400 Primary 4 to Secondary 6 students and teachers across some 130 schools, among them about 50 schools participating for the first time. Of these entries, 120 teams have been shortlisted to develop prototypes and refine their creations with advice from industry experts. During the two-day exhibition, they put their hard work on display and presented their ideas to more than 30,000 visitors.

An independent judging panel selected Gold, Silver and Bronze winners in the Primary, Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary Divisions, while visitors voted for the ‘Most Popular Award’.

The HKUST-Sino One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition 2023, organised by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and supported by the Group, has been held. This was our fifth consecutive year of partnership, and attracted a record-breaking 234 teams formed by HKUST faculties, students and alumni, strengthening Hong Kong’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Champion (Platinum Award) and GF Innovation Award winner Allegrow developed a new artificial cell cultivation technology. Allegrow’s new technology can optimise the production process of immune cells and reduce production costs by up to 48 per cent compared to current methods, while saving up to 33 per cent (per product) of production time. The technology will greatly boost production efficiency, reduce patients’ waiting time and medical expenses for future treatments, shorten the R&D period of immune cell therapy and make cell therapy more accessible to the public. 

A new category, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), was introduced, with the Sustainability Impact Award given out to encourage using innovative and diverse ideas to promote sustainable development. Nearly 80 per cent of the 200-plus entries featured ESG elements. 

The three winning teams were Daoad, which utilises various rice-based biomaterials to create high-quality and sustainable creative products; Salvaged Limited, which recycles second-hand clothing and created a sustainable second-hand fashion reselling platform; and Not Only Powder, which also won the Gold Award, for their efforts in promoting sustainable development.

Sino Inno Lab, a sandbox platform for technology companies, has welcomed more than 30 new solutions focusing on advanced green materials, sensing technologies, lighting for wellness and sanitisation as well as AI and robots, which can be applied to hotels, residences, shopping malls and property management.

The Group has partnered with local start-up EcoBricks on a breakthrough solution to upcycle all the seven types of plastic waste, including mixed plastics and composite plastics, into sustainable construction materials, presenting a viable circular economy solution to urban plastic waste.

The low-energy, 100% cold production process of EcoBricks involves no heating or melting of waste plastic that would produce harmful emissions or pollutants. Up to 50% of aggregates in concrete bricks can be replaced with plastic waste, meaning that up to 2,000 kg of plastic waste can be diverted from landflls for every 100 square metres of EcoBricks produced, equivalent to 200,000 plastic bottles.

EcoBricks has found its first application at Hong Kong Gold Coast. More than 15,000 bricks have been used to pave the promenade and line Leaf Path, which have been upcycled from 5,400 kg of plastic waste taken from 560 used washing machines. The Group will continue to apply EcoBricks at other suitable properties such as Olympian City and The Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel Hong Kong, as well as strengthening engagement with recyclers, NGOs, tenants and customers in upcycling plastic waste and supporting the circular economy.

EcoBricks has been awarded the Gold Medal with the Congratulations of the Jury at the 2022 Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions.

The Group and the Hong Kong Innovation Foundation have partnered with Ocean Park, archiREEF and The Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel Hong Kong on CORAL REEFStoration, Hong Kong’s frst cross-sector collaborative project for local coral preservation and restoration.

The project entails ecological research conducted at Deep Water Bay with the objective of restoring the original appearance of coral reefs and local coral species.

The archiREEF team developed the world’s frst specially designed 3D-printed reef tiles, which enable coral fragments to attach and grow; the organic structures also provide habitats for more organisms, supporting marine biodiversity. The reef tiles will be taken care of by Ocean Park’s professional husbandry team, and then transferred to the seabed on the south side of Hong Kong for rehabilitation and conservation under continued monitoring. It is expected that in three years, 20 square metres of reef will be rebuilt with more than 120 pieces of rescued coral fragments used to recreate suitable habitats for local marine species.

In order to raise awareness of the value of coral reefs and inspire younger generations to protect precious coral ecosystems, a variety of tours and workshops as well as internship programmes for tertiary students will be arranged at Ocean Park’s coral nursery facility.

In addition to fostering creativity among colleagues through internal competitions, we are also supporting Hong Kong’s younger generation in the areas of innovation and technology. The Hong Kong Innovation Foundation (HKIF) and Sino Group staged the inaugural Hong Kong Science Fair (Science Fair) in June 2022, offering youth a platform to unleash creativity and address daily challenges through science and technology.

Themed ‘Think Big Be Innovative’, the Science Fair received encouraging responses, with more than 400 project submissions received from more than 1,200 Primary 4 to Secondary 6 students across 140 local schools. After the first round of competition, 120 teams were shortlisted to exhibit their innovative projects on four thematic topics. Participating students had a chance to learn how to develop, implement and communicate their ideas by attending the ‘Pre-exhibition Prototyping Review Sessions’ and a series of workshops on design thinking, 3D modelling and pitching techniques co-hosted with the MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node.

Taking visitors on a journey of technological innovations for free, the Fair’s thematic interactive zones welcomed kids to experiment with a Sticky Elf Workshop, enjoy a VR-powered Flight Simulating Experience and create art with a ‘Space Odyssey’-themed AR Drawing installation. The fascinating collection of exhibits also demonstrated students’ innovative prowess and passion in devising meaningful solutions for societal challenges, such as anti-pandemic efforts and caring for the elderly and persons with disabilities.