During the course of this program, the researchers from the University of Debrecen gained direct insight into the innovation ecosystem of the Greater Bay Area in Southern China, where university research, technology entrepreneurship, talent development and industrial applications are all closely connected. In order to accomplish this, the members of the Hungarian delegation visited institutions and companies that are active in the fields of artificial intelligence, IoT, educational technology, voice-based AI solutions and digital industrial developments.
The University of Debrecen was represented at the summit by Dean of the Faculty of Informatics András Hajdu, Deputy Dean of Economic and External Relations Márton Tamás Bérczes and Deputy Dean for Research and Grants Balázs Harangi. An additional member of the Hungarian delegation was Péter Baranyi, a professor at CIAS of Corvinus University of Budapest and Head of the Chinese-Hungarian AIM, a joint initiative founded by Corvinus University of Budapest and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
- One of the primary objectives of this study tour was to gain firsthand experience of how university-based business development is operated in one of the leading innovation centers of the world. Our visit reinforced the assumption that, in the fields of computer science, artificial intelligence, data-driven technologies and industrial digitalization, there is a number of significant opportunities for international cooperation arising in the areas of joint research and development projects, mobility opportunities for students and faculty, industrial partnerships, as well as startups and technology transfer- said András Hajdu, Dean of the Faculty of Informatics at the University of Debrecen.
The Hungarian delegation visited Hong Kong Science Park, too, where the members learned about the innovation and technology development ecosystem of Hong Kong as well as the operations of the Centre for Perceptual and Interactive Intelligence (CPII), which serves as the artificial intelligence research center at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Among other things, the research areas pursued at CPII include computer vision, speech and language technology, human-machine interaction (HMI), artificial intelligence in healthcare, smart city applications and industrial automation.
During the program in Hong Kong, apart from visiting university laboratories, the delegation held in-depth discussions with key representatives of the public sector at Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE), the talent attraction and support office of Hong Kong’s local government. These discussions focused on bilateral collaboration opportunities: on the one hand, supporting the integration of talented young Hungarians into the Chinese innovation ecosystem, and on the other hand, exploring opportunities for cooperation in the expansion of Chinese companies into Hungary and Europe. In addition, the parties also overviewed incubation opportunities available in Hungary.
The group of UD experts even visited the Qianhai EHub startup and innovation park in Shenzhen, which was established to support young entrepreneurs, technology companies, research and development projects, and cross-border innovation collaborations. The also paid a visit to the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s research institutes in Shenzhen, which serve as its research and development and technology transfer hubs, and to the innovation center focused on high-value-added industries (CUHK InnoHub for New Quality Industries). Seventy percent of the activities taking place at these locations focus on AI, 20 percent on healthcare, and 10 percent on robotics. Concerning the latter of these, they met with and held discussions with incubated high-tech companies, including unicorns such as Tuya Smart, LaSense Technology Limited, Manifold Tech, CocoRobo, and VoiceAI.
To sum up, the members of the Hungarian delegation could closely observe how university research as well as applied development and industrial collaboration are integrated within an international research institute structure. They gained practical insights into supporting the development of new technology industries, including startups and university-driven innovations. Overall, they acquired actionable, real-world knowledge regarding the development opportunities related to technology transfer, industrial partnerships, startup incubation and international research collaborations.
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