Competition Background

 

With the implementation of the national 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is fully committed to develop into an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub. Meanwhile, Shanghai is also dedicated to promoting international data co-operation and has made various attempts in terms of institutional frameworks and application scenarios. The similarities in economic development, cultural heritage, and future aspirations of these two cities present opportunities for deeper collaboration, with the potential to generate greater value through synergistic efforts.

The National Data Bureau was officially established in October 2023 and issued a notice on December 31, 2023, titled "Notice of the National Data Bureau and Other Ministries publishing the Three-Year Action Plan (2024-2026) For “Data Elements X”. Within the overall requirements, it clearly stated to "fully realize the value of crucial data , provide strong support for promoting high-quality development and advancing China's modernization with Chinese Characteristic" and laid down four basic principles, including "demand-driven, focusing on practical results," "piloting first, key breakthroughs," "effective market, proactive government," and "open integration, safe and orderly."

 
The action plan highlights important elements of China's modernization of data, combining innovation, market demand, government guidance, and orderly cross-border flow to promote an annual growth rate of the data industry of over 20%. In the final chapter of the three-year action plan, item 21 proposes "promoting use through competition: organizing ' Crucial Data' competitions to build professional competition platforms focusing on key industries and fields, enhancing data supply, stimulating various sectors of society to jointly explore market demands, and improving the level of data utilization. Supporting various enterprises to participate in the competition, strengthening the transformation of competition results, incubating new technologies, new products, fostering new models, and new formats, and improving the data ecosystem." The design of this competition program will refer to the three-year action plan as its core reference, combined with the actual situation of the two cities, creating demand and breaking limitations.

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Driven by national policies, Hong Kong and Shanghai established new frameworks in 2024 to promote data and digital policies, laying the groundwork for future data collaboration. By 2025, activities related to open data and information sharing will require greater resilience and adaptability. Under the framework of Hong Kong-Shanghai Co-operation and building on past successes to deepen mutual exchange and understanding between the two regions, the “Hong Kong/Shanghai Co-operation Open Data Challenge 2025” will further advance industry collaboration and innovation.

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Hong Kong–Shanghai Collaboration:

Building a Data Innovation Ecosystem / Harnessing Twin Cities Expertise to Co-Create a Digital Future

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Hong Kong has long been internationally recognized for its superior business environment, robust institutional framework, and low tax rates. For instance, the latest annual report of Global Data Centre Market Comparison shows that Hong Kong’s data center market ranks fourth globally and second in the Asia-Pacific region, after Singapore. Following the appointments of the new term HKSAR Government in 2022 and to align the national 14th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong is fully committed to develop into an international Innovation and Technology (I&T) hub.

In December 2022, the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau released the Hong Kong I&T Development Blueprint, providing a top-level strategic roadmap for the city’s I&T development over the next five to ten years. This blueprint outlines clear development pathways and systematic plans, including enhancing the innovation ecosystem, strengthening talent development, promoting digital economy growth, and actively contributing to national development priorities, guiding Hong Kong toward its vision of becoming an international I&T center.

Meanwhile, Shanghai has made remarkable progress in advancing its digital economy, particularly through the deep integration of digital technologies with the existing economy. A key highlight is the development and application of open data. As a cornerstone of the data element market, the openness and utilization of open data are critical to unlocking the potential of the digital economy. As early as 2012, Shanghai pioneered efforts in the use of open data, achieving notable progress and positive outcomes. In recent years, Shanghai has actively pursued pilot projects for open data applications, explored new models for authorized operations, and implemented initiatives such as establishing data joint innovation laboratories and hosting open data application competitions. These initiatives have pinpointed outstanding pilot projects in sectors like transportation, healthcare, financial services, social credit, and commercial services, showcasing their benchmark importance and societal influence while highlighting the benefits of open data sharing. In cultivating its data industry ecosystem, Shanghai has encouraged diverse stakeholders to strengthen big data supply and foster the development of a new “data ecosystem” model. The establishment of the Shanghai Data Service Provider Association (SDSPA) in 2022 further advanced collaborative growth in the data industry. Following the release of the " 20 Data Measures", Shanghai has comprehensively advance the data element market, aiming to strengthen, optimize and expand the digital economy.

 

“Hong Kong/Shanghai Co-operation Open Data Challenge 2025” aligns closely with the future five to ten-year macro goals for technological innovation development outlined in Hong Kong's “I&T Development Blueprint”, actively promoting the circulation and application of data. Therefore, establishing a big data innovation platform to serve both Hong Kong and Shanghai and deepening co-operation in the big data industries of the two regions is imperative.

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Co-Creating a Data Industry Platform for the Twin Cities

"Hong Kong/Shanghai Co-operation Open Data Challenge 2025" is jointly advised by the Digital Policy Office (DPO) of the HKSAR Government and the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Data, and curated by B4B (Hong Kong Big Data for Business Challenge), International Data Port (Shanghai Lin-Gang Special Area International Data Port Co.,Ltd.) and SODA (Shanghai Open Data Applications Competition). 

The competition centers on “Exploring the Value of Data and Promoting the Circulation of Open Data” with an international data cooperation perspective and in alignment with the national strategy on data element development, the event further highlights the strategic role of data in the development of digital economy and societal transformation. The competition adheres to national data circulation policies and invites data product submissions centered on open data from Hong Kong and Shanghai communities. The event comprises two components - competition and forum. During the forum, experts will discuss the prospects and roles of twin city collaboration, drawing on national data development strategies and Shanghai’s experience as a foundation.

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Under the "Co-creating a Data Industry Platform for the Two Cities", the competition based on the open data resources of both Shanghai and Hong Kong and the latest urban development needs, continues to search for open data solutions that address societal challenges, with the goal of promoting the use of data through competition.

The event brings together the open data platforms of both cities, including Hong Kong’s data.gov.hk and the Common Spatial Data Infrastructure Portal, as well as Shanghai’s data.sh.gov.cn. Additionally, it incorporates industry datasets from organisations such as the Shanghai Electric Vehicle Public Data Collecting, Monitoring and Research Center and the Shanghai Topease Information Technology Co., Ltd. Through this competition, innovative collaboration models between public and industry datasets are explored, driving joint efforts in building smarter cities and advancing coordinated development between Shanghai and Hong Kong.

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Competition Objectives

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• Facilitate exchange among data science and technology talents via competitions, training, and conferences

• Share development and future of open data in both cities

• Showcase top open data usage cases

• Promote data use for the future digital economy

• Enhance open data collaboration between the cities

• Develop the data commerce ecosystem in both regions