Almost half (49%) of AI enterprises in Hong Kong are having a hard time recruiting AI-equipped talents, according to the Hong Kong Productivity Council’s (HKPC) "Hong Kong AI Industry Development Study".
Major challenges
One of the major challenges in the AI industry is recruiting talents who are equipped with technical skills. Nearly half(49%) are having difficulties recruiting, while some companies reduced their hires of technical talent in Hong Kong due to high operating costs (77%) and lack of relevant technical skills (41%).
Aside from recruitment difficulties, the A industry in Hong Kong also reported insufficient processing power with 44% of enterprises having difficulties securing enough processing power. A huge chunk (71%) resort to cloud computing services, HPC data centres in the Mainland (31%), and data centres overseas (26%).
Meanwhile, 44% struggle in collecting data, with 16% saying it takes a long time to collect sufficient data, and 8% reporting not having relevant data
Foster an AI Talent Pool
HKPC recommends popularizing AI education and promoting Hong Kong as “The Most Internationally Livable City for AI Talent."
Edmond Lai, chief digital officer of HKPC, said, "As a scientific research institution, HKPC has strong experience in AI applications and practical capabilities in developing AI. We are committed to promoting the development of the AI industry and have successfully developed relevant technologies as we assist enterprises in upgrading and transforming their businesses."