The “Musketeers Foundation Institute of Data Science” (the Institute)
was established at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) with a
HK$150 million grant from a local foundation,
marking a key milestone in the University’s innovation and technological development. The Institute will be based at the Tech Landmark,
the HKU InnoTech initiative’s headquarters.
The Institute will serve as the command center,
with branches, satellite centers, labs, and institutes throughout the Mainland,
particularly in the Greater Bay Area and the Lok Ma Chau Loop,
to facilitate collaborations with local partners in industry,
business, government, and other research institutions.
The goal is to create a world-class institute that
will attract and develop the greatest minds from around the world.
According to one of the foundation’s founders,
technology will play a significant role in the future.
With all of the professionals and cross-disciplinary cooperation, the Institute is expected to aid in the resolution of many global issues.
The Institute will be a world-class data science hub,
situated in Hong Kong and connected to the University’s Shenzhen Campus in the Greater Bay Area,
according to the Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) and Director of The Institute.
The Institute’s research focus in the coming years will be
shaped by the three fields of
Fundamental Data Science, Explainable AI, and
Human-Machine Interactions, and Smart Society.
The Institute is dedicated to achieving excellence
in key strategic research areas such as:
Data Science Fundamentals
The Institute will create new approaches for analyzing enormous amounts of data in order to discover new patterns, linkages,
or correlations, which will lead to the formulation of hypotheses and
new scientific discoveries and findings.
The Institute’s “brain” will be formed by a core team of data scientists
with backgrounds in computer science, mathematics, statistics,
and industrial engineering.
Strategic research clusters will be established across disciplines,
using the capabilities of multiple Faculties to address complex and data-driven problems, thanks to the capacity of these core data scientists.
AI and Human-Machine Interactions That Can Be Explained
Artificial intelligence (AI) is pervasive in our daily lives,’
affecting industries as diverse as healthcare, education,
manufacturing, law, engineering, and finance.
AI-enabled technologies aid in the making of forecasts and
judgments that have a significant impact on people’s lives and well-being.
Why does an artificial intelligence system make a particular forecast or decision?
Why should we put our faith in artificial intelligence?
What can the AI system do if it makes a mistake?
Explainable AI tries to explain how AI systems make black box judgments,
allowing us to better grasp the methods and models involved in making decisions.
This will allow us to pinpoint the root of an
AI system’s error in a real-world setting and prevent future errors.
Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area
are ideal locations for conducting smart society research.
By integrating information and communication technology (ICT),
the Internet of things (IoT), and citizen participation,
current data science research by HKU’s Faculties of Architecture,
Dentistry, Education, Engineering, Medicine,
and Social Sciences could be leveraged to provide
a healthy and sustainable society ecosystem.
The following are some of the key areas that will be developed:
1. Digital economies, communities, and cities: long-term development
2. Complex civilizations’ resilience and reaction to 21st-century problems; and
3. Hard and soft infrastructures for smart societies: data systems and strategies
