Gov’t to attract global science and technology researchers to Macau

The Internet+ Smart City Summit 2019 officially opened yesterday morning. The two-day summit includes series of talks by academics and industry leaders, such as executives from Xiaomi and Tencent, as well as technicians from Huawei and Alibaba.

Dr. Ma Chi Ngai, president of the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) which was the co-organizer of the summit, disclosed that the fund and the University of Macau (UM) were to commence a subsidization program aiming to attract researchers to Macau.

“The two-year program aims to attract post-doctorate candidates from the world’s top 200 institutions to Macau to research in related fields. They will be offered a subsidy of MOP40,000 per month within their service period,” Ma said.

The response was positive too, with applications far outnumbering the first phase quota of 50 seats. However, whether those researchers would, or could, stay in Macau after their services end would be at the discretion of their respective employing entities.

Rector Yonghua Song of UM was also officiating at the opening ceremony. When asked about the university’s efforts in nurturing science and technology professionals, Song said, “UM is to offer a master’s program in chemistry with a specialization in big data, which will involve faculties from the computer, business, social science, and health science programs.”

He also disclosed that UM is offering a bachelor’s degree in big data. The university also has a program at the Faculty of Business Administration on commercial intelligence and data analysis.

Ma further disclosed that a uniform database is being built that will eventually include all data collected from all government departments. A third-party entity, led by UM, has been commissioned to evaluate the efficiency of the implementation of the smart city concept in Macau.

The FDCT has also begun its work with the Talent Development Commission to evaluate Macau’s human resources in the information technology industry. Staff reporter