STAR Lab Website – Welcome to STAR Lab website

The “Social Technology and Research Laboratory” (STAR Lab) is a HKU team that aims to develop novel IT technologies for serving the society. We are also interested in “Data Science for Social Good”, researching data-driven approaches that can benefit the public, NGOs, and government. The STAR Lab is now working with over 20 NGOs on family- and elderly- related projects.

What is Data Analytics

Applying big data and artiﬁcial intelligence in behavioral and social science are promising but limited currently. Family is the core in shaping individual behavior and inﬂuencing social capital, particularly in Chinese societies...

Innovation China Third Term Hong Kong Forum

「Live Talk」HINCare: Intelligent Timebanking for Volunteering Services

Prof. Reynold Cheng to Join URBAN TECH WEEK 2024 HONG KONG

Latest News

Professor Reynold CK Cheng recognised by HKU Knowledge Exchange Excellence Awards 2024

28/03/2025

Professor Reynold Cheng was thrilled to receive the Knowledge Exchange (KE) Excellence Awards 2024 as a member of the project “JC JoyAge: Jockey Club Holistic Support Project for Elderly Mental Wellness” (JC JoyAge), promoting mental wellness for Hong Kong’s elderly.

The KE Excellence Awards is a university-level award to recognise outstanding KE accomplishments that have made significant economic, social, environmental or cultural impacts to benefit society.

JC JoyAge is led by Professor Terry Yat-Sang LUM of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Other team members include Professor Samson Shu-Ki TSE, Professor Paul Wai-Ching WONG, Professor Siu-Man NG, Professor Vivian Weiqun LOU, Dr Stephanie Ming-Yin WONG, Dr Dara Kiu-Yi LEUNG and Ms Angie Kwan-Yu SHUM of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the Faculty of Social Sciences; and Professor Wai-Chi CHAN of the Department of Psychiatry at the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine.

JC JoyAge, a territory-wide project launched in 2016, focuses on addressing the problem of elderly depression, enhancing the capacity of professional and non-professional manpower, and raising public awareness of elderly mental health. The project has established a community-based supporting network for senior citizens to improve their resilience in dealing with the challenges of ageing. Over 10,000 older adults at risk of or with depressive symptoms have experienced significant improvements in mental health and quality of life through this project.

Learn more about JC JoyAge at https://research.jcjoyage.hk/

For more photos and videos about the HKU Excellence Awards 2024: https://www4.hku.hk/award/ceremony/media-gallery/129

Professor Reynold CHENG appears in Communications of the ACM Magazine

05/02/2025

Professor Reynold CHENG, Head of Computer Science Division, was featured in the ‘Member News’ of Communications of the ACM Magazine.

Professor Cheng received the ACM Distinguished Membership Award in 2023. He was listed as the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University in 2022, as well as the AI 2000 Most Influential Scholar in Database in 2023 and 2024.

Communications of the ACM is ACM’s flagship magazine and the premier chronicler of computing technologies, covering the latest discoveries, innovations, and research that inspire and influence the field. Each month, Communications brings readers in-depth stories of emerging areas of computer science, new trends in IT, and practical research applications. Read by over 85,000 computing researchers and practitioners worldwide, Communications is recognised as the most trusted and knowledgeable source of industry information for today’s computing professional.

HINCare Honored with the Social Capital Builder Logo Award at the 2024 Social Capital Builder Awards

11/12/2024

Hong Kong , 2024-12-10 — The HINCare has been awarded the prestigious Social Capital Builder Logo Award at the 2024 Social Capital Builder Awards, organized by the Community Investment Shared Fund (CIIF). The CIIF, established in 2002 under the Home Affairs and Youth Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, promotes the development of social capital in the community through a variety of social capital development programs.

Since 2012, the CIIF has been hosting the Social Capital Builder Awards biennially, with the following objectives:

To commend individuals, businesses/institutions, and funded project teams that contribute to the development of social capital in Hong Kong;
To encourage businesses and institutions to develop social capital;
To promote cross-sector collaboration; and
To mainstream social capital.

The HINCare is honored to receive the Social Capital Builder Logo Award. The growth of HINCare has been made possible by the continuous support of the Community Investment Shared Fund and our partners. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all. We are committed to continuing our efforts and leveraging technology to contribute to the community.

About HINCare:

HINCare is a project under The “Social Technology and Research Laboratory” (STAR Lab). We aim to provide a software platform to suggest and match potential helpers from social network and recommend them to the elderly care organizations involved.

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