The University of Hong Kong (HKU) announces the establishment of the new School of Computing and Data Science (CDS) to consolidate and advance education and research across the fields of computing and data science, artificial intelligence (AI), statistical decision sciences, fintech, and actuarial science.

The new School of CDS combines the Department of Computer Science from the Faculty of Engineering and Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science from the Faculty of Science. It aims to take a truly integrated approach to reform these related academic disciplines, as well as foster multidisciplinary research collaboration within the University and beyond.

Professor Richard WONG, Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, said: “The rapid advancements in computing technology, data science, and artificial intelligence have the potential to offer groundbreaking solutions to numerous industrial, economic, and societal challenges. It is anticipated that the demand for new and top-tier talent in these fields will rise significantly in the future. Consequently, reforming education and fundamental research in computing and data science has become a priority and a trend among top universities worldwide. This initiative also aligns well with the strategic scientific and technological plans of Hong Kong and the nation. The University of Hong Kong is determined to seize this opportunity and tackle the associated challenges. By establishing the School of Computing and Data Science, HKU aims to create synergies that will position it as a leader in transforming Hong Kong into an international hub for education and research in computing and data science.”

Professor Yi MA, Chair Professor of Artificial Intelligence, has been appointed the inaugural Director of the School of CDS. “By converging computing, data science, and statistics, the School of CDS aims to foster a vibrant academic community that drives innovative education, promotes multidisciplinary research, and facilitates technological innovation. It will transform education in computer science, data science, and artificial intelligence, incubating future leaders who are well-versed in these new knowledge and technology,” said Professor Ma.

Formally established on 1 July 2024, the School of CDS will admit students directly starting from the academic year 2025-26, offering eight undergraduate programmes in total. Besides revamping its flagship programme, the Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science, the School plans to introduce a new programme, the Bachelor of Engineering in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, which is designed to be a standalone or AI+X double degree programme. Furthermore, the School of CDS will be the home department to offer AI literacy micro-credentials for all incoming HKU undergraduate students from 2025/26. The School will also offer three new professional degrees, namely the Bachelor of Science in Decision Analytics, Risk Management, and Statistics programmes respectively. Current undergraduate students reading the existing programmes will continue their studies without being affected by the transition.

For postgraduate education, new programmes will be designed in close collaboration with industry partners to cater to market needs.

To mark the establishment of the School of CDS, an opening ceremony will be held on October 24 (Thursday). The ceremony will be officiated by esteemed guests, followed by keynote lectures featuring distinguished speakers.

More details can be viewed: https://www.hku.hk/press/news_detail_27754.html

We are excited to share that our esteemed Project Coordinator, Prof. Reynold, was recently invited to give a live radio Interview on Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) for a program called 「未來•無限」. The broadcast is scheduled to air on September 21, 2024.

During the talk, Prof. Reynold elaborated on the key aspects of the Jockey Club Smart Family Fun Project and HINCare Project, the objectives, and how they stands to benefit the public. He also shared insights on the project’s progress and future plans, bringing our work into the spotlight.

We are proud to have Prof. Reynold leading our project and grateful for the recognition that his RTHK appearance has brought to our mission.

To listen to Prof. Reynold’s enlightening talk, please visit the following link:

https://www.rthk.hk/radio/radio1/programme/infinitefuture

We are delighted to announce that our project, “GIVE: Generic and Intelligent Volunteering for Supportive Communities,” has been chosen by the Faculty of Engineering for the Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Award 2024. This marks the second time our project has earned this esteemed recognition, and we are incredibly proud of this accomplishment.

Our dedicated team has worked relentlessly to create and refine HINCare, an innovative platform that connects volunteers with communities in need. We have made a significant impact in the lives of countless individuals, and it is truly an honor to have our efforts acknowledged in this manner. In addition to the accolade, we are also thrilled to receive a monetary award of $100,000 to support further KE work. This funding will help us enhance and expand Timebanking Platform, ultimately enabling us to reach and support even more communities.

We are deeply grateful for this recognition, and we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed to the project. As we continue our work, we remain committed to making a lasting, positive impact on society. Thank you once again for your support, and congratulations to all those involved in this remarkable achievement.

More details can be viewed: https://www.ke.hku.hk/spotlight/faculty-knowledge-exchange-awards-2024

Prof. Reynold Cheng was humbled to be recognized as an Outstanding Research Student Supervisor and Best Teacher in the same year (2023-24). Prof. Cheng was very proud of his talented students and learned so much from them. He would like to thank the HKU Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science Department for the full support.

Little Bluebridge Foundation recently donated HK$15 million to HINCare to further develop and enhance volunteering services. HINCare is a project developed by Professor Reynold C.K. Cheng from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). It is a state-of-the-art platform which uses AI technologies to support volunteering among multiple NGOs and charity organisations. It employs timebanking, which allows a volunteer to use a user-friendly app to earn “time credits” based on the time he/she spent on a volunteering task; the time credits can be viewed and used in the app to acquire other services or goods. Another salient feature of HINCare is that it is based on a cloud-based subscription model, in which an organisation can set up its timebanking service mode easily in the cloud platform, without going through the hassles of developing a new app.

Moreover, HINCare has a built-in heterogeneous information network (HIN), describing the relationship between helpers and service recipients. Based on the HIN, Professor Cheng’s research team develops novel recommender system algorithms, in order to find the most appreciated helpers for service recipients. Besides investigating HIN analytics problems, the team examines scalable algorithms for finding interesting patterns from billion-node graphs and studies large probabilistic and crowdsourcing databases. The research has been published in top databases and AI conferences. Professor Cheng has also been awarded ACM Distinguished membership, HKU Outstanding Research Supervisor Award in 2022, AI 2000 Most Influential Scholar in 2023 & 2024 and World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University in 2022.

18 NGOs are using the HINCare system currently. They reflected that HINCare alleviates them from huge amounts of paperwork and resources so that they can focus on helping people in need. The system has served more than 10,000 users, accumulating 10 million minutes of time credits, and cultivating a social capital of HK$7 million. The HINCare project has received five awards in the past four years, including two Hong Kong ICT Awards in 2021 & 2023, two Asia Smart Apps awards in 2020 & 2021, and HKU Knowledge Exchange Award (Engineering) in 2021.

HINCare is a cloud-based platform that uses AI to support volunteering among multiple organisations. Thanks to the generous donation of the Little Bluebridge Foundation, we will continue to improve HINCare and serve more NGOs and companies in the next five years,” said Professor Cheng. The team plans to strengthen HINCare to promote volunteering activities to citizens and engage other companies in timebanking, in order to create a mutual-help culture in the community.

Details about HINCare: https://hincare.hku.hk

More details can be viewed at HKU press release: https://www.hku.hk/press/press-releases/detail/27453.html