Education Bureau Circular Memorandum No. 158/2020
From Ref.
Date
: Secretary for Education : EDB(EID/ITE)/IT/PRO/189 : 9 October 2020
To : Heads of Government, Aided (including Special Schools), Caput and Direct Subsidy Scheme
Secondary Schools
IT Innovation Lab in Secondary Schools Programme of the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Open for Application
Purpose
The purpose of this circular memorandum is to invite secondary schools to submit applications for funding under the “IT Innovation Lab in Secondary Schools” (IT Innovation Lab) Programme in the 2020/21 school year and enrol for the online briefing sessions to be held by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) in November 2020.
Details
2. The above Programme will be open for application from 1 December 2020. For details of the Programme and application procedures, please refer to the Appendix. The OGCIO will organise two online briefing sessions on 10 and 12 November 2020. Interested schools are invited to enrol for the briefing sessions by 3 November 2020.
Enquiry
3. For enquiries, please contact the IT Innovation Lab One-stop Support Centre of the OGCIO at 2116 9083 or by email to [email protected].
Dr W C HO
for Secretary for Education c.c. Heads of Sections – for information
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Appendix
IT Innovation Lab in Secondary Schools Programme Open for Application
Purpose
The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) invites all government, aided, caput and Direct Subsidy Scheme secondary schools to participate in the
“IT Innovation Lab in Secondary Schools” Programme and submit funding applications for the 2020/21 school year.
Details
2. Under the existing “Enriched IT Programme in Secondary Schools”, OGCIO will launch a three-year “IT Innovation Lab in Secondary Schools” (IT Innovation Lab) Programme in the 2020/21 school year. The IT Innovation Lab Programme aims to cultivate young people’s interest in information technology (IT) during their secondary schooling, enhance their innovative thinking and foster an IT learning atmosphere, thereby promoting local popular science education and expanding the supply of innovation and technology talent and meet the needs of a technology-driven society.
3. The IT Innovation Lab Programme provides funding support of up to $1 million in the three school years from 2020/21 to 2022/23 for each publicly funded secondary school to organise IT-related activities and to procure necessary IT equipment and related professional services to support the activities.
4. The funding can be flexibly used within the three-year funding period in the following two areas –
(a) procuring and maintaining IT equipment and infrastructure (such as server-side and client-side hardware and software, optical fibre and broadband network, cloud servers and storage services) and acquiring relevant professional services (such as cloud services) that meet the needs of the school and its students; and
(b) organising IT-related activities. These activities can take different forms, including workshops, seminars, short courses, local visits, experience activities, as well as participation in local and non-local competitions and organising exhibitions to showcase students’ innovation and achievements. The scope of such activities
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can also be wide-ranging, including code learning, learning about new technologies such as virtual reality (VR) / augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), drones, robotics, etc., the application of IT, digital transformation, visits to multi-national companies in Hong Kong and local start- ups as well as preparation for IT competitions, such as datathons. The funding could also cover operational expenses of these activities (such as maintenance and professional services for learning support) and administrative cost.
The OGCIO will provide schools with professional advice and support in organising suitable activities and procuring relevant equipment. Details are available from the programme website at https://www.it-lab.gov.hk/.
5. The IT Innovation Lab Programme is open for application from 1 December 2020.
Two briefing sessions on the details of the programme and application procedures will be held on 10 and 12 November 2020 from 3 to 4 pm. Principals and teachers of interested schools are welcome to enrol by completing the registration form at https://www.it- lab.gov.hk/en/enrol-202011.php. Successful registration will be notified by email.
Enquiry
6. For enquiries, please contact the IT Innovation Lab One-stop Support Centre of the OGCIO at 2116 9083 or by email to [email protected].
