Operations Review -
Trading Services
Mr Cheung Yuen-fong, JP
Deputy Director/
Trading Services, EMSD
Trading Services, EMSD
The Electrical and Mechanical Services Trading Fund recorded healthy business and sustained growth in 2021/22. The total revenue rose to HK$8,719 million, as compared with HK$8,578 million in 2020/21, representing an increase of about 1.6%. The return on revenue remained stable at 2.9%, which was in line with our cost recovery principle to help client departments retain funding to optimise value for the public.
This year also saw the commissioning of many new venues, including the common facilities in Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point, the Tsing Yi Vehicle Examination Complex and the Tuen Mun Siu Lun Government Complex, bringing new business. A multitude of forthcoming new government venues and infrastructure projects will be the source of continuous business growth for the EMSTF, notable examples being the HA’s two Ten-year Hospital Development Plans, the Government Data Centre Complex and the new Immigration Headquarters.
It is encouraging to note that staff satisfaction was boosted in the epidemic. In the latest 2021 Staff Satisfaction Survey, we got a staff satisfaction level of 7.6 on a scale of 10, with a 50% response rate, both record highs. Many colleagues have been called upon since 2020 to perform additional urgent duties such as converting general wards and community venues into negative pressure facilities, providing support to Community Vaccination Centres and “restriction-testing declaration” (RTD) operations. We believe these tasks have given staff great job satisfaction as they were directly helping the public while earning clients’ appreciation.
As the Innovation Facilitator of the Government, we are delighted to report again numerous innovation and technology (I&T) awards garnered during the year, most notable being the I&T projects of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department winning 19 medals, including five gold, 13 silver and one bronze medals, at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva 2022. Our Regional Digital Control Centre and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Platform project won a gold award in the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2021, while various I&T projects of the EMSTF received awards in the “Leading Towards Robotics Technologies” Innovation Competition and the City I&T Grand Challenge 2021.
Our efforts to nurture talent received recognition too. For example, our Technician Training Scheme has won a silver award and four special awards in the Award for Excellence in Training and Development 2021 organised by the Hong Kong Management Association.
Second, greater agility and collaboration among the EMSTF staff were achieved amid the anti-epidemic work. A good example was our support to the Government on the ventilation assessment at government schools and dine-in restaurants with cluster outbreaks. We recommended improvement measures, helped draw up ventilation guidelines for industry operators, and provided advice to the Working Group on Air Change or Air Purifiers in Catering Premises. Our team also supported the conversion of some government venues into Community Isolation Facilities and holding centres. The efficiency and team spirit of our staff were admirable.
The third insight is that we are becoming an increasingly agile organisation capable of responding effectively to unforeseen challenges, as demonstrated by our colleagues’ performance in anti-epidemic work. During the fifth wave when many staff members were infected with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), our team still worked whole-heartedly on urgent improvement works in hospitals, RTD operations and other anti-epidemic tasks, undaunted by the severe epidemic. The team’s performance is a sign of success in our cultural change efforts in recent years, with a focus on promoting greater transparency and faster communication to help staff make informed decisions.
A highlight is our five Divisional Regional Digital Control Centres (RDCCs) which have become fully operational with functions in equipment monitoring, alarm and fault response and energy management for client facilities. Our next goal is to integrate these RDCCs into an EMSD Departmental Digital Control Centre. Some Strategic Business Units have also started using semantic AI to optimise energy efficiency in buildings. We are working with the Guangdong Provincial Association for Science and Technology and Guangdong Productivity Centre to explore about jointly setting up a “E&M AI Lab” in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to advance and promote the technology.
To build an excellent work team, we have continued to hold online training programmes for technician trainees jointly with our Guangzhou training partners during the epidemic. Meanwhile, to foster knowledge and experience sharing, the EMSTF’s Special Duty Units as well as our Departmental Centres of Excellence have organised sharing sessions to provide advanced training to staff in specific disciplines.
The third strategy about adopting I&T has seen fruitful results, as evidenced by the prestigious technology awards won as well as various projects on trial run in government venues. We endeavoured to collaborate with many clients to help improve their public services, ranging from introducing smart initiatives to drainage, correctional and customs services to setting up smart classrooms equipped with I&T solutions to optimise energy efficiency. Adopting more I&T and smart E&M solutions will be our important line in the next Five-year Strategic Plan, especially in the areas of smart city development and decarbonisation, so that we can capitalise on the essential power of I&T.
Our community engagement encompassed volunteer services for the elderly and the needy by our ambassadors, and outreach visits by our mascots to kindergartens and primary schools. We participated in the Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit in November 2021 to showcase the adoption of robotics in residential care homes for the elderly for better care of the elderly.
The EMSTF will foster closer collaboration with our partners in the Mainland and overseas on talent development and I&T application. We will start our newly revitalised Technician Training Scheme in 2022/23, with the aim of nurturing young talent for the Department and the industry.
In summing up, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to all our colleagues for their services and our clients for their trust. The Executive Board and policy bureaux have been most supportive, while the trade associations and partners, professional bodies, universities and academics, and training and research institutions have given us staunch support as always. We owe them a debt of gratitude. Heartfelt appreciation also goes to our co-operation partners in Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas for their continuous support. We look forward to even closer collaboration once the epidemic is over.
This column will be my last for this publication. I have been most privileged in having the opportunity to serve in the EMSD since the 1980s and in the EMSTF in 1996 to 1998 and 2003 to 2005, before re-joining it in 2016. Over the years, my work has taken me to help Hong Kong tackle many challenges including SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and COVID-19. I am also grateful for having played a role in promoting new technologies such as district cooling, retro-commissioning and semantic AI in Hong Kong for greater energy efficiency and decarbonisation and for working with a talented team committed to public services.
With support from all stakeholders, we look forward to another fruitful year in 2022/23.
Cheung Yuen-fong
OPERATION HIGHLIGHTS
Thanks to our colleagues’ excellent work, we have successfully renewed all existing Service Level Agreements due for expiry in 2021/22, such as those with the Education Bureau, Judiciary and Independent Commission Against Corruption. Through open tender, we also won three substantial contracts of the Hospital Authority (HA) for the provision of operation and maintenance services for electrical, mechanical, air-conditioning and building services systems, as well as maintenance services for medical and operating theatre equipment respectively, demonstrating our competitiveness.This year also saw the commissioning of many new venues, including the common facilities in Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point, the Tsing Yi Vehicle Examination Complex and the Tuen Mun Siu Lun Government Complex, bringing new business. A multitude of forthcoming new government venues and infrastructure projects will be the source of continuous business growth for the EMSTF, notable examples being the HA’s two Ten-year Hospital Development Plans, the Government Data Centre Complex and the new Immigration Headquarters.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECOGNITION
We celebrated the EMSTF’s 25th anniversary in 2021 under the theme of “Co-innovate and Co-create Our Future”, culminating in a ceremony in August 2021 officiated by the Chief Secretary for Administration. The silver jubilee not only marked a milestone in the EMSTF’s success in becoming a competitive, high-quality and forward-looking E&M engineering service provider with strong support from its clients, but also testified to the commitment of generations of the EMSTF colleagues.It is encouraging to note that staff satisfaction was boosted in the epidemic. In the latest 2021 Staff Satisfaction Survey, we got a staff satisfaction level of 7.6 on a scale of 10, with a 50% response rate, both record highs. Many colleagues have been called upon since 2020 to perform additional urgent duties such as converting general wards and community venues into negative pressure facilities, providing support to Community Vaccination Centres and “restriction-testing declaration” (RTD) operations. We believe these tasks have given staff great job satisfaction as they were directly helping the public while earning clients’ appreciation.
As the Innovation Facilitator of the Government, we are delighted to report again numerous innovation and technology (I&T) awards garnered during the year, most notable being the I&T projects of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department winning 19 medals, including five gold, 13 silver and one bronze medals, at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva 2022. Our Regional Digital Control Centre and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Platform project won a gold award in the Hong Kong ICT Awards 2021, while various I&T projects of the EMSTF received awards in the “Leading Towards Robotics Technologies” Innovation Competition and the City I&T Grand Challenge 2021.
Our efforts to nurture talent received recognition too. For example, our Technician Training Scheme has won a silver award and four special awards in the Award for Excellence in Training and Development 2021 organised by the Hong Kong Management Association.
INSIGHTS FROM FIGHTING THE EPIDEMIC
The anti-epidemic work in the past two years has given us valuable insights. First, we grasped the importance of using I&T, be it the deployment of cleaning and disinfection robots or more sophisticated solutions such as the integrated Fridge Monitoring System at all Community Vaccination Centres to ensure that vaccines are stored at the right temperature.Second, greater agility and collaboration among the EMSTF staff were achieved amid the anti-epidemic work. A good example was our support to the Government on the ventilation assessment at government schools and dine-in restaurants with cluster outbreaks. We recommended improvement measures, helped draw up ventilation guidelines for industry operators, and provided advice to the Working Group on Air Change or Air Purifiers in Catering Premises. Our team also supported the conversion of some government venues into Community Isolation Facilities and holding centres. The efficiency and team spirit of our staff were admirable.
The third insight is that we are becoming an increasingly agile organisation capable of responding effectively to unforeseen challenges, as demonstrated by our colleagues’ performance in anti-epidemic work. During the fifth wave when many staff members were infected with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), our team still worked whole-heartedly on urgent improvement works in hospitals, RTD operations and other anti-epidemic tasks, undaunted by the severe epidemic. The team’s performance is a sign of success in our cultural change efforts in recent years, with a focus on promoting greater transparency and faster communication to help staff make informed decisions.
SECOND FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN NEAR COMPLETION
2021/22 was the fourth year of the implementation of the EMSTF’s second Five-year Strategic Plan which aims to achieve “E&M 2.0” with the three strategies of “digitisation of E&M assets”, “establishing an excellent work team”, and “adoption of I&T”. Good progress was made during the year.A highlight is our five Divisional Regional Digital Control Centres (RDCCs) which have become fully operational with functions in equipment monitoring, alarm and fault response and energy management for client facilities. Our next goal is to integrate these RDCCs into an EMSD Departmental Digital Control Centre. Some Strategic Business Units have also started using semantic AI to optimise energy efficiency in buildings. We are working with the Guangdong Provincial Association for Science and Technology and Guangdong Productivity Centre to explore about jointly setting up a “E&M AI Lab” in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to advance and promote the technology.
To build an excellent work team, we have continued to hold online training programmes for technician trainees jointly with our Guangzhou training partners during the epidemic. Meanwhile, to foster knowledge and experience sharing, the EMSTF’s Special Duty Units as well as our Departmental Centres of Excellence have organised sharing sessions to provide advanced training to staff in specific disciplines.
The third strategy about adopting I&T has seen fruitful results, as evidenced by the prestigious technology awards won as well as various projects on trial run in government venues. We endeavoured to collaborate with many clients to help improve their public services, ranging from introducing smart initiatives to drainage, correctional and customs services to setting up smart classrooms equipped with I&T solutions to optimise energy efficiency. Adopting more I&T and smart E&M solutions will be our important line in the next Five-year Strategic Plan, especially in the areas of smart city development and decarbonisation, so that we can capitalise on the essential power of I&T.
ENGAGING WITH CLIENTS, E&M TRADE AND COMMUNITY
The EMSTF takes its corporate social responsibilities seriously, as seen in our continued engagement with our clients and trade through seminars, symposium and visits. During the year, we also had our two mascots, Witty Bear and KnowBot actively involved in our engagement activities. Social media were used more often to make communication faster, more effective and transparent.Our community engagement encompassed volunteer services for the elderly and the needy by our ambassadors, and outreach visits by our mascots to kindergartens and primary schools. We participated in the Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit in November 2021 to showcase the adoption of robotics in residential care homes for the elderly for better care of the elderly.
OUTLOOK FOR 2022/23
In 2022/23, we shall make the most of the final year in the second Five-year Strategic Plan to attain all goals. We shall also begin formulating the third Five-year Strategic Plan, which will commence in 2023/24, and solicit staff input. We are confident that the current Plan will be completed on time, which will lay a solid foundation for the third Plan.The EMSTF will foster closer collaboration with our partners in the Mainland and overseas on talent development and I&T application. We will start our newly revitalised Technician Training Scheme in 2022/23, with the aim of nurturing young talent for the Department and the industry.
In summing up, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to all our colleagues for their services and our clients for their trust. The Executive Board and policy bureaux have been most supportive, while the trade associations and partners, professional bodies, universities and academics, and training and research institutions have given us staunch support as always. We owe them a debt of gratitude. Heartfelt appreciation also goes to our co-operation partners in Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas for their continuous support. We look forward to even closer collaboration once the epidemic is over.
This column will be my last for this publication. I have been most privileged in having the opportunity to serve in the EMSD since the 1980s and in the EMSTF in 1996 to 1998 and 2003 to 2005, before re-joining it in 2016. Over the years, my work has taken me to help Hong Kong tackle many challenges including SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and COVID-19. I am also grateful for having played a role in promoting new technologies such as district cooling, retro-commissioning and semantic AI in Hong Kong for greater energy efficiency and decarbonisation and for working with a talented team committed to public services.
With support from all stakeholders, we look forward to another fruitful year in 2022/23.
Cheung Yuen-fong
Deputy Director/Trading Services, EMSD
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