The Innovation and Technology Commission, on 1 May, announced that the Distance Business Programme under the Anti-epidemic Fund of the Government will accept applications from information technology (IT) service providers to enroll for the IT Service Providers Reference List from 4 May.
“To support enterprises to continue their business and services during the epidemic, the Programme provides funding support through fast-track processing for enterprises to adopt IT solutions for developing distance business. We believe various sectors in Hong Kong will benefit from the Programme,” a spokesman for the Commission said.
Under the Programme, for each IT solution and the relevant training expenses for the employees, the funding ceiling is $100,000. Each enterprise may receive total funding of up to $300,000 to undertake a project to be completed within six months.
The Programme covers 12 IT categories relating to distance business as follows:
- Online business;
- Online order taking and delivery, and smart self-service systems;
- Online customer services and engagement;
- Digital customer experience enhancement;
- Digital payment/mobile point of sale;
- Online/cloud-based financial management systems;
- Online/cloud-based human resources management systems;
- Remote document management, cloud storage and remote access services;
- Virtual meeting and conference tools;
- Virtual team management and communications;
- Cybersecurity solutions; and
- Other online/custom-built/cloud-based business support systems.
The Programme will provide an IT Service Providers Reference List to offer relevant market information for enterprises’ reference. To enrol for the Reference List, a service provider should possess a valid Business Registration Certificate and technical capability and experience relating to the IT solution categories above.
For more information, please visit https://www.hkpc.org/en/distance-business-programme.