FINTECH MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT IN ASIA-PACIFIC FINANCIAL CENTERS WITH A FOCUS ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND BIG DATA PROFESSIONALS

53 52 Policy Recommendations 4. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS Hong Kong has an opportunity to leverage its highly educated workforce to support the city’s standing as a global financial center and as an Asia’s world city. The finance industry has historically played an important role in the economy of Hong Kong, contributing 21.2% of GDP in 2019 and providing ample employment opportunities to workers in various IT-related fields. Other economic sectors including import/export, wholesale and retail trades, and social and personal services are also expected to see annual growth in the workforce of 2.5% till 2027. This section outlines six key policy recommendations for the Hong Kong Government. These steps will enhance the readiness of Hong Kong’s financial industry for future challenges and keep it on a healthy growth trajectory. 1. The Hong Kong Government should better understand the existing and anticipated talent gap for AI and big data technologies in the financial services sector In the wake of the ongoing pandemic and rapidly evolving market, the financial industry across Asia Pacific including Hong Kong has been adopting AI and big data technologies to create and deliver value to its customers. Talent development, in the areas of AI and big data is imperative for successfully deploying these technologies in the finance sector. A shortage of AI and big data talent poses the greatest challenge to the digitalization of financial services. It is vital for major stakeholders including the government, education institutions and financial market participants to better understand the supply and demand of the relevant AI talent and identify any gaps for formulating and implementing suitable policy interventions. 2. Increasing the supply of AI and big data talent Talent availability is an extremely important consideration for successful adoption of AI and big data technologies in the finance sector. Hong Kong’s financial industry needs a continuous supply of manpower that is adequately skilled in all the three relevant skills – AI, big data and finance. In addition to the existing generalized policy framework for developing workforce in STEM and IT at the school and higher education levels, targeted policies for the training of manpower in AI, big data and finance are required. This will be applicable to undergraduate and postgraduate programs to ensure that there is a healthy balance between seats available to students and the quality of instructions provided. Furthermore, continued education programs for working professionals who are seeking to upskill should be made readily available. The Hong Kong Government may, therefore, consider implementing policies to encourage financial firms to collaborate with the city’s world class knowledge infrastructure – universities and other institutes – to develop and upskill their internal talent so that it can become ready to assume technical posts related to AI and big data within enterprises.