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HK’s AI crowd management for more efficient services

A Hong Kong start-up is reportedly helping universities and railway operators in Hong Kong better manage their crowds as private businesses and the government in the former British colony step up their use of artificial intelligence.

The City University of Hong Kong is deploying the company’s EdgeAI system, which runs algorithms on an industrial computer to process images of people and objects, to count the number of students and teachers on campus to provide insights into crowd flow at major entrances and exits, according to the firm’s Founder and Managing Director.

The technology is used in the city’s subway stations to provide an estimate of passenger waiting times during peak hours, while local gas companies deploy the AI system to detect entries to remote sites as well as leaks or rust on gas pipes that need repair.

The start-up was founded in 2009 as a software development firm for public organizations and international brands, but its head noticed saw the increasing potential in the application of AI. Thus, the AI branch was founded two years ago to focus on using perception-based AI technology to help businesses detect people and various objects.

The relevance of similar start-ups is a result of Hong Kong’s increasing adoption of AI in businesses and public organizations. This is because the government is working to encourage innovation and build a world-class smart city in mobility, living, environment, public service, and other fields.

The government saw the usefulness of the start-up’s crowd-counting technology after the 1 July protest march in Hong Kong. Teaming up with a social sciences professor at Hong Kong University, and a geography researcher from Texas State University, the start-up set up three iPad cameras on Percival Street in Causeway Bay and four more on Arsenal Street in Wan Chai.

Using the technique of object identification, the system tracks protesters when they appear within the camera frame and counts them as they cross a counting line. One camera covered three lanes and Wong adjusted the locations of the other cameras to avoid overlaps. The algorithm program ran directly on the iPads rather on the company’s industrial computer.

The project concluded that 265,000 people joined the protest on 1 July, while organizers said 550,000 people marched and the police estimated it was 190,000.

The takeaway is that AI is more objective and accurate than manual counting. The numbers generated merely serve as a reference to the public. It is hoped that the AI can be trained to run better on smartphones and enable accurate counting through this project.

Another AI counting project is being developed for when the Civil Human Rights Front plans another protest march from Causeway Bay to Admiralty.

Since June 2019, Hong Kong has seen a series of record-breaking protests as locals marched against an extradition bill proposed by the Hong Kong government that would have allowed the transfer of suspects to jurisdictions with which Hong Kong has no extradition agreement, including mainland China.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive declared the highly unpopular bill to be “dead.” However, protesters continue to demand a total withdrawal of the bill and for the CE to step down.

The city’s tech-savvy protesters have taken extra precautions to hide their identities during marches by ditching personalized metro cards, switching to one of the most encrypted messaging apps available, wearing masks and goggles, and refraining from posting selfies on social media in case they can be identified by law enforcement.

It was noted that the aforementioned AI project carefully handles privacy issues as it blurs any faces that are captured and deletes all data afterwards.

Project managers have stated that they have been extremely careful in regards to the technology deployed. No facial recognition tech was used and, in fact, the tech deliberately shoots images from the back and does not share any of the videos with the third-party volunteers. The objective is to merely count for a number.

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Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

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SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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