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The conference will focus on exploring the evolving landscape of work in the face of technological disruptions and the necessary adaptations in social policies to address these challenges. Key topics of discussion will include enhanced labor protections in an automated environment, strategies to combat unemployment in the era of AI, and the pivotal role of human capital development in maintaining economic competitiveness.

The Asia-Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (APO) recently released a comparative country study entitled “Public-private mix for continuity of care for older persons: study of select countries in the Asia Pacific region”. Professor Alex Jingwei He, Associate Professor of the Division of Public Policy and Acting Director of the Institute for Public Policy, is a key member of the multinational interdisciplinary research consortium. In collaboration with prominent scholars in India, South Korea, and Mainland China, Professor He has been engaged in this comparative health policy research since 2021.

The “One Hour for Young Talents” Winter 2024 Workshop will be jointly organized by the China Public Administration Review (C-PAR), along with the Institute for Public Policy and the Division of Public Policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Format
Each selected paper will be allotted a one-hour independent discussion session. An invited expert will introduce the paper from the reader's perspective and provide in-depth commentary from an expert's viewpoint. The author will then respond to the expert's comments, followed by an in-depth discussion of the selected paper between the author, the invited expert, and the workshop participants. The workshop will be conducted in person and will accept no more than eight papers.

Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council recently announced the results of major research grant applications of 2024/2025. Professor Kira Matus and Professor Alex Jingwei He’s research proposals are funded by the General Research Fund (GRF). Entitled “Can we regulate our way to a circular economy? A study of the relationship between extended producer responsibility regulation and sustainable innovation in the textile industry” and “Local Government Innovation under Political Recentralization in Contemporary China: A Two-Stage Sequential Study”, these two major projects represent academic excellence of IPP researchers.

Generative AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, have the potential to revolutionize higher education and scientific research. They offer new ways of approaching teaching, learning, and discovery. However, this transformative potential also brings with it important policy considerations that must be addressed. Policy makers and researchers must recognize the critical societal and policy challenges posed by generative AI and work to mitigate risks while maximizing benefits.

The theme, "Integrating Health and Social Care Services for the Elderly in Asia," is born out of the pressing need to address the challenges faced by our aging populations. In many East Asian societies, the prevalence of multi-morbidity of the elderly population and the fragmentation of care provision systems have created complex policy dilemmas, impeding the improvement of elderly service. However, this adversity has also sparked innovation, leading to the emergence of remarkable care models in the region.

Xun Wu, Alex Jingwei He, Yan Xu, Pengyu Zhu

Institute for Public Policy, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Commissioned by the Greater Bay Area Association of Academicians

The Stanford World’s Top 2% Most Cited Scholars ranking (2023) was released in early October 2023. Professor Alex Jingwei He, Associate Professor of PPOL and Acting Director of IPP, has been ranked 413 out of 22449 scholars worldwide in the field of Political Science and Public Administration based on 2022 single-year impact.

In September 2023, the University Grants Committee (UGC) launched a series of publicity in Sing Tao Daily on how researchers in local public universities generate real-world impact through academic research. This series showcases a selection of research impact cases rated 4-star (internationally outstanding) in Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2020. Professor Alex Jingwei He, Associate Professor of PPOL and Acting Director of the Institute for Public Policy, HKUST was featured in this official coverage, representing the discipline of public policy and administration.

The theme of this conference is inspired by the recent research of a consortium funded by the Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (APO) of the World Health Organization, in which Prof Alex He is a member. Integrating various care sectors for the vast elderly population has become an increasingly important policy issue in many East Asian societies, in light of increasing multi-morbidity and fragmentation of the care provision systems.

A team of policy researchers from the Institute of Public Policy at HKUST undertakes a major policy research project commissioned by the Greater Bay Area Association of Academicians. Entitled Building a World-Class Innovation District in the Northern Metropolis: Policy Innovation, Institutional Design, and Capacity Building, this project seeks to identify innovative approaches to build the Northern Metropolis—Hong Kong’s biggest development plan in the past five decades—and to accelerate its development in innovation and technology. The team consists of Prof Jingwei Alex HE (PI), Prof Xun WU (Co-PI), Prof Yan XU (Co-I), and Prof Pengyu Zhu (Co-I). A mid-term report was officially released in a high-profile policy consultation forum in Hong Kong Science Park on August 3 2023.

This special issue at Journal of Asian Public Policy (JAPP) sincerely invites scholars and practitioners to reflect upon the implications of ChatGPT and generative AI in general for the higher education sector, both in terms of teaching & learning and research. We encourage contributors to write on one or two of the topics below. Both normative discussions and empirical studies are welcome. We expect papers to have an empirical link to Asia or offer policy implications for this region.

Jointly supported by IPP and the Centre for Education Innovation (CEI) of HKUST