Presentation skills shine at ICE HKA G&S Communications Competition 2023-24

A proposal for an innovation and technology (I&T) hub that maximises the benefits of technology has won the 2023-24 Communications Competition in Hong Kong.

Hosted and ran by the ICE Hong Kong Association (HKA) Graduates and Students Division (G&S), the competition saw various teams present their proposals and consultation strategies.

The competition, which began in the UK, aims to help young members to develop their skills and techniques for public consultation.

The participants use their presentation skills as they deliver a proposal on a hypothetical civil engineering project at a mock public consultation meeting.

The ICE HKA G&S Communications Competition 2023-24

Participating teams were given a project scenario on the development of an innovation and technology (I&T) hub in Stanfield through land reclamation on two islands.

Island A has an industrial estate, providing employment for residents living at Island B.

The southern part of Island A is a village with an indigenous group, which relies on fishery as their main source of income.

Island B features an international airport, a country park, residential buildings, a shopping mall and a renowned university.

Apart from the development, Island B has a mangrove and unique volcanic rock columns.

To develop an I&T hub, the government of Stanfield invites tenders to submit a proposal for the following items:

• Location of the reclamation area of 300ha and its construction scheme;
• Proposal on inter-island transportation improvement;
• Proposal on improving the living of residents and villagers next to the development area;
• Smart, sustainable and resilient solutions to be adopted; and
• Any facilities with regards to water supply, drainage, sewerage, electricity and gas supply, waste disposal and transport.

The team presentations

After one month of preparation, each team had 15 minutes to present their development proposal and consultation strategies to the judges.

Four teams were shortlisted for the final competition who presented their vision for short-term and long-term developments.

The judges then asked questions after each team’s presentation to test their on-the-spot responses.

The judges were generally impressed by the outstanding communication skills and the in-depth engineering judgement that each team showed.

The teams were generally very effective in promoting their development approaches to the public.

The judges recommended that teams should continue to work closely with different professionals and consult a larger variety of stakeholders had this been an actual development plan.

The winning teams

The winners of the competition were:

• Champion: GPA
• First runner-up: Thai Civil
• Second runner-up: Delft
• Best presenter: Ho Ying Wing from Hermes

The winning team, GPA, aimed to transform Stanfield into an international I&T hub by increasing the efficiency of different industries and maximising revenue via technological revolution.

The team planned to enhance mobility and connectivity by using autonomous vehicles to strengthen inter-island links.

The team proposed to promote the heritage of fishery culture, the unique volcanic rock columns and wetland biodiversity.

GPA also sought to decarbonise by adopting clean and renewable energy for daily operations at Stanfield.

Their development was divided into short, intermediate and long term:

• The short-term goal was to satisfy operational requirements and provide enough capacity for population growth.
• The intermediate goal was to start operations of the Stanfield Technopole (a type of industry cluster), and promote life quality, sustainability, and tourism.
• The long-term goal was similar to the intermediate goal, but with more comprehensive features such as protecting the biosphere and providing public facilities like parks and cycling networks.

ICE HKA G&S extends its gratitude to the judges:

• Chi Foon Leung from the Civil Engineering and Development Department, Hong Kong
• Terry Chan from AECOM Asia Company Limited
• Prof CF Lam from the Hong Kong Green Strategy Alliance

ICE HKA G&S also thanks the organising committee for preparing the project scenario and final competition.