Distance Business ( D-Biz) Programme under the Anti-epidemic Fund

The novel coronavirus epidemic has brought exceptional challenges to Hong Kong. The Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W. Yang, announced that the Innovation and Technology Bureau will allocate HKD$500 million to launch a Distance Business ( D-Biz) Programme Anti-epidemic Fund. In order to support local enterprises to continue their business and services through adoption of IT solutions during the epidemic. 

Overview and Objectives

Remote working or service has become a new trend against the backdrop of the epidemic. The Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) has launched the D-Biz Programme to support enterprises through the adoption of IT solutions. The Hong Kong Productivity Council is appointed as the Secretariat. 

Funding Amount

The D-Biz Programme will provide 100% funding support to qualified enterprises, subject to a cap of HK$100,000 per IT solution (related training expenses to be capped at 10% of solution cost) and HK$300,000 per enterprise. An initial payment of 30% of the approved funding amount is payable to a designated bank account after the application has been approved.

Funding Scope

To facilitate enterprises to identify suitable IT solutions, we will provide Lists of IT Solutions and IT Service Providers for their reference, with a view to expediting processing time and benefiting the enterprises as soon as possible.

The List of IT Solutions will cover 13 categories of IT solutions for supporting distance business.

Examples of Distance Business Funding Scope on Online and Digitalise on

1. E-shop
2. Order taking & delivery, smart self-service system online (such as online food ordering & delivery solution, smart lockers, smart kiosk, smart vending machine, etc.)
3. Customer services online & engagement (such as online ticketing, online booking system, CRM , virtual service delivery, online medical consultation etc.)
4. Customer experience enhancement (such as Chatbot, AI, AR / VR, Customer Analytics, etc.)
5. Online marketing
6. Digital payment / mobile POS
7. Cloud / Online based Financial management system (such as electronic invoicing system)
8. Human resources management system online or cloud based (such as electronic payroll system, employee self-service portal, talent management, online training system, online & location based attendance / clocking monitoring and reporting, employee leave management, employee reimbursement handling system, etc.)
9. Remote document management and cloud storage (such as shared drive) and remote access services (such as remote desktop control, Virtual Private Network, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure)
10. Virtual meeting & conference tool
11. Virtual team management & communications (such as collaboration tool, instant messaging platform, etc.)
12. Cybersecurity solutions (such as firewall, anti-virus / malware solution, etc.)
13. Other Online / cloud based business support system (such as ERP, e-application form and approval workflow, robotic process automation, etc.)

Eligibility

All private enterprises (except listed companies, statutory bodies and NGOs funded by the Government), are eligible to apply. Qualified enterprise must have valid Business Registration Certificate with business commenced before 1 January 2020 and have substantive business operation in the related industry at the time of application.

Application Period

This Programme is open for application from 4 May to 31 October 2020 for a period of 6 months.

Think, everyone feels exciting of the D-Biz Programme. For the application and assessment procedure, we still need to wait for the official announcement.

For further information, please contact us.

 You may want to read: http://centreo.hk/hk137-5-billion-financial-relief-hong-kong-smes/