HKC International Holdings Limited
Newsletter
Jun-Sep 2016
TOP STORIES
Corporate
HKC has been awarded the Family-Friendly Employer 2015/2016
Event
Hong Kong Communications Launches "Farmergotchi" Home Hydroponic System
SingComm participated The 4th SingHealth Duke-NUS Scientific Congress
The 4th National Publication and Trade Fair
Case Study
Library of Southwest University of Science and Technology
Duke Kunshan University Library
New Product Launch
Farmergotchi – Home Grown Hydroponic Gardening
Promotion
i Tech
Farmergotchi promotion
 
Award & Recognization
SingComm Awarded RFID Tracking System for SingHealth Group
SingComm Awarded Shelving System for National Library Board Singapore
SingComm Awarded Stock Take System for National Library Board Singapore
SingComm Awarded Document Tracking System for Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
Causeway Bay Victoria International Kindergarten uses HKC’s Book Sterilizer
Yan Chai Hospital No.2 Secondary School
HKC Awarded Environmental Control System for Queen Mary Hospital
HKC Awarded Aiphone Solutions for Orient Pearl District
HKC Awarded the provision of Home Automation to the Kai Tak Residential Development Project (6525)
Carrot Home Solutions Limited awarded Alto Residences – Lai Sun Development and Empire Group
We respect your privacy and the choice of information you receive. We have your contact information because your are either our valuable clients or have attended any of our regular seminars. If you prefer not to receive promotional message from HKC, please reply this email to marketing@hkc.net and change the subject line to "Unsubscribe".

Smart Technology Helping the Elderly Live Independently
in Smart Cities

Hong Kong’s population is ageing. At present, one out of eight people in Hong Kong ages 65 or above, as people are living longer and getting older, the average life expectancy is 80.5 and 86.7 for men and women respectively in 2011. In 20 years’ time, one in every four Hong Kong residents will be 65 or above. By 2050, Hong Kong is forecasted by the World Health Organization to rank fifth in the world for cities with the largest percentage of older adults, i.e. 40% of the population in Hong Kong will be 65 or above.

Nowadays ageing populations are a worldwide phenomenon, it is a necessity to create the cities that are aware of the special needs of all their citizens including the needs of aging populations. In smart cities the citizens activities are not limited to their homes; they live their lives in an entangled society. Health care is important for citizens in general and in particular for the elderly. Smart cities need to address elderly people needs across such as housing, social participations health care, and community support services, leisure, and culture, in order to make smart city environment more elderly friendly. The recent development in ICT, and its particular components, Internet of Things (IoT), Clouds of Things, the Advanced Artificial Intelligence, can become building blocks between elderly people, smart homes and smart cities。

The elderly challenges in the cities and societies are mostly related to the fact that ageing causes age-specific barriers, such as limitations of mobility, visual and hearing impairments and a high disease susceptibility, especially for chronic diseases (diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, cardiovascular diseases). ICT can improve the quality of life, provide personalized solutions, reduce high costs of health and care services and support social interaction with friends, families, health and social supports and neighborhoods. ICT solution implemented in the cities can help overcome mobility, visual and cognitive problems.

Being the market leader of providing smart home solutions for years, we have pioneered to enhance our development to the Ambient Assisted Living Solutions aiming to extend the time older people can live in their own homes by increasing their autonomy and assisting them in carrying out their daily activities. Innovations in areas such as remote sensors, embedded systems, robotics or wireless mobile networks provide building blocks for intelligent ambient systems that can support elderly people and allow them to stay in their home environment while being medically treated.

Our Ambient Assisted Living Solutions are flexible and of various combinations within the fields of health and home care, social interaction and life activities; and work well with different hardware devices so as to fulfill and suit various needs of elderly in their different live stages. The newly Farmergotchi is offered with following features that may help to keep elderly healthy, safe and socially connected while giving their friends and relatives a peace of mind.

  • Indoor hydroponics – indoor farming is fun and healthy which every elders can have a more enjoyable cultivation experience using hydroponics.
  • One touch video call to family members of friends – While no technology can take the place of in-person human interaction, video chat can supplement elderly social interactions when visits with friends and family.
  • Panic alarm for emergency – A simple device allows the elder to call for help with simply pressing a button.
  • Health tracking service – Apps and cloud-based health information tracking systems can help elderly and their caregivers keep information such as temperature, blood pressure
  • Online doctor service – It allows doctor to provide an online consultation with a simple assessment through a video call
  • Medication reminder – The elderly and their caregivers can take advantage of the technology which has medication reminder to reduce missed medications and prevent medication errors.
Smart home technologies have been suggested as a viable solution, offering new methods of positive ageing and empowering many elderly to maintain independence, functionally, well-being and higher quality of life. For more detail, please visit our website at at www.hkc.com.hk and www.farmergotchi.com or call our service hotline by 852-2527 8822.

HKC has been awarded the Family-Friendly Employer 2015/2016

We are pleased to announce that Hong Kong Communications Co., Ltd (HKC) has been awarded Family-Friendly Employer in 2015/2016 consecutively, which is organized by The Family Council. This award is to give recognition to business companies and firms that demonstrate a family-friendly spirit and encourage them to implement family-friendly employment policies and practices. These policies and practices are intended to help employees fully balance their work and family lives, thus bring benefits to employers and employees, in order to improve morale, enhance working relationships and reduce staff turnover.

HKC will continue to be devoted as a family friendly employer and promote a culture of work-life balance and loving families in the community. This can become a main driver for social harmony and establish a closer and harmonious relationship among family members.

Welcome to our new HKC website!

HKC is pleased to announce the launch of our newly revamped website and our mobile site that aims to create a user-friendly browsing experience to our valued customers and business partners.

Immediately you will notice streamlined menus, simple navigation and access to the information you need, any time of day. Besides introducing our latest Products and Solution – Intelligent System, RFID Solutions and Retail & Distribution, there are some insights that have been written by our Chairman and CEO Mr Hubert Chan on the latest IT solutions trend. We invite you to view our refreshed look of our website and mobile site at www.hkc.com.hk and let us know your thoughts.

Hong Kong Communications Launches "Farmergotchi" Home Hydroponic System

Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Example Frame

Hong Kong Communications announced the launch of the “Farmergotchi” Home Hydroponic System on 6, September 2016. It is Hong Kong’s first smart system with home-grown hydroponic gardening for consumers to enjoy a complete growing system via IoT connectivity over the Internet. The system is designed particularly for families with elderly members at home or the elder is living independently, as well as retirees looking for a quality, healthy home lifestyle, and treasuring staying in close touch with family and friends.
“While quality of life is fundamental, for most elderly people, feeling productive and having companionship are among their vital wishes. We are pleased to launch Farmergotchi, a product specially designed to fulfill these needs for the elderly and their families,” said Gabriel Leung, Executive Director, Hong Kong Communications.

Farmergotchi is an intelligent and interactive integrated indoor hydroponics system equipped with a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) for communication. Families can make hydroponics part of their everyday lives, creating an enjoyable experience for enhanced family engagement, and at the same time, the elderly and their families can stay connected, empowering the social lives of our greying population and enable them to continue to enjoy a satisfying and purposeful life.

SingComm participated The 4th SingHealth Duke-NUS Scientific Congress

Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Example Frame

SingComm has been participated the 4th SingHealth Duke-NUS Scientific Congress on September 23 – 24, 2016 at Academia. Organised by SingHealth and Duke-NUS Medical School, this year’s theme is “Today’s Research and Education for Tomorrow’s Healthcare”, the scientific programme had lined-up of multidisciplinary plenary sessions and symposiums that focus on patient-centered clinical care, research breakthroughs and educational innovations, laying the foundations for tomorrow’s healthcare.

This year the congress has first installed RFID Tracking System to keep track of the participants and eliminate the long queues that will form during the attendance taking at each of these venues. Statistical reports will be generated to show the participation/ attendance rate for each of these presentations for further analysis whereas SingHealth can use this information as part of their planning for future conferences.
SingComm will continue to keep this momentum to provide the best solutions to our customers.

The 4th National Publication and Trade Fair

Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Example Frame
The 4th National Publication and Trade Fair was organized by Publisher Association of China, Publicity Department of Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee and Heilongjiang Press and Publication Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the National Library Book Supplier Union, and the Heilongjiang Publishing Group.The trade fair came up with a new concept of "Green and Ecological Pavilion",aiming at launching the most representative book supplier trade fair.

The booth will locate at an outstanding area around the main exhibiting section with dense population. The specie of exhibiting products is up to the exhibitors. The subscription will be opened to libraries form the whole nation. About 1,500 interviewing teachers and library directors are estimated to attend, and the purchasing fixed price will be over 100 million dollars.

HKC Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd had the honor to participate this trade fair. The library highly praised HKC Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd for its products and hoped that HKC Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd could investigate on site and design a tailor-made intellectual management system for the library.

SingComm Awarded RFID Tracking System
for SingHealth Group

In July 2016, SingComm awarded RFID Solution of Tracking System for tracking visitors, medical tools and specimen for SingHealth. With our tracking system, user can keep track of the participants during the conference and to eliminate the long queues that will form during the attendance taking at each of these venues. The system can also generate the statistical reports on the participation/ attendance rate for each of these presentations for further analysis so that they can use this information as part of their planning for future conferences.

Apart from tracking participants, the Tracking System can also track cadaveric specimens and cadaveric surgical tools which can provide accurate account on the usage cycle of the cadaveric specimens and enable to track and trace including the disposal cadaveric surgical tools and fixtures used in training. With this project, SingComm will establish good relationships in healthcare industry and further develop in this sector.

SingComm Awarded Shelving System
for National Library Board Singapore

Slide 1
Slide 2
Example Frame

SingComm has been awarded Shelving System for National Library Board Singapore (NLB) of 5 libraries. This project is to pack and scan all library materials and move it to another storage space provided by NLB. The packed boxes are being packed, scanned, shrined wrap and palletized them which will be moved to NLB storage space so that they can renovate their library. Once renovated has completed all the packed boxes will move back to the library which we will unpack, scan and shelf it back to the shelf according to the category. SingComm Is glad to have been awarded for this project as this is not the first time NLB awarded to us and hope there are more collaboration opportunities with NLB in the future.

SingComm Awarded Stock Take System
for National Library Board Singapore

Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Example Frame

In August 2016 SingComm awarded Stock Take System for National Library Board Singapore (NLB) 26 libraries which the Stock Take System will scan a total number of estimated amounts of 6 million of printed materials. The user can use one night to complete the stock take and generate the report out which can free their time to do other works and increase the efficiency. The equipment that NLB implemented for stock take will be a base station, mobile notebook, HF antenna, Barcode Reader and Trolley which can scan the printed materials consists of rare and non-rare materials. With this project, SingComm will establish good relationships with more and more libraries and further develop in this sector.

SingComm Awarded Document Tracking System
for Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore

SingComm awarded Document Tracking System for Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). User can use the Document Tracking System to enhance the management and tracking of IRAS documents which can improve the accountability and productivity on the handling of hardcopy tax documents (corresponding and tax returns). It also help to reduce the manpower and time taken to track the location of the documents, perform annual declaration of the owned documents by the users, and in turn, to perform documents reconciliation and to provide an overview via system reports and system enquiry screen of all IRAS documents and their respective owners, and the physical files and their locations.

Causeway Bay Victoria International Kindergarten uses HKC’s Book Sterilizer

HKC awarded the supply and installation of the Book Sterilizer of Causeway Bay Victoria International Kindergarten, which is one of the leading International Kindergarten groups in Hong Kong. The hygiene of the library is highly concerned in recent years, especially in the Kindergarten. HKC’s Book Sterilizer is made in Korea, has UV-C lamps and air blower that helps effectively to kill germs, that in turn lower the spread of any diseases; It is not only can sterilize the books effectively and quickly but also can educate their student the importance of the personal hygiene.

Yan Chai Hospital No.2 Secondary School

HKC awarded the contract of the Network system (10GB backbone) and IP surveillance system for Yan Chai Hospital No.2 Secondary School.

With upgraded network, they can improve their network traffic for better e-learning; their surveillance system can also improve from traditional analog cameras to IP cameras with much better camera resolution;

HKC has worked closely with Yan Chai Hospital No.2 Secondary School from site survey, propose system design and installations. Using different types of IP cameras which is the tailor-made surveillance solutions to the entire campus. The corresponding setting of NVR and Apps can further enhance the 7x24 remote monitoring to the campus.

HKC Awarded Environmental Control System
for Queen Mary Hospital

HKC's Home Automation Team has been awarded the contract to build an Environmental Control System for Queen Mary Hospital. With the objective to enhancing independence and safety for frail elderly patients or patients with high level of disability in home environment, we provide a powered wheelchair with chin-control system, user-friendly home automation apps to control domestic appliances, safety monitoring and surveillance and tele-health system.

HKC Awarded Aiphone Solutions
for Orient Pearl District

HKC is proud to announce Kowloon Development Co., Ltd has adopted HKC Aiphone Solutions in their newly launched residential development - Orient Pearl District T+T1 is located at Novos Aterros da Areia Preta, Macau. It comprises 6 Towers, 2226 residential units with totally 1.95 million square feet.

HKC Awarded the provision of Home Automation to the Kai Tak Residential Development Project (6525)

HKC is honored to be awarded the provision of Home Automation for Kai Tak Residential Development which is responsible to design, supply and install a complete Home Automation System for 822 flats at Kai Tak residential development project which is owned by K&K Property Holdings Limited. HKC will provide our innovative systems consisting of Smart Lighting & Curtain Control, Building Video Door Phone, Panic Alarm & CCTV Security, Entrance & Lift Access Control, Card Access Letterbox with notification, E-notice & Club House Facilities Booking System to let the residents to experience convenient, comfortable and enjoyable intelligent living.

Carrot Home Solutions Limited awarded Alto Residences – Lai Sun Development and Empire Group

Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Example Frame

Carrot Home is proud to announce that Lai Sun Development and Empire Group Holdings has adopted our innovative Carrot Solutions in their newly launched residential development – Alto Residence. The project is underway to be completed by 2018, comprising 23 luxury villas and 582 residential flats within 7 towers located at 29 Tong Yin Street, Tseung Kwan O, New Territories, Hong Kong.

Located in the new city centre of East New Territories, the residential development “Alto Residences” is surely an icon of East New Territories enriched with the most high-tech home solutions and luxury lifestyle in a single location. The development has also installed with individual electrical vehicle chargers for every villa and at tenant’s parking space and shopping mall’s parking space. All tenants in Alto Residences are able to enjoy lifestyle and convenience that our Home Automation system brings them.

Tenants are able to perform video intercom with visitors through 5” Carrot Touch, which also allow tenants to unlock the entrance for guests remotely. Tenants can also control their lighting, curtain (electric motor and track are to be provided by others), air-conditioning with a simple touch on the Carrot Touch or iOS & Android smart devices, and adds up to the chicest lifestyle (Carrot apps can be downloaded from Apps Stores through their mobile devices). In addition to the above features, tenants would be able to enjoy extended Home Automation features, such as user-reprogrammable Scene Control, Time Scheduling, IR Control of home appliances, receive e-Notice from property management.

Library of Southwest University of Science and Technology

Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Example Frame

Southwest University of Science and Technology is located in Mianyang City of Sichuan Province, which is boasted as a magical land that had numerous talents. Mianyang City is the hometown of a prestigious politician Dayu and the renowned poet Libai. Having witnessed many hardships and several relocation,SWUST has developed into a comprehensive regular full-time undergraduate university in Sichuan Province authorized to confer doctoral degree. Rooting in the west China,SWUST has developed a campus spirit of “working arduously and striving for innovations” and established a motto of “Morality, Knowledge, Determination and Innovation” with the guidance of its educational philosophy of “cultivation, morality, rationality, excellence”and its educational methodology of “quality, talent, feature and harmony”. Entering the 21st century, SWUST is grasping the historic opportunity of great development of west China and the construction of science and technology in Mianyang City. SWUST has become one of 14 key institutions of higher education, which enjoys the priority for further development and approved by Ministry of Education for modern education in China, and it has also ranked as the “National Civilized Unit”. It is a university jointly constructed by the State Administration of Science and Technology Industry of National Defense (SASTIND) and people's Government of Sichuan Province.

Duke Kunshan University Library

Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Example Frame

At early August, 2016, Duke Kunshan University Library began to apply the RFID intellectual system, including book tagging and tag-replacement, staff station, self-check in/out station, jointing-integration with Aleph 500 library management system (LMS), real-time security surveillance alert, etc. The system started to run on 20th August. Students and teachers were able to check out with the automatic machine, which greatly promoted the productivity, allowing librarians spend more time helping teachers and students.

Farmergotchi – Home Grown Hydroponic Gardening

Slide 1
Slide 2
Example Frame

HKC unveiled a new launch of Farmergotchi, Hong Kong’s first smart system with home-grown hydroponic gardening for consumers to enjoy a complete growing system via IoT connectivity over the internet. The system is designed particularly for families with elderly members at home or the elder is living independently, as well as retirees looking for a quality, healthy home lifestyle, and treasuring staying in close touch with family and friends. Farmergotchi is an intelligent and interactive integrated indoor hydroponics system equipped with a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) for communication. Key features include:

Indoor smart home-grown hydroponic gardening

  • Simplicity – Designed with simple, stylish teak shelves, two sets of plant pipes, and four sets of LED lights specifically for plants, the system aims to make available an exclusive home garden for every family with a more enjoyable cultivation experience using hydroponics.
  • Real-time monitoring – With the Smart Farmer Intelligent System, users can remotely monitor plant growth. Leveraging on a sophisticated cloud platform, they can manage their home garden by receiving data about the optimal nutrient solution concentration (EC value) from Farmergotchi each week and rating their plant’s health status and uploaded to the cloud platform through Farmergotchi. 
  • Smart gardening with Big Data – Through Microsoft Azure, machine learning and big data analytics capabilities, the solution will advise the users on the EC value of each vegetable needed for healthy growth, so as to give them a clear understanding of the growing process.
  • Professional after sales services – Free on-site installation and a consultation hotline are available for first-time buyers and hydroponics users.

IoT-based home-support system

  • Instant video calls – Connect family members through an instant skype video call with just a single click.
  • Elderly home emergency assistance system – The system incorporates an innovative elderly emergency help device that connects to a 24/7 elderly care hotline service. Users can set up three contact numbers for immediate assistance. By activating the panic alarm, a call and SMS will be automatically placed to the first number while the second and third numbers will also be notified via SMS.
  • Remote surveillance – The live streaming capability enables the elderly to share the hydroponic experience with family members, and at the same time, their families can see the status of their parents with this live streaming feature.
  • AutoSmart network switch – Dual mobile network feature switches automatically and seamlessly between 4G and 3G mobile networks, ensuring a stable network connection for continuous 24/7 home-support service.

With the Farmergotchi solution, families can make hydroponics part of their everyday lives, creating an enjoyable experience for enhanced family engagement, and at the same time, the elderly and their families can stay connected, empowering the social lives of our greying population and enable them to continue to enjoy a satisfying and purposeful life. 


i Tech

Farmergotchi promotion

First 10 new customers can enjoy the following offer for subscribing 1-yr or 2-yr service plan

- Hardware + installation fee: $3800
- 1st month service fee: Waive
- 2nd – 12th months service fee: $280 (for 1 yr plan)
- 2nd – 24th months service fee: $250 (for 2 yr plan)