To combat pollution, the Environmental Compliance Division of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has set up a Smart Technology Task Force (Task Force) to explore various smart technologies. By integrating frontline practical experience in enforcement, team wisdom and applying innovative technologies, the Task Force has overcome a number of physical barricades in enforcement that conventional means cannot cope with, bringing more pollution cases to trial and resulting in more efficient and safer operations.

PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT WITH INNOVATION

As polluters attempted to arrange CCTV and observers to evade EPD officers when dumping waste in rural areas, the Task Force introduced Smart Drones with 200x Zooming Power Camera to surveil activities from the air to keep the polluters unaware, successfully prosecuting 21 cases around Lut Chau and Nam Sang Wai in recent years and putting an end to illegal landfilling activities in the vicinity. In the face of difficulties in collecting water samples in inaccessible and unsafe places such as swamps and places far from the shore, the Task Force designed and 3D-printed accessories to modify the Drone Sampler. This saves half of the manpower needed as compared with conventional samplers and improves the efficiency and safety of water sampling. Equipped with a robotic arm, the Smart Multi-Terrain Sampling Robot can track underground drainage systems and river pollution sources while collecting solid and liquid samples. It was jointly created and developed by EPD and a local innovative technology company and has successfully assisted enforcement officers in intercepting an illegal discharge in Yuen Long on the spot. The AI Surveillance Camera System, jointly developed by the Task Force and local research institutes, has the function of automatic image analysis and can instantly transmit data to enforcement officers in 5G real-time, and has assisted in prosecuting over a hundred illegal waste disposal cases. The mobile application “EC Enforce” is jointly developed by the Task Force and a local SME. Through geographic information system (GIS) technology, enforcement officers can master territory-wide environmental big data through mobile devices, enhancing information sharing and speeding up the overall process of pollution case investigation by about 40%.

SERVE THE PUBLIC WITH COLLABORATION

Nothing about people’s livelihood is trivial. EPD listens to citizens’ demands for environmental protection and provides quality public services with innovative thinking. The Task Force collected stakeholder opinions from various channels, including publicity through face-to-face communication and the media, inviting frontline colleagues to try out and give opinions, and listening to suggestions from green groups and research institutions, resulting in multiple innovative and practical technological achievements. Looking forward, EPD will continue to explore smart technology for environmental protection as well as for the good of the public.