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How do small ideas bring about big impact? Find out from our  three-week roadshow “Social Innovation Jam” - a showcase of local and overseas social innovation ideas! In the opening tour, artiste Mr Timmy Hung tried the power-generating soccer “Soccket” together with his son, while Mr Chong Chan Yau, President of Hong Kong Blind Union demonstrated the products which are designed for the visually impaired.

The SIE Fund is never at rest. The Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS), one of the Fund’s intermediaries, unveiled its programme Impact Incubator on 21 April at a ceremony officiated by Chief Secretary for Administration Mrs Carrie Lam, Chairperson of HKCSS Mr Bernard Chan, and Chairperson of the SIE Fund Task Force Prof Stephen Cheung. Leveraging on networks and resources from social welfare agencies, social enterprises, philanthropy foundations, business associations and professional bodies, Impact Incubator provides a cross-sectoral, one-stop support platform to help social innovation implementers generate innovative ideas and sustainable solutions with application of business approaches to address the problems of poverty. Find out more from “Intermediaries’ Programmes” section of this website or the Impact Incubator website.

The SIE Fund is keen on building connection with social innovation practitioners. We have gone beyond Hong Kong, seizing the opportunities to learn from overseas countries. Recently, we participated in the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network Conference held in Singapore. On behalf of the Task Force Secretariat, Mrs Patricia Lau, Deputy Head of Efficiency Unit, shared with audience the background, principles, implementation as well as future strategies of the Fund at a thematic session on Hong Kong. She was joined by Mr Scott Lawson, Chief Executive Officer, SOW (Asia) Foundation Ltd (one of the Fund’s); Mr Ricky Yu, Founder of Light Be (Social Realty) Co. Ltd and Mr Francis Ngai, founder of Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVHK) in a fruitful dialogue with the participants. The exchange of views involving the three parties, namely the government, intermediaries and social innovation implementers on the same occasion was highly commended by the audience. The Secretariat also visited local social innovation projects, giving extra value to the tour.

E² (Entrepreneur Square) is a platform facilitating crossover of insights and ideas of the technology and social sectors in Hong Kong. The E² Day is one of their events with dual purposes of letting practitioners share ideas and startups pitch innovative projects. The SIE Fund is the strategic sponsor of E² Day 2015 held on 18 April. On behalf of the Fund, Mr Kim Salkeld, Head of Efficiency Unit joined the judging panel in selecting the winning teams and projects and gave closing remarks. Elements of poverty-alleviation were being emphasized in the pitching session.

The SIE Fund is advancing to a new stage while the intermediaries are launching their programmes. At the same time, the Task Force is devoting the greatest effort to the Fund’s operation. The second meeting of the second term Task Force was held on 17 April. Progress of the Fund’s undertakings was reviewed. Forthcoming tasks, including those accompanying the implementation of intermediaries’ programmes, were discussed. Stay tuned, and we will bring you the latest news about the Fund.

We usually call a project successful if it can “do more with less”. This implies comparing costs and benefits. But how can we measure benefits, especially in the delivery of public services? This is the question asked at the seminar “Social Impact Assessment for Public Services” held by the Task Force Secretariat, and the answer came from our speaker Mr Daniel Fujiwara. With over 10 years of experience working in government and international organisations, Mr Fujiwara is the founding Director of SImetrica, a renowned research consultancy in the UK in policy evaluation and social impact measurement. Mr Fujiwara introduced the theories, tools and applications of social impact assessment, supplemented by cases in the UK. The seminar was attended by about 120 colleagues of various Government bureaux and departments.

The latest issue of our newsletter is published, bringing you the Fund’s news and activities. In this issue you will find a summary report of the Social Innovation Video Competition, the Fund participating at exhibitions, rolling out of intermediaries’ programmes, and the upcoming invitation exercise for an intermediary for the food support flagship project.  Please click here or visit the ‘Newsletter’ section for stories in full.