The main theme of this impact café was to discuss the findings of the focus groups, which were conducted by the project team on 8 December 2021. This event was divided into three sessions. The first presentation as well as the brief introduction was delivered by Prof. Alistair Cole, the Head of the Department of Government and International Studies, and the principal investigator of this project. Besides reporting the progress of this project, he explained the methodology of the focus group, covering the advantages, features, and guidelines of conducting focus group studies. Prof. Cole also presented preliminary findings as the opening of the upcoming presentations.

Dr. Dionysions Stivas, the Research Associate of the Department of Government and International Studies, gave the second presentation. As the host of the focus group studies, Dr. Stivas firstly explained the distinctive characteristics of each of the four focus groups and the categories of questions asked. He then presented the findings of each group, starting with group one and group two: the Chinese group and the mixed group. The categories included the adjectives used to describe Hong Kong, definitions of the smart city, benefits and risks of the smart city, trust in public authorities and technologies, lessons from Shenzhen and mainland cities, the connection of the smart city to sustainable development, and messages to the Hong Kong government.

The findings of group one and group two were reinforced by their respective word clouds, showing the fundamental differences by the frequency of keywords. The second half of Dr. Stivas’s presentation involved the findings of group three and group four: civil servants and the employees of private companies. The same categories were presented and concluded by two word clouds. At the end, Dr. Stivas presented the total word frequency analysis of the four focus groups, and quoted several statements from each focus group as highlights of the studies. He concluded that the results accurately presented the diversity of each group’s characteristics: local Hong Kong participants observed regaining public trust as the prioritized task of the Hong Kong government, while Chinese participants expressed their high trust and confidence in the Chinese government.

Following the three comprehensive presentations, an enthusiastic and inspiring discussion was initiated by the online audiences. Topics covered the difficulties faced while conducting the designated data collection methods of the project (city-wide survey, interviews, focus groups), the potential external factors influencing the focus group findings, the impacts of the results for other stakeholders such as universities, and the ethical considerations of smart city development. Prof. Cole not only replied to all the questions and guided the whole discussion, but he also made the final remarks of the project as the end of this event.