Prof. Gary Chan Awarded Chief Executive's Commendation for Community Service in 2020 Honours List

Prof. Gary CHAN, Professor of Department of the Computer Science and Engineering, received the Chief Executive's Commendation for Community Service in the 2020 Honours List. The 23rd since 1997, the 2020 Honours List was published in the Government Gazette on 1 October 2020. Prof. Chan is commended for his outstanding contribution to fight against COVID-19 with his innovative geo-fencing technology which has been used to enforce compulsory home quarantine order in Hong Kong amid COVID-19 pandemic.

Prof. Chan and his research team have innovated and designed an automated digital geo-fencing technology called "Signature Home". The technology continuously collects and analyses multifarious environmental signals such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular in the dwelling place, forming the unique "signature" of the location. If the newly collected signals deviates substantially from the signature, it is likely that the person has absconded the designated location. By continuously collecting and understanding the signals collected in a place using machine learning and data analytics techniques, Signature Home can intelligently adapt to evolving home environment to achieve accurate and timely monitoring.

The idea of Signature Home has been implemented and deployed as a mobile app called StayHomeSafe by Hong Kong government. Used with an electronic wristband, the technology has served hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong entrants undergoing quarantine since March 2020.

Congratulations to Prof. Gary Chan!

For more information, please refer to the project and the official announcement.