ISSUE

152

1. Establishment of an AI Lab in CPCE

The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers new possibilities for the College of Professional and Continuing Education (CPCE). We are pleased to announce, with the Dean's approval, the creation of a dedicated AI Lab within the Information Technology Unit (ITU). The AI Lab aims to use artificial intelligence in academic and administrative areas to drive innovation, boost efficiency, and improve the CPCE experience.

Although CPCE benefits from existing research centers across various fields, there is an identified need for specialized AI resources and expertise to integrate AI effectively throughout the institution. The AI Lab is intended to address this need by:

• Providing Centralized AI Expertise: The Lab will serve as a central hub for AI knowledge and skills, offering support and guidance to divisions and staff interested in exploring and implementing AI solutions.
• Facilitating AI Adoption: The Lab will promote AI adoption by identifying potential use cases, developing pilot projects, and offering training and workshops.
• Fostering Interdisciplinary Collaboration: The Lab will encourage collaboration between different departments and research centers to leverage AI for cross-disciplinary research and innovation.
• Developing and Maintaining AI Infrastructure: The Lab will oversee the development and maintenance of necessary AI infrastructure, including hardware, software, and data resources. This eliminates the need for individual departments to acquire and manage their own AI resources, promoting efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
• Strengthening Industry Partnerships: The AI Lab can collaborate with industry partners on applied research projects, creating opportunities for knowledge exchange and technology transfer.
• Enhancing Reputation and Competitiveness: By embracing AI, CPCE can position itself as a leader in innovative education and research.

Functions:

The AI Lab will operate under the ITU, leveraging existing IT infrastructure and expertise. Key functions will include:

• AI Research and Development: Supporting applied research on AI technologies relevant to CPCE's academic and administrative needs.
• AI Training and Support: Providing training workshops and consultation services to divisions and staff on various AI tools and techniques.
• AI Project Development: Developing and implementing AI-powered pilot projects in collaboration with different departments.
• AI Infrastructure Management: Managing and maintaining AI-related hardware, software, and data resources.
• AI Ethics and Governance: Developing and implementing ethical guidelines and governance frameworks for AI initiatives.

The AI Lab will prioritize a phased approach to AI development, starting with smaller, more manageable projects and gradually scaling up as expertise and resources grow. The AI Lab will also focus on developing reusable AI modules and components, promoting efficiency and reducing development costs.

2. Updates on Microsoft 365 Storage

ITU announced in January 2024 that Microsoft will change its storage offerings including OneDrive, email storage, SharePoint to educational institutions. Unlimited storage will no longer be provided by Microsoft, staff and students will not have access to unlimited storage. In order to optimize the utilization of the Microsoft storage, ITU will remove SharePoint sites, teams based on their nature, details are as follows:

SharePoint Sites created by Staff and Students:

• Remove sites without owners and administrators
• Remove sites whose creators’ M365 account disabled for over 30 days. This applies to staff departed from CPCE and graduates.

Subject Teams created by ITU for Teaching Staff and Students:

• Archived data is maintained for one academic year. All data including Teams, SharePoint sites will be removed every September. E.g. archived data of 2023/24 will be removed in September 2025.

Teams and SharePoint created by teaching staff using common.cpce-polyu.edu.hk account:

• Teams and SharePoint sites will be archived every September and retained for one academic year.
• Archived data will be removed after one year, e.g. data archived in September 2025 will be removed in September 2026.

All data removed cannot be restored.

You are also recommended to regularly manage your data and perform housekeeping on email, OneDrive and SharePoint.

Reminder to students:

All data on your Microsoft accounts will be removed when you graduate. Please remember to back up your data if necessary.

3. Result Announcement: Lucky Draw Winners of “Survey on IT Services”

ITU is pleased to announce the results of the “Survey on IT Services” conducted in April 2025 for staff and students. We received an overwhelming response with approximately 400 participants. The valuable feedback provided by users will serve as a foundation for continuous improvement of our services. As a token of our appreciation, all students who completed the survey were automatically entered into a lucky draw.

Result of Luck Draw

The lucky winner who has won the grand prize of AirPods Pro 2 is LAU Yee Ling from SPEED.

Mr Jackie Siu, Associate Head of Information Technology, presented the prize to the winner on 15 July 2025.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all participants for taking the time to share their valuable feedback and suggestions with us. Your input is instrumental in shaping and enhancing our IT services.