Hong Kong needs to think outside the box on how to measure economic and social progress

Bernard Chan says the government should find new ways to identify priorities and measure policy effectiveness, for a better gauge of community development

He is also closely involved with the Social Progress Initiative, which seeks to find a better index for measuring development than basic economic benchmarks like GDP.

You could write a book about how philanthropy, the concept of shared value and the Social Progress Index overlap, and what it all means for us in Hong Kong. At the same time, there are limits to what government and politicians can do to help communities adapt.

We have no data on whether a better work-life balance through lower working hours, say damages our economy or makes us better off

The philanthropists at the recent forum spoke of new solutions to tackle issues that hold people and communities back at a municipal level. But it’s early days.

Ideas like the Social Progress Index would help us think beyond standard economic growth

One thing the government could do to help would be to adopt new ways of identifying priorities and measuring effectiveness of policy.