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CECID Hermes Won the Certificate of Merit at the 6th
HKCS IT Excellence Awards 
Download the winner's video,
click on the "" image.
Hong Kong SAR, Peoples Republic of China - 30 August 2004
-Center for E-Commerce Infrastructure Development (CECID),
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is pleased to announce
that our open source ebXML business-to-business (B2B) Messaging
Server, Hermes, has been awarded the Certificate of Merit
(Product category) at the 6th IT Excellence Awards for SMEs.
Organized by the Hong Kong Computer Society (HKCS), the
IT Excellence Awards is an award scheme that has been recognized
as one of the most prestigious events in the local IT industry.
This year is the sixth anniversary of the IT Excellence
Awards, and HKCS has received 80 entries (in which a large
number of entries were in the Product category for SMEs),
the biggest number ever since the Award was established.
The presentation ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Convention
& Exhibition Centre on August 27, 2004. Over 250 IT
professionals, business executives and their friends gathered
for a delightful dinner and shared the joy of the winners
at the presentation ceremony.
First time to enter the contest, CECID submitted Hermes
under the competitive SMEs Product Category. The panel of
judges, comprised of prominent IT professionals, and chaired
by Prof. Lap-Chee Tsui, commented that Hermes was "
a reliable and ready solution with good performance ...
a number of commercial projects are under negotiation ...
may create the XML based market for the local software industry".
Hermes is an electronic document exchanging server based
on an open e-business messaging standard (OASIS ebXML Messaging
Service v.2.0). This awards winning product provides a standardized,
reliable, and secure infrastructure for enterprises to exchange
business data traditionally provided by EDI (electronic
data interchange) but on the Internet and at a low cost
affordable by small and medium enterprises. Hermes is donated
to the ebXML development community, FreebXML.org (http://www.freebxml.org)
and released under the Academic Free License. Since its
release in September 2002, Hermes has recorded 6,000+ downloads
from over 80 countries, and it is certified by the ebXML
Asia Committee for its interoperability in connectivity,
reliability and security.
Some local users of Hermes include MTRC, OOCL, Sony, HMV,
and HKSAR Government's Marine Department. To our knowledge,
several local software vendors also have plans to adopt
Hermes to further develop commercial B2B projects for sale
in local and foreign markets. This will establish the worldwide
leadership of Hong Kong IT industry in this specific technology
area and will potentially enhance the industry's overall
international competitiveness.
About Hong Kong Computer Society (www.hkcs.org.hk)
The Hong Kong Computer Society (HKCS) was founded in 1970
as a non-profit making professional body. The Society's
mission includes the promotion of the use of IT and the
fostering of the development of the IT industry in Hong
Kong by providing a medium for disseminating knowledge and
promoting the appreciation of IT and related tools. During
its over 30 years' history, HKCS members have come to form
the core of a wide and influential network throughout the
whole spectrum of Hong Kong service and other industries.
About IT Excellence Awards (www.hkcs.org.hk/itawards/default.htm)
IT Excellence Awards is a professional initiative of the
Hong Kong Computer Society. Established in 1998, the award
scheme is an annual event which brings uniquely significant
recognition to excellent IT applications and innovative
IT technologies. The IT Excellence Awards and IT Excellence
Awards (SMEs) recognize excellence in IT applications and
products separately. There are three prizes in the product
category: Gold, Silver, and Bronze, as well as certificate
of merit. In addition, a new category of awards - IT Excellence
Awards (Post Secondary) is established to recognize outstanding
IT projects developed by post-secondary students. This year,
the panel of judges comprised of leaders and senior executives
from the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Science &
Technology Parks Corporation, the Hong Kong University of
Science & Technology, the Hong Kong Trade Development
Council, the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation,
the Hong Kong Productivity Council, the Hong Kong Computer
Society, and delegates from the Government of the Hong Kong
SAR.
About CECID (www.cecid.hku.hk)
Established in January 2002, the Center for E-Commerce Infrastructure
Development (CECID) at the University of Hong Kong conducts
e-commerce research and development with the vision of helping
organizations increase their competitiveness in the global
economy. CECID develops e-commerce enabling technologies,
participates in important international e-commerce initiatives,
supports e-commerce standardization for Hong Kong and the
Asia Pacific Region, and transfers e-commerce technology
and skills to the community. With projects primarily funded
by the Hong Kong Government's Innovation and Technology
Commission, CECID is an active member of OASIS and the ebXML
Asia Committee. The Center also collaborates with a number
of lead technology users in the Asia-Pacific Region on turning
R&D results into real-life business applications. CECID's
recent contributions to the community include its code donation
of Hermes and ebMail to freebXML (http://www.freebxml.org)
and the production of an in-depth design and management
guide on XML Schemas for the Hong Kong Government.
PR Contacts for Press and Analysts
Dorris Tai (cwtai@cecid.hku.hk)
Business Manager
Center for E-Commerce Infrastructure Development (CECID)
Dept. of Computer Science
The University of Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2859 2818
Fax: +852 2547 4611
URL: http://www.cecid.hku.hk
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