Hermes Won the Certificate of Merit at the 6th HK Computer Society IT Excellence Awards

["Dorris Tai" <cwtai@cecid.hku.hk>]

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CECID Hermes Won the Certificate of Merit at the 6th HKCS IT
Excellence Awards
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Hong Kong SAR, Peoples Republic of China – September 1, 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.

First time to enter the contest, CECID submitted Hermes under the
competitive SMEs Product Category. The panel of judges, comprised of
prominent IT professionals 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 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.

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 the 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. 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