HKPC Steps up Support to Software Sector in Tapping Mainland's OSS Market

To assist the local software sector to tap the growing Open Source Software (OSS) opportunities on the Mainland, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) today (13 December 2006) announces its OSS support programme for 2007.

Introducing the OSS opportunities for Hong Kong software companies, Mr K T Yung, General Manager (Information Technology Industry Development) of HKPC, said, "OSS offers a cost-effective and easy access to the adoption of information technology (IT), with applications spanning both public and private sectors. A research by IDC has estimated that the average rate of OSS adoption is increasing at 47% per annum. According to industry players, in 2005 the OSS market in the Asia Pacific grew by 78%. On the Mainland where the deployment and development of OSS is supported by the Government, the OSS market also registered a growth of 30% in 2005."

"The adoption of OSS technology is one of the major IT strategies in Guangdong Province under the 11th Five-Year Plan," Mr Yung continued. "The Hong Kong/Guangdong Expert Group on Co-operation in Informatisation has also included OSS as one of the areas for further co-operation between the two sides. Hong Kong software companies should leverage on their CEPA advantages and promote their OSS solutions to the Mainland."

In 2007 HKPC will step up its OSS initiatives to support the local software industry in capturing the new business opportunities. Mr Yung said, "These include the establishment of the Hong Kong OSS Centre (HKOSSC) to provide technical support and promotion, training, technology transfer, as well as business and technology matching services for industry players and end-users on the deployment and development of OSS solutions. In particular, the Centre will drive co-operation between the software sectors in Hong Kong and the Pan-Pearl River Delta region."

"HKPC will also collaborate with the Guangdong Linux Center (GDLC) in the areas of solution testing, certification and porting, training, market research, and promotion, to assist Hong Kong software companies to expand into the booming OSS market in Guangdong. In addition, we will collaborate with IBM China/Hong Kong Limited (IBM) to support the development of HKOSSC, enhancing the skills and capabilities of OSS professionals in Hong Kong and further promoting the adoption of OSS solutions, including its major component, Linux," he said.

To support the HKOSSC initiatives, Mr Jeff Chui, Manager of Linux Business, IBM China/Hong Kong Limited, said, "Apart from hardware support, IBM will provide technical support through our Linux and OSS experts based locally or from our Beijing Linux Center, and assist with local software solution porting to the Linux platform."

According to Dr Yuan Quan, Director of GDLC, the collaboration between GDLC and HKPC will offer a platform for synergy building between software sectors in Hong Kong and Guangdong. "With the support of the Guangdong Government, a wider adoption of Linux and OSS in e-Government and other sectors is expected, bringing more opportunities for collaboration between Hong Kong and Guangdong enterprises," he said.

A MOU signing ceremony was held today to mark HKPC's collaboration with GDLC and IBM. Officiating guests at the HKPC-GDLC MOU signing ceremony included Mr K T Yung and Dr Yuan Quan; and the HKPC-IBM MOU signing ceremony was officiated by Mr K T Yung and Mr Jeff Chui.

Mr Eric F. Tsang, System Development Manager, Engineering System Department, The Hong Kong And China Gas Company Limited, also joined the event today and shared the company's successful experience in the introduction of its OSS-based Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system on the Mainland.

Since 2003 HKPC has been promoting the business adoption of Linux, one of the major components of OSS. To raise the business sector's awareness of Linux and encourage a wider adoption of the platform, the Linux Business Award was organized in 2003 and 2005. In 2005 the 'SME Linux Jumpstart Programme' was launched to promote the adoption of Linux among local SMEs. The Programme included a survey on the adoption of Linux in Hong Kong and field tests of various Linux tools and products.

In November 2006, HKPC and the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation launched a programme to assist local software companies to apply for listing on the Guangdong e-Government Linux Software and Hardware Recommended Procurement List. 15 software companies, with 22 software products, have joined the programme.

For further information on the HKOSSC, please visit the website: www.hkossc.hkpc.org, or contact HKPC's Mr Steve Lau at tel. (852) 2788 6081, or e-mail at: stevelau@hkpc.org.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms Betty Lee
General Manager
Corporate Communications and Events
Tel: (852) 2788 5895
Fax: (852) 2788 5056
E-mail: justina@hkpc.org
Website: www.hkpc.org

HKPC
13 December 2006