Location: The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Workshop on Open source Applications and Standards, Sophia Antipolis, France / Event Date: Dec 16, 2004 / Organization: European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)

1. Development of Open Source and
Standards Technology in Hong Kong
Thomas Lee
Chief Technology Officer
Center for E-Commerce Infrastructure Development
The University of Hong Kong
ETSI Workshop on
Open Source and Open Standards
Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

2. CECID
HK University R&D center established in 2002
20+ full time staffs
Focus: Open Source B2B and EAI Technology
Primarily funded by HK Govt (US$3M)
Project Phoenix (US$1.2M): establish ebXML infrastructure in HK
Project Pyxis (US$1.8M): develop e-business interoperability
software platform
Additional industry sponsorship ~US$0.9M (cash and software)
Commercial revenue
R&D outsourcing and consultancy
R&D productization
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

3. B2B Integration
Business Partner Business Partner
e.g. Buyer e.g. Seller
PO
Invoice
B2B procurement
G2B document submission, trade declaration
Document exchange with trading hub
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

4. Enterprise Application Integration
BP
.Net / Microsoft Java / Linux
Oracle
AS400
PeopleSoft
Very expensive commercial EAI
packages
Solutions usually requires extensive
customization
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

5. OS2 E-Commerce Technology
OS2 = Open Standards × Open Source (Software)
Catalyst for e-commerce adoption
Open Standards
Interoperability between different products by different vendors
Competitive market more cost-effective products
Open Source (Software)
Commoditize mature software components vendors compete
in value-added products and services
Lower entry cost in new technology adoption
Foster quality home grown products / services for local and
international adoption
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

6. ebXML B2B E-Commerce
Electronic Business Using XML
Internet based B2B e-commerce infrastructure
Low cost EDI alternative, esp. for SMEs and developing countries
Co-developed by United Nations UN/CEFACT and OASIS
(~400 tech com’s and org’s)
V1 released in May 2001, V2 has become mature
ebXML Message Service V2 widely adopted esp. in Asia
ebMS: enhanced Web Services with integrated security and
reliability mechanisms
Core Component Technical Specification accepted as
data modeling methodology for B2B exchange
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

7. Hermes Integration Suite
B2B and EAI open source software suite
i.e. free to use and provide services
B2B Messaging Gateway (ebMS V2)
Received ebXML Asia Interoperability Cert, HK IT Excellence Awards
Merit and Asia Pacific ICT Awards Merit
Very mature product, many production cases deployed in HK and
overseas
Will support AS2 and other protocols in next release (Dec 2004)
ebMail
E-form client to email electronic documents to the gateway
SMEs can prepare documents on GUI and dial up to send/receive
documents
Web Services Integrator (to be open-sourced in Jan 2005)
EAI engine to integrate data between heterogeneous enterprise apps
Based on Web Services Business Process Execution Language (WSBPEL)
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

8. ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

9. ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

10. B2B Connector
Commercialized Hermes as
standalone device for B2B
exchange
Plug-and-play, Internet-based,
low-cost
Support conversion between
different e-business standards
Connect SMEs to large trading
partners
e.g. governments, large buyers,
exchange hub… FAX machine for
e-commerce
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

11. Sony HMV
Music
4 ebXML
1
Messaging
Service
over HTTP/S
3
Internet
Internet
2
Hermes Hermes
ebMS Gateway ebMS Gateway
Delivery of CDs
5
ebXML for B2B procurement
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

12. Dangerous Goods Declaration with ebXML
Shipping
Agents Paper submission
HKSAR
1 Govt
W
eb
su
bm
2 iss
io n
Internet
Hermes XML submission Hermes
MSH 3 ebXML Message Service
MSH
B2G document submission in ebXML
Common B2G gateway developed in govt
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

13. Large HK Subway Operator
WS-
BPEL
PeopleSoft Oracle
Financial
Procurement
System
.Net app
FoxPro
app
Java app
E.g. staffing / finance / procurement applications Dec 2004
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16
integration

14. Product Data Synchronization
Retailer Supplier
GDSN
User Browser Recipient Source User Browser
Data Pool Data Pool
GDS Connector GDS Connector
Global Data
Synchronization
Backend System Backend System
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

15. Hermes Integration Suite
Business
partner
ebXML
Web
Services
ISP
Large enterprise
SME partner
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

16. HKSARG Interoperability
Framework
Standardizes technologies used
in eGovernment services, e.g.
Web Services – simple integration
ebMS v2 – reliable doc exchange
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

17. HK Govt XML Data Standardization
XML data modeling and standardization
for e-govt applications
Standardized Common Schemas
person’s name, HKID#, address, etc.
Central Data Registry
http://www.xml.gov.hk
Already applied in G2G/G2B cases, e.g.
Infectious diseases notification
Weather info publishing
One of international eGovernment best
practices
http://egovernment.xml.org
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

18. DTTN eLogistics Platform in HK
Digital Trade and
Transportation Network
Large scale eLogisitcs
infrastructure for 9 industries
Study report estimates
Investment of US$380M over
17 years
Benefits of US$1.5 billion
Backbone: ebXML + Web
Services
We believe OSS will play an
important role for companies
to connect to the platform
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

19. OS2 for Technology Adoption
Chasm
Early Market Mainstream Market
Visionaries Pragmatists Conservatives Skeptics
ad hoc / OSS OSS adoption software product hardware
proprietary dev. adoption product
solutions adoption
open
open standards OSS hardware product
standards adoption productization dev.
dev. ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

20. Timeline of ebXML Adoption in HK
2001.5: ebXML v1 2003.1: ebXML 2004.1: Surpassed
finalized Asia interop. 10K downloads for
2001.5: ebXML certification Hermes and ebMail
funding proposal 2003.6: 2004.2: Completed
submitted opensourced
HKSARG Schema
2002.1: secured 1st ebMail – ebMS for
SMEs Guide based on
funding
CCTS and UBL
2002.4: hosted 2003.9: Launched
ebXML registry test 1st two B2B, B2G 2004.8: Hermes
site ebXML production won HK IT
2002.9: started cases Excellence Award
freebXML.org 2003.11: Secured Merit
2002.9: opensourced 2nd funding 2004.11: 1st B2B
Hermes – ebMS OSS Connector
deployed
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

21. HK Users & Known Overseas Users
Recorded 10,000+ downloads from 65+ countries
Overseas Users
Spherion (Australia)
TEDIS (Australia)
connect to Telstra
TIE (The Netherlands)
Webswell (USA)
CrimsonLogic (Singapore)
I3T (Thailand)
DangangNet (Malaysia)
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

22. The Road Ahead
Market-driven business models for open source software
support, services, and productization
University-driven initiatives are not sustainable
Technology transfer is critical
International collaboration in development and provision
of open source solutions
Promotion of industry perception on open source
software’s business values
Esp. governments, large enterprises, vendors
A business spin-off is planned for sustainable
development and provision of open source solutions
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

23. We Believe B2B E-Commerce…
Will take off when mature standards (e.g.
ebXML and UBL) and software, esp. in OS2, are
available in 2 years
Will be enabled by simple plug-and-play
software and hardware in 5 years
Will eventually become as easy-to-use and
widespread as fax machine
ETSI Workshop, Sophia Antipolis, France, 16 Dec 2004

24. Thank You
URL: http://www.cecid.hku.hk
Email: ytlee@cecid.hku.hk