An announcement from the University of Hong Kong Center for E-commerce Infrastructure Development (CECID) describes three ebXML pilot projects designed to "demonstrate the feasibility and added value of ebXML applications. CECID was recently awarded funding of USD $1.2 million from the Innovation and Technology Commission for an R&D project on the Establishment of an ebXML Software Infrastructure in Hong Kong. The new Project Phoenix aims to facilitate the adoption of e-commerce in Hong Kong to enhance the region's competitiveness; the R&D team has started intense development work on a local e-commerce software infrastructure and is carrying out pilot projects with industry and government partners in Hong Kong, based on the international ebXML standard. (1) MTR Corporation and Saggio Company are piloting the use of ebXML for the exchange of purchasing documents in automating transaction processing in office supplies procurement. (2) CECID is developing an ebMail prototype for pharmaceutical companies to apply to the Department of Health for import and export licenses of pharmaceutical products. (3) CECID is also developing an ebXML solution for the Marine Department to receive Dangerous Goods Manifests in XML form from shipping agents."

From the announcement:

The Center for E-commerce Infrastructure Development (CECID) of HKU's Department of Computer Science and Information Systems is supporting three pilot projects to demonstrate the feasibility and added values of ebXML applications. MTR Corporation (the subway operator of Hong Kong) and Saggio (Asia Pacific) Company (a leading office supplies vendor in Asia) are piloting the use of ebXML for the exchange of purchasing documents in automating transaction processing in office supplies procurement.

To be in line with Hong Kong Government's Digital 21 Strategy, CECID is collaborating with the Department of Health, the Marine Department, and the Information and Technology Services Department in the Government in two other business-to-government projects. CECID is developing an ebMail prototype for pharmaceutical companies to apply to the Department of Health for import and export licenses of pharmaceutical products. ebMail is designed as a low-cost, easy-to-use, and practical application for SMEs to conduct e-commerce activities through e-mail using the ebXML protocol. In the area of transportation and logistics, CECID is developing an ebXML solution for the Marine Department to receive Dangerous Goods Manifests in XML form from shipping agents.

Under Project Phoenix, CECID will build the essential technology components in the ebXML architecture and intends to make them available to the world as open-source software. For instance, CECID has joined renowned technology firms, such as Sun Microsystems in the United States, to develop an ebXML Registry (Version 2) server, which is a core ebXML technology. This is the first implementation of the Registry Specifications Version 2 and is recognized as the reference implementation for further Registry development worldwide. CECID, a major contributor, was chosen to host the international test site for the software.

Besides implementing ebXML technology components, CECID also carries out research and development work on innovative e-commerce applications to facilitate ebXML deployment in Hong Kong and China.