freebXML Website Launched to Host 'free' ebXML Development Projects

[Thomas Lee <ytlee@cecid.hku.hk>]

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freebXML Website Launched to Host 'free' ebXML Development Projects
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Hong Kong, Peoples Republic of China - September 13, 2002 - The Steering
Committee of freebXML is pleased to announce today the launch of a new
initiative that aims to foster the development and adoption of ebXML and
related technologies. Pronounced as "Free b X M L" freebXML is an
international effort comprising of founding members from technology
firms, government organizations, standardization bodies, and academic
institutions. Representatives include Cyclone Commerce (USA), Kasetsart
University (Thailand), Korea Institute for Electronic Commerce (Korea),
Sterling Commerce (USA), Sun Microsystems (USA), Sybase (USA), XML
Global (Canada), and the University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong, China).
www.freebXML.org is sponsored and hosted by the Center for E-Commerce
Infrastructure Development (CECID) and Department of Computer Science &
Information Systems of HKU.

The mission of freebXML is to provide a centralized Website (URL:
http://www.freebxml.org) for ebXML users and developers from around the
world to access and share 'free' ebXML code and applications. Users and
developers can also exchange their ebXML development and deployment
experience at www.freebXML.org.

Some features of www.freebxml.org include 'open source' projects for
download, deployment or use cases of ebXML technology, a list of ebXML
vendor products, latest news on freebXML, and discussion forums for
developers and users. Access to www.freebxml.org is free of charge and
open to all individuals and organizations interested in ebXML; no
memberships are required.

Initially, two 'open-source' projects are available for download: Hermes
and ebxmlrr. Hermes is a Message Service Handler (MSH) implementation of
OASIS' ebXML Message Service V2 Standard. ebxmlrr is an implementation
of the ebXML Registry/Repository V2 Standard. Donated to the ebXML
development community by CECID, Hermes is released under the Academic
Free License.ebxmlrr, hosted at Source Forge, is an international
collaboration with developers from around the world based on the initial
code donation by Sun Microsystems Inc. The ebxmlrr project is released
under an Apache style open source license that permits royalty free use
of the source and binaries.

freebXML.org Founding and Steering Committee Members:

The Steering Committee of freebXML provides guidance on technical and
promotional direction for the freebXML initiative. Members include
technical leaders from international technology firms, government
organizations, standardization bodies and academic institutions.

Chair:
David Cheung, Center for E-Commerce Infrastructure Development, The
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Steering Committee Members:
Suresh Damodaran, Sterling Commerce, USA
Jasmine Jang, Korea Institute for Electronic Commerce, Korea
Somnuk Keretho, Kasetsart University, Thailand
Francis Lau, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Thomas Lee, Center for E-Commerce Infrastructure Development, Hong Kong,
China
Matthew Mackenzie, XML Global, Canada
Dale Moberg, Cyclone Commerce, USA
Himagiri (Hima) Mukkamala, Sybase, USA
Farrukh Najmi, Sun Microsystems, USA
Nikola Stojanovic, Individual Member, USA

About CECID (http://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 Hong Kong increase
its competitiveness in the international arena. CECID has the missions
to develop e-commerce enabling technologies, to join important
international e-commerce initiatives, to support e-commerce
standardization for Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific Region, and to
transfer e-commerce technology and skills to the community. As an OASIS
member, CECID is participating in the standardization projects, such as
ebXML and Universal Business Language (UBL). CECID also collaborates
with a number of lead technology users in the Asia Pacific Region on the
application of advanced e-commerce technologies.

About ebXML (http://www.ebxml.org):
The mission of ebXML is to provide an open XML-based infrastructure
enabling the global use of electronic business information in an
interoperable, secure and consistent manner by all parties. ebXML
(Electronic Business using Extensible Markup Language), sponsored by
UN/CEFACT and OASIS, is a modular suite of specifications that enables
enterprises of any size and in any geographical location to conduct
business over the Internet. Using ebXML, companies now have a standard
method to exchange business messages, conduct trading relationships,
communicate data in common terms and define and register business
processes.

About OASIS (http://www.oasis-open.org):
OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information
Standards) is a not-for-profit, global consortium that drives the
development, convergence and adoption of e-business standards. Members
themselves set the OASIS technical agenda, using a lightweight, open
process expressly designed to promote industry consensus and unite
disparate efforts. OASIS produces worldwide standards for security, Web
services, XML conformance, business transactions, electronic publishing,
topic maps and interoperability within and between marketplaces.

About Sun Microsystems (http://www.sun.com ):
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- The Network Is The
ComputerTM -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), to
its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware,
software and services that power the Internet and allow companies
worldwide to dot-com their businesses. With $19.2 billion in annual
revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries.

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 & Information Systems
The University of Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2859 2818
Fax: +852 2547 4611
URL: http://www.cecid.hku.hk



-- 
   Thomas Y.T. LEE
   Chief Technology Officer
   Center for E-Commerce Infrastructure Development (CECID)
   Department of Computer Science and Information Systems
   The University of Hong Kong
   E-mail: ytlee@cecid.hku.hk  URL: http://www.cecid.hku.hk
   Tel: +852 22415388  Fax: +852 25474611
   Room 301, Chow Yei Ching Building
   Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China