An 18-member Hong Kong/Guangdong cloud expert group was formed today by the Hong Kong Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGICO) and the Economic and Information Commission of Guangdong Province to set cloud computing standards and best practices.
The OGCIO has in May formed the "Expert Group on Cloud Computing Services and Standards" locally in Hong Kong. It engaged about 20 local IT professionals to develop the best practices and guidelines on cloud computing security, service level and interoperability.
Officially named the "Hong Kong/Guangdong Expert Committee on Cloud Computing Services and Standards," the new cloud expert committee was established under the "Hong Kong/Guangdong Expert Group on Co-operation in Informatization."
It will be tasked to facilitate cross-border co-operation between Guangdong and Hong Kong in promoting cloud computing adoption and development, to formulate the cloud standards and practices, and to nurture cloud computing talents.
Elizabeth Tse, Hong Kong government's permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology), said, "It won't be sufficint if Hong Kong develops only Hong Kong-applicable cloud standards, but which aren't agreed upon by the Guangdong province."
Tse added that there is an internal consensus that the Hong Kong/Guangdong Cloud Expert Committee will develop some cloud standards by the first quarter of 2013.
Charles Mok, founding chairman of Internet Society Hong Kong said, "The newly established Hong Kong/Guangdong cloud expert committee will be of some use [to the local IT community] because big IT companies like Huawei and ZTE are in all located in Guangdong, and they maintain close cooperation with the government."
"The challenge for this cloud expert committee is it needs to extend the collaboration from beyond the government level, and reach out to the IT communities at large in both Hong Kong and the Guangdong province," Mok added.