The Hong Kong Public Key Infrastructure Forum, chaired by the Postmaster General, Mr Allan Chiang, will host an international conference on "The Usage of PKI in e-Business" from September 15-16 at Harbour Plaza, Hunghom, Kowloon.

The conference is in line with the SAR Government's 2001 Digital 21 Strategy to position Hong Kong as a leading e-business community and digital city in the globally connected world.

"This international conference will be the e-business event of the year and it will will help enhance Hong Kong's e-business environment," said Mr Chiang.

"With regional and international participation, the event will also help bring out the message that Hong Kong has now fully recovered from SARS and is Asia's world city both for business and tourism. It will further reinforce the status of Hong Kong as the Internet hub for the Asia Pacific Region," Mr Chiang added.

Smart technology in action

"The opening day for the forum is also the first day for the Hong Kong public to replace their identify cards with a new smart identify card, and opt to embed a digital certificate in the new card at the same time. This is an excellent example of the usage of PKI in facilitating e-transactions," Mr Chiang said.

Attending the event will be Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology (Communications and Technology) Francis Ho and Director of Information Technology Services Alan Wong, who will be the first speaker.

There will be about 250 senior executives participating in this International Conference and about 70 of them will be delegates of member PKI forums from the Asia Pacific Region.

Distinguished speakers to attend the forum

The conference will be attended by four keynote speakers of international repute, together with local and overseas experts who will speak on various subjects relating to the development of business applications using PKI technology.

The International Conference is partly sponsored by the government's Relaunch Hong Kong Programme and partly through the support of its members.

A limited number of seats is available for the public at HK$3,000 each. Those interested can call the Secretariat, Hong Kong PKI Forum on 2921 6059 or fax to 2545 6607 for details.