Hongkong Post e-Cert

Date: 19 March 2003

Hongkong Post and HP Collaborate to Drive Adoption of Free e-Cert on Smart ID Card

HONG KONG, March 19, 2003 – Hewlett-Packard Hong Kong Limited (HP) and Hongkong Post today unveiled collaborative initiatives to promote the growth and development of the use of embedded digital certificates (e-Cert) on Smart ID Cards.

HP and Hongkong Post have committed to engage in far-reaching promotional and development efforts for the implementation and use of e-Cert solutions in Hong Kong. HP will tailor-make a set of activities to engage software, solutions and services partners, including seminars and workshops focused on different aspects of e-Cert and Smart ID development and deployment. These activities will assist and encourage Hong Kong software developers to create homegrown businesses and solution software to take advantage of the soon-to-be-ubiquitous e-Cert once they are embedded in the new Smart ID cards.

In addition, HP will make available a packaged toolkit to enable application developers and web site developers to quickly design and deploy business and consumer solutions for e-Cert use. This toolkit will make it relatively easy to incorporate various e-Cert related functions, such as encryption, authentication, and online directory lookup, into software.

HP is also working on the integration of smart card readers on its consumer desktop PCs, including Presario and Pavilion families. The tentative availability schedule will be July 2003. For e-Cert holders, the installation of smart card readers on their computers will provide them with easy access to all the online services using the authentication capabilities of e-Certs on Smart ID cards.

Hongkong Post is the first public certification authority (CA) in Hong Kong recognized under the Electronic Transactions Ordinance (Cap.553). Hongkong Post e-Certs will soon play an integral part in the new Smart ID Card replacement exercise scheduled to commence in mid-2003, when all Hong Kong identify card holders will be successively issued with new Smart ID cards to replace their existing Hong Kong ID cards.

As part of the drive to boost e-business and e-government developments in the SAR, Hongkong Post will offer every Smart ID card holder an option to embed an e-Cert in the card's memory chip for one year of free usage.

To encourage convenient applications for free e-Certs, residents can register in advance on the Internet, by post, by fax or at post offices. They can also apply for Smart ID cards by visiting Hongkong Post's special service counters at the Immigration Department's Smart ID Card Centres and complete applications for the free e-Cert. The e-Cert will then be loaded into the Smart ID card when it is issued.

Just as a Smart ID card will provide proof of identity in the real world, the e-Cert provides proof of identity in the cyber world. It will enable ID card holders to enjoy a wide range of secure services such as Internet stock trading, e-banking, e-government services, making payments over the Web, online betting and entertainment services.

HP has been Hongkong Post's strategic technology partner right from the beginning of its CA project in 1999. As the prime systems integrator and consultant on Hongkong Post's PKI-based CA project, HP Services is responsible for constructing and implementing Hongkong Post's vital CA information technology infrastructure based on HP platforms, and third-party solutions from Syntegra and Baltimore Technologies.

"Hongkong Post is excited about the launch of the e-Cert on Smart ID card, and we believe that the offer of one year's free use of the e-Cert will engender the growth of a critical mass of users. That will in turn encourage industry initiatives to bring about new business applications or services that ride on the use of e-Cert on Smart ID cards. Hongkong Post is delighted to enlist the support of HP, one of the technology leaders, whose expertise and experience are critical to this significant project for the citizens of Hong Kong," said Mr. P.C. Luk, Postmaster General.

"HP is excited and honored to be playing a role in helping Hong Kong become an Asian leader in Smart ID and digital certificate technologies," said Peter Yeung, General manager, Hewlett-Packard Hong Kong Limited. "We are deeply committed to the long-term growth of Hong Kong as the IT hub of Asia, and we have a lengthy track record to show for it, including our long-term involvement in the ESDlife electronic services portal, and we were the only company selected across all four categories of the Hong Kong government's ITPSA services tender. We see the e-Cert on Smart ID Card project as a highly-strategic initiative for HP in Hong Kong, helping to elevate our city's digital leadership in this region."

About Hongkong Post

To enable the development of electronic commerce in Hong Kong, Hongkong Post has created a public key infrastructure (PKI) and established on 31 January 2000 the first public Certification Authority (CA) in Hong Kong.

As empowered by S34 of the Electronic Transaction Ordinance (ETO), the Postmaster General is a recognised certification authority in Hong Kong. Hongkong Post issues digital certificates, namely Hongkong Post e-Certs, to individuals and businesses to authenticate the identity of the subscribers over the Internet. Hongkong Post issues various types of e-Cert, namely Personal, Organisational, Encipherment, Server and Mobile e-Cert. Hongkong Post CA maintains a certificate repository and directory to allow the public to verify the validity of a particular Hongkong Post e-Cert prior to carrying out transactions. These services provide a secure and reliable environment for the conduct of electronic commerce in Hong Kong.

The Hongkong Post e-Cert may be used for electronic government services or commercial electronic transactions in the fields of banking, finance, telecommunications, entertainment, education, health etc.

About HP

HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. HP completed its acquisition of HP Computer Corporation on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at https://www.hp.com.hk.

High resolution print-quality photographs can be downloaded from http://www.shoutasia.com/hp.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the possibility that the market for the sale of certain products and services may not develop as expected; that development and performance of these products and services may not proceed as planned; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 31, 2002, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 21, 2003, and subsequently filed reports. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, HP's results could differ materially from HP's expectations in these statements. HP assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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