joint universities computer centre annual report
TRANSCRIPT
JOINT UNIVERSITIES COMPUTER CENTRE
ANNUAL REPORT
CONTENTS
ABOUT JUCC DIRECTOR'S REPORT
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEARP. 5
CHAIRMAN'S FOREWORDP. 2
GOVERNANCE REPORTP. 10
HONG KONG ACCESS FEDERATION
P. 9
FINANCIAL REPORTP. 14
INFORMATION SECURITYP. 9
P. 1 P. 3
HARNETP. 6
ABOUT JUCC
MISSIONS• Fostering deep collaborations among higher education member institutions
• Providing cutting-edge IT facilities and support services for academic and research advancement and excellence
• Serving the future IT needs of higher education and Hong Kong
• Developing collaborations with academia and professionals around the world
Incorporated in 1970, the Joint Universities Computer Centre (JUCC) is
a cooperative effort of the Computing/Information Technology Services
Centres of the eight government-funded tertiary institutions in Hong Kong.
Being the consortium of the tertiary institutions of Hong Kong, the JUCC
has a long history of inter-institutional collaboration in the development
and application of IT in the higher education community, contributing to
education and the development of IT in Hong Kong.
JUCC's primary objective is to coordinate, develop, provide and advise on
computing and IT services in teaching, learning, research and administration
for its member institutions and Hong Kong's education community at
large. The JUCC today comprises eight institutional Full Members and nine
Affiliate Members.
JUCC MEMBER INSTITUTIONS
FULL MEMBERS
AFFILIATE MEMBERS
• The University of Hong Kong
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• City University of Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Baptist University
• The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• Lingnan University
• The Education University of Hong Kong
• The Open University of Hong Kong
• Vocational Training Council
• University of Macau
• Tung Wah College
• The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
• The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong
• BNU - HKBU United International College
• Chu Hai College of Higher Education
• Caritas Institute of Higher Education (from 1 July 2019)
• Hong Kong Shue Yan University (from 1 January 2020)
1
CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD
Institutions in Hong Kong are driving change at an ever increasing pace,
underpinned by digital transformation and capabilities. A solid technology
foundation is imperative in supporting the core activities of teaching,
learning, research and innovation at all universities. At JUCC we continue to
grow and evolve to support our members in this endeavour.
The year of 2018-19 has been another busy one for JUCC, its members
and staff. Despite all the challenges we encountered, great outcomes
have been achieved. Of particular note is the Operation Review Exercise of
JUCC. We also saw 36 participants attending the JUCC Leadership Institute.
Fund applications for two new initiatives to establish joint university IT
infrastructure were submitted to the University Grants Committee by the
JUCC Steering Committee. JUCC´s strategic procurement on high value
activities continued with advice and input from members.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the JUCC Board,
Steering Committee and staff for their passion and commitment over the
year, and also acknowledge and thank Dr P T Ho for his contributions as
JUCC Director in the last year.
Mr Chris MONG JUCC Chairman
2
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
It is a great honor for me to take up the Directorship of JUCC in July 2019. It is such an energetic
organization with solid foundations laid by my predecessors. The immediate past Director, Dr P T
Ho, has made initiated a few projects that will take JUCC forward in the years to come.
In response to the innovation and technology boosted in the HKSAR Policy Address,
the JUCC Steering Committee has attempted to submit two proposals, via the Heads of
Universities Committee (HUCOM), to seek funding support from the University Grants
Committee (UGC). They are:
(i) The proposal submitted for “Setting up a Joint University Super-Computing Facility＂
is a first step in fostering the establishment of a HKSAR-wide High Performance
Computing (HPC) facility for filling the gap between an institutional facility and the
national facility, and
(ii) The proposal for upgrading the global research network connectivity of HARNET aims
at assuring access by researchers of JUCC institutions to the latest research network
facilities required for international exchanges, collaborations and partnership in
cutting-edge research studies and innovations.
STRATEGIC WAY FORWARD
JUCC continues to collaborate with leading international overseas and regional IT organizations.
We have signed Memorandum of Understanding with TEIN*CC, SingAREN and NICT during
the year for establishing direct research network connection with HARNET through its Hong
Kong Open Exchange. JUCC has supported staff of its members to represent JUCC in attending
international conferences including APAN46 in Auckland, APAN47 in Daejeon, Internet2 Global
Summit in US and TNC19 in Estonia, to keep abreast of the technology advancement and foster
knowledge exchange and collaborations.
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS
The 5th JUCC Leadership Institute was held on 27-29 March 2019 and a total number of 35
participants from JUCC and non-JUCC members joined the event. Its purpose is to offer a
series of activities, case studies and group projects to cultivate a set of important soft skills
such as personnel and performance management, career management, emotional intelligence,
teamwork, change management, and to bring their awareness of the big picture in IT and
higher education so that they can become the future leaders of Information and Communication
Technology in higher education in Hong Kong and elsewhere. Overseas trainers were invited
to conduct the major sessions while the JUCC Steering Committee members, Mr. Samuel
Kwan, Ms. Jennifer Lau and myself also assisted the teaching and case studies discussion. All
participants and the instructors enjoyed the Institute very much and learnt a lot from each other.
LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
3
In early 2018, JUCC has engaged a consultant to review the operation of JUCC Office. A
JUCC Working Group on Strategic Development Direction was also formed with a view to
redefine the goals of JUCC, including but not limited to having a lean and efficient operation of
JUCC, fostering deeper collaboration among members, and creating values for JUCC. Having
considered the suggestions from the Working Group and the Consultant Review Report, a few
new arrangements have been adopted to improve the efficiency and accountability of JUCC
operation.
OPERATION REVIEW IN JUCC OFFICE
JUCC will reach its 50th anniversary in 2020. A working group consisting of myself, Mr Samuel
Kwan, Mr John Hui and JUCC staff has been formed to plan and organize celebratory programs
to commemorate the contributions and achievements of JUCC to the local tertiary education
community and to the Hong Kong society in the last half-century.
50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
LOOKING FORWARDDuring 2018-19, much has been achieved and significant progress has been made in various
areas. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the commitment of our Board of
Management, the Steering Committee, Task Forces, Special Interest Groups and Office staff
of JUCC. All have provided valuable inputs to lead to the success of JUCC. With our solid
foundation of 50 years of remarkable achievements, I am looking forward to JUCC moving
onward and upward in the contribution we make to Hong Kong higher education community in
the years ahead.
Dr Louisa LAM JUCC Director
4
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
AUG | 2018
• Establish connection with TransPAC
• Sign MOU with SingAREN on collaboration in HKOX
• Sign MOU with TEIN*CC on collaboration in HKOX
DEC | 2018
MAR | 2019
FEB | 2019
• JUCC Leadership Institute 2019
• Establish connection with SingAREN
• Sign MOU with NICT on collaboration in HKOX
The JUCC Leadership Institute is a 3 days 2 nights residential programme
with strong focus on "soft-skills" training and the roles individuals play
supporting the mission and strategic directions of the higher education sector.
5
HARNET
The Hong Kong Academic and Research NETwork (HARNET) is the wide
area network which links up the campus networks of the eight tertiary
institutions in Hong Kong and connects them to the global Internet. HARNET
is operated and managed by the JUCC to promote the development,
deployment, operation and technology transfer of advanced network
infrastructure for innovation, research and educational excellence in
Hong Kong.
The high-speed HARNET network infrastructure is one of the most
valuable JUCC assets and a shared platform enabling JUCC members for
collaborative advanced research and teaching in Hong Kong and globally.
In the past years, our well-managed sophisticated HARNET network had
enabled our smooth establishment of the Hong Kong Open Exchange
(HKOX). The JUCC Network Task Force (NTF), made up of experienced
technical staff from JUCC member institutions and under the leadership of
Mr David Choi (CUHK), worked closely to develop and leverage HARNET for
collaborative networking.
The Optical HARNET backbone service had been provided by WTT HK
Limited since July 2016 under a three-year contract, which would expire
in July 2019. Taking the chance of same-year termination of the Optical
HARNET and HARNET contract, the NTF had conducted a large scale
tendering exercise this year for sourcing more cost effective solutions for
Optical HARNET and HARNET. An Optical HARNET replacement solution
was selected for the first time and 16 local 10GE circuits would be used
to replace the current Optical HARNET. HGC Global Communications
Limited (HGC) was awarded with a three-year contract for the Optical
HARNET replacement solution and the NTF had been closely monitoring the
migration process conducted by HGC.
LOCAL HARNET BACKBONE
The last HARNET Infrastructure and Services contract
awarded to the Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited
(HKBN) and Hong Kong Telecommunications Limited
(HKT) expired in March 2019. After a price-competing
tendering exercise, the same vendors had been selected
to provide the same services for three more years.
The international Internet bandwidth was upgraded to
7.9Gbps in September 2018 and subsequently a further
upgrade to 8.7Gbps in September 2019.
HARNET / INTERNET SERVICES
HARNET continued its connection with Asi@Connect
with bandwidth at 2.5Gbps with effect from 1 June
2018. The connection with CERNET was maintained at
155Mbps. Besides, peering arrangements have also
been established with various National Research and
Education Networks (NRENs). These included APAN-
JP (Asia Pacific Advanced Network-Japan), ASNET
(Academic Sinica, Taiwan), KISTI / KREONET2 (Korea
Research Environment Open Network2 run by Korea
Institute of Science and Technology Information) and
TANET (Taiwan Academic Network).
CONNECTION TO INTERNATIONAL ADVANCED RESEARCH NETWORKS
(JUCC Representatives introduced HKOX to NRENs in APAN46)6
The HKOX is established as an extension of the HARNET operated by
JUCC. It represents our collective effort in response to the Global Network
Architecture (GNA) initiative championed by the community of R&E
network operators of countries and economies around the world. Tapping
in advances in networking technologies, GNA advocates setting up open
exchange points (OXP) in strategic locations around the world where high-
speed intercontinental links can terminate. These OXPs are intended as the
regional hub for R&E networks such that nearby economies can enjoy better
network connectivity at much lower costs.
The JUCC participated as part of the project in order to
foster research and education collaboration among local
and overseas academic and research institutions by
setting up the Hong Kong Open Exchange/ HARNET R&E
node. The HKOX switch has already been in production
and 1GE, 10GE and 100GE connections for NRENs could
be provided. As of 30 June 2019, cross-connection
with HKIX R&E Node, KREONET, Google, CSTNet, JGN,
TransPAC and SingAREN have been established and
MoUs on collaboration in the HKOX were signed with
the Indiana University, SingAREN, TEIN*CC and NICT as
of June 2019.
HONG KONG OPEN EXCHANGE (HKOX)
7
HONG KONG ACCESS FEDERATION
The JUCC Information Security Task Force (ISTF), comprising Information
Security (IS) professionals from the JUCC member institutions, continued to
collaborate on IS incident management and technical knowledge sharing
under the leadership of its Convenor, Mr Steven Chan (HKBU) and Deputy
Convenor, Mr Philip Tang (OUHK). The ISTF had completed their two-year
work plan initiated since July 2017.
During this year, a few security awareness promotion and training materials
from six institutions had been developed, including mobile security by CUHK,
ransomware by HKBU, phishing attack by UM, cyber security newsletters by
HSUHK, best practices & guidelines for email security by TWC, and lastly the
security aware training material prepared by HKU. Besides, policy templates
for public cloud service and BYOD had been produced for reference by all
members. Apart from it, several experience sharing on IS initiatives had
been conducted by members or vendors. Topics included
2FA implementation, white hacking & manual pen-
test, spam, phishing & malware filtering in email, IoT
security and GDPR risk assessment.
Mr Harry Chan (CityU) and Mr Terence Sze (VTC)
would serve as the Convenor and Deputy
Convenor of ISTF respectively effective from
1 July 2019.
INFORMATION SECURITY
Hong Kong Access Federation (HKAF) is a strategic initiative of JUCC,
started in August 2015 and led by the Access Federation Working Group.
The working group was subsequently transformed to the Identity & Access
Management Task Force (IAM-TF) in September 2017.
HKAF represents the collective effort of JUCC members to provide a
trust framework for supporting cross-organization user authentication
and resource access control, which is needed in the ever increasing
collaborative research and online resource sharing. An user could
gain access to authorized HKAF-connected resources with just one
trusted identity provided by his /her home institution and with Single
Sign-On support.
The set-up of HKAF has confirmed itself an important functions of HARNET
for supporting inter-institutional collaborations and for facilitating efficient
and global access of information resources. By the end of December 2018,
the HKAF connected Service Providers (SPs) included iClass (HKU), KEEP
(CUHK), HKMOOC (HKUST), Language Enhancement for Capstone Project
(PolyU), and PRAGMA Cloud. Besides, the list of eduGAIN SPs successfully
onboard included ScienceDirect (Elsevier) and ORCID. HKU had also
completed the required compliance work for CILogon and it is now available
for user access in Production Federation.
Apart from the above SP connections, JUCC has
also approached HKEdCity and HKIRC for potential
col laborat ion opportunit ies and to study ways
to promote HKAF to the primary and secondary
education sectors.
With the collective effort of JUCC members, we
anticipated that the HKAF ecosystem would continue to
grow and more R&E use cases would emerge to bring
more business value to our members.
8
GOVERNANCE REPORT
BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
Pursuant to the Articles of Association of JUCC, the Board is the supreme governing body of
JUCC. At present, the Board comprises 17 members, 1 of whom is an independent member
(i.e. the Chairman) and 2 appointed members from each of the eight full members. The Board
usually holds two meetings every year. In 2018-19, there was no contract of significance for
the provision of services or goods to JUCC in which a Board member is or was materially
interested, either directly or indirectly. The list of Board members and their attendance record
are set out below.
MEMBERSHIP AS OF 30 JUNE 2019 AND THE SUBSEQUENT CHANGES UP TO THE DATE OF THE REPORT
ATTENDANCE OF BOARD MEETING
Date of Meeting Number of Member Present
Percentage of Member Present
10 December 2018 17 100%
17 June 2019 16 94%
CHAIRMANMr Chris Mong
APPOINTED MEMBERS
HKU• Mr Peter E Sidorko• Dr P T Ho
CUHK• Ms Salome Lam• Dr Michael Chang
PolyU• Miss April Wong• Mr Joseph Wong
CityU• Prof Christian Wagner• Mr Adams Chan
HKBU
• Mr Edmund Li• Ms Jennifer Lau (up to 1 July 2019)
• Mr Nicky Lam (from 2 July 2019)
HKUST• Ms Alice Wong• Dr Samuel Kwan
LU• Mr Ian Woo• Dr Louisa Lam
EdUHK
• Mr Chaddy Wong• Mr Morris Ng (up to 13 January 2019)
• Mr John Hui (from 14 January 2019)
9
STEERING COMMITTEE
The Steering Committee (SC) is the executive arm of JUCC responsible for deriving development
strategies and approving operational decision. It consists of eight IT Directors / Chief
Information Officers from the full members. Besides, the affiliate members will also sit in the SC
meeting. The Chairman of Steering Committee, also known as the JUCC Director, is on rotation-
basis among the full members. The Steering Committee normally meets every month.
MEMBERSHIP AS OF 30 JUNE 2019 AND THE SUBSEQUENT CHANGES UP TO THE DATE OF THE REPORT
ATTENDANCE OF SC MEETING
Date of Meeting Number of Member Present
Percentage of Member Present
6 July 2018 8 100%
3 August 2018 8 100%
7 September 2018 8 100%
5 October 2018 8 100%
2 November 2018 8 100%
7 December 2018 8 100%
4 January 2019 8 100%
1 February 2019 8 100%
1 March 2019 8 100%
12 April 2019 8 100%
10 May 2019 8 100%
14 June 2019 8 100%
CHAIRMAN
HKU Dr P T Ho(up to 30 June 2019)
LU Dr Louisa Lam(from 1 July 2019)
APPOINTED MEMBERSCUHK • Ms Carol Chiu
PolyU • Mr Joseph Wong
CityU • Mr Adams Chan
HKBU
• Ms Jennifer Lau (up to 1 July 2019)
• Mr Nicky Lam (from 2 July 2019)
HKUST • Dr Samuel Kwan
EdUHK
• Mr Morris Ng (up to 13 January 2019)
• Mr John Hui (from 14 January 2019)
10
NETWORK TASK FORCE
HONG KONG OPEN EXCHANGE POINT TASK FORCE (Merged with NTF since January 2019)
ATTENDANCE OF NTF MEETINGDate of Meeting Number of
Member PresentPercentage of
Member Present
12 July 2018 9 100%
9 August 2018 9 100%
13 September 2018 9 100%
11 October 2018 9 100%
8 November 2018 8 89%
14 December 2018 8 89%
MEMBERSHIP
MEMBERSHIP (AS OF 30 JUNE 2019)
ATTENDANCE OF NTF MEETINGDate of Meeting Number of
Member PresentPercentage of
Member Present
17 July 2018 8 100%
21 August 2018 8 100%
18 September 2018 8 100%
11 October 2018 8 100%
20 November 2018 8 100%
14 December 2018 8 100%
15 January 2019 8 100%
28 February 2019 8 100%
16 April 2019 8 100%
18 June 2019 8 100%
CHAIRMANCUHK Mr David Choi
DEPUTY CHAIRMANHKU Ms Katherine Kwok
MEMBERSPolyU • Mr Patrick Tsui
CityU • Mr Cyril Ha
HKBU • Mr Nicky Lam
HKUST • Mr C S Wong
LU • Mr Waiman Cheung
EdUHK • Mr Francis Fong
HARNET TECHNICAL SUPPORTCUHK • Mr K W Pong
CONVENORHKU Mr Peter Li
MEMBERSCUHK • Mr Walter Lee
PolyU • Mr S K Hau
CityU • Mr Cyril Ha
HKBU • Mr Ken Yam
HKUST • Mr Steven Wong
LU • Mr Waiman Cheung
EdUHK • Mr Francis Fong
OUHK • Mr Derek Pong
11
IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT TASK FORCE
INFORMATION SECURITY TASK FORCE
ATTENDANCE OF ISTF MEETING
Date of Meeting Number of Member Present
Percentage of Member Present Date of Meeting Number of
Member PresentPercentage of
Member Present
17 August 2018 11 69% 18 January 2019 13 81%21 September 2018 12 75% 15 March 2019 13 81%16 November 2018 12 75% 17 May 2019 12 75%
MEMBERSHIP (AS OF 30 JUNE 2019)
ATTENDANCE OF IAMTF MEETINGDate of Meeting Number of Member Present Percentage of Member Present
17 August 2018 8 73%16 November 2018 8 73%
MEMBERSHIP (AS OF 30 JUNE 2019)
CONVENORPolyU Mr Jonathan Cheng
MEMBERSHKU • Mr Eric Lam LU • Mr Waiman Cheung
CUHK • Mr Philip Ling EdUHK • Mr Francis FongCityU • Mr Alex Lam VTC • Mr Terence SzeHKBU • Mr Jack Kwok UM • Mr Marco MaHKUST • Mr Y F Lai CHCHE • Mr William Chung
CONVENORHKBU Mr Steven Chan
DEPUTY CONVENOROUHK Mr Philip Tang
MEMBERSHKU • Mr Kelvin Chan UM • Mr Jeff Wai
CUHK • Ms Connie Law TWC • Mr Pun WongPolyU • Mr Carter Lau HKAPA • Mr Wong Chi-hoCityU • Mr Harry Chan HSUHK • Mr Samuel Shum
HKUST • Mr Charles Choy UIC • Mrs Kelly ChanLU • Mr Dominic Li CHCHE • Mr William Chung
EdUHK • Mr Francis Fong CIHE • Mr William HoVTC • Mr Terence Sze
12
FINANCIAL OVERVIEW FOR 2018-19
JUCC submits its financial statements to annual independent audit. JUCC's
audited financial statements would be approved by JUCC Shareholder
Representatives during the Ordinary General Meeting (AGM). The AGM was
held in conjunction with the Board of Management Meeting in December of
each year.
In 2018-19, a surplus in the JUCC financial report was obtained mainly due
to a series of cost control and efficiency measures. KPMG, JUCC's auditor,
indicated our financial systems and internal controls were well managed.
Membership fee income enables JUCC to continue to
deliver outcomes and support initiatives that advance
members' priorities, such as the enhancement of
HARNET, JUCC Leadership Institute, as well as the
strategic procurement activities, etc.
JUCC'S RETURN TO ITS MEMBERS
HARNET Infrastructure
55%
Administrative (i.e. Salary, Rental, Book keeping etc.)
17%
HARNET Services (i.e. DDos Mitigation)
16%
Miscellaneous
6%
Leadership Institute
3%
HARNET R&E Node (HKOX)
2%
HKAF
1%
The chart shows the distribution of expenditures
of JUCC for the year.
13
FINANCIAL REPORT
STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 (Expressed in Hong Kong dollars)
2019 2018
INCOME $ $General operational activities
Contributions from member institutions for HARNET/ Internet infrastructure
13,980,798 11,963,125
Contributions from full members 2,508,000 2,374,000
Contributions from affiliate members 696,000 664,000
Software distribution fee income from full and affiliate members
4,261,635 4,137,510
Income from HARNET services 215,480 256,361
Offsite workshop income 3,014
Unrealised gain on non-current financial asset 984,798
Interest income 256,214 141,318
22,902,925 19,539,328
Strategic development activities
Service fee 96,167 73,660
Registration fee income for JUCC Leadership Institute 238,423
Unrealised gain on non-current financial asset 325,254
Interest income 84,621 53,797
744,465 127,457
Total income 23,647,390 19,666,785
14
STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2019 (Expressed in Hong Kong dollars)
2019 2018
EXPENDITURE $ $General operational activities
Expenditure for HARNET/Internet infrastructure 7,911,627 8,025,897
Expenditure for HARNET services 2,318,319 3,194,760
Expenditure for software services 4,272,338 4,159,581
Operating expenses:
• Administrative and bookkeeping services
• Audit fee
• Software and services
• Training and conference attendance
• Information security project
• Other expenses
2,430,961
56,000
384,597
544,770
8,665
19,354
2,517,124
53,000
513,204
698,388
19,257
6,532
17,946,631 19,187,743
Strategic development activities
Expenditure for HKAF project 184,441 189,509
Expenditure for JUCC Leadership Institute 400,893
Other expenses 258,371 126,704
843,705 316,213
Total expenditure 18,790,336 19,503,956
Surplus for the year 4,857,054 162,829
15
Joint Universities Computer Centre
Joint Universities Computer Centre Ltdc/o Information Technology ServicesThe University of Hong KongLevel 1, Block B Cybeport 4, Hong Kong
(852) 2559 7904
http://www.jucc.edu.hk