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CityU’s IT sustainability initiatives receive international recognition

by Joan Yip / Yvonne Lee
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​An innovative Paperless Office Project launched by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has helped the University save millions of pages of paper each year and win two highly respected IT awards.

 
CityU received a 2013 Laureate in the category of sustainability in the International Data Group’s Computerworld Honors Program as well as the international accreditation in information security management, the ISO/IEC 27001:2005 Information Security Management Systems Certificate. 
 
These awards acknowledge CityU’s efforts in digitising its vast store of office documents in an organised, efficient and secure way, achieving sustainability while maintaining the highest standards in information security.
 
“The awards are an affirmation that the University has adopted and complied with the highest standards in information management and technology,” said Dr Andy Chun Hon-wai, Chief Information Officer of CityU.
 
CityU’s Paperless Office Project, which is being carried out in the offices of Human Resources and Finance, digitises personnel and financial records and stores them securely, which improves operational efficiency. The digitised documents can be accessed directly through the system, eliminating the need for photocopying during the administrative process. It is expected that millions of pages of paper will be saved each year as a result, a reduction of roughly 95 tons of CO2 emissions. Document handling will also be around six times faster.
 
The Computerworld Honors Program Laureate was awarded to CityU for its initiatives in providing a green IT environment for administrative processing. CityU is the only organisation from Hong Kong to receive a Laureate this year.
 
Established by International Data Group in 1988, the Computerworld Honors Program is a highly respected IT award in the US. It is the longest running global programme recognising individuals and organisations that use information technology to promote positive social, economic and educational change. CityU was also named a 2012 Laureate for its digital inclusion initiative of making the CityU website accessible to the blind and disabled.
 
CityU is the first university in Hong Kong and mainland China to receive the prestigious ISO/IEC 27001 certification, one of the world’s highest accreditations for information protection and security. To attain this certification, CityU stepped up information security measures that improve potential security risk assessments, information access control and data processes and procedures.