The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) on Monday announced the launch of IP-guard, a security software system that aims to protect the intellectual property and information assets of Hong Kong companies.

¡§Intellectual property is an important corporate asset in today¡¦s knowledge-based economy,¡¨ said Weiman Chu, director of innovation process and automation at HKPC. He added that relocation of operations across the border into China, coupled with rising openness in today¡¦s corporate environment increases the risk of leaking company secrets.

To counter these dangers, e-Factory, HKPC¡¦s body responsible for the promotion of e-manufacturing, has developed IP-guard primarily for companies in the manufacturing and service sectors.

IP-guard can be implemented to monitor computer usage, operation workflow and data transfer between different offices as well as e-mail traffic within the company and to customers and partners. Chu believes that a system of this sort can help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in particular to become more competitive and help protect any advantages that they may have.

The system utilizes the Internet to monitor all data communications across corporate networks, allowing services standards levels. Details of pricing and committed customers were not available at present time.

HKPC¡¦s e-Factory was established in 2001 to disseminate the latest technology and production expertise to Hong Kong manufacturers in efforts to make them more competitive. HKPC representatives will be present at this week¡¦s Hong Kong Information Infrastructure Expo to provide demonstrate of IP-guard.

Reported in Computer World Hong Kong 5th March, 2002 issue.