Hong Kong and Asian Professionals Contribute to Sichuan and Myanmar Disaster Relief With Both Donation and Knowledge

May 15, 2008 – Hong Kong SAR, China
An online platform for relief efforts – Relief.Asia – is launched today in Hong Kong by Internet
Society Hong Kong (ISOC HK), supported by The Professional Commons. Relief.Asia has
been developed in the wake of the recent Myanmar Cyclone and Sichuan Earthquake disasters.
The website was deployed as a tool and platform to drive awareness and community
contribution towards the rebuilding of nature-savaged regions through the application of
Information Technology.

“Relief.Asia is the first and only online platform for disaster relief management in Asia, and we
are fortunate and blessed to be able to work with regional partners and host it in Hong Kong,”
says Charles Mok, Chairman of ISOC HK, and Vice Chairman of The Professional Commons.
“We believe this platform can be the catalyst for more innovative applications of technology to
support disaster relief efforts. With Relief.Asia we hope to encourage professionals to
contribute their knowledge and expertise, in addition to monetary donations.”

In Hong Kong, technical solutions were provided by DotAsia and Netfront Information
Technology Limited.

“We will continue to develop and maintain Relief.Asia as a sustainable platform for relief efforts
throughout Asia, wherever and whenever there may be needs,” says Edmon Chung, CEO of
DotAsia, the not-for-profit organisation overseeing the “.Asia” global top-level domain registry.
“While we mourn for the victims, it is heart-warming to see the strong spirit of sharing,
cooperation and helping one another, as we have been able to quickly gather partners from all
around Asia in such a short period of time after these disasters hit.”

So far, the following actions have been accomplished under the Relief.Asia initiative:
- Working with DotAsia’s social pioneer, Musuem of World Religion (Taiwan), direct
connections have been made with relief efforts in Myanmar, and survival items and
communications devices are being delivered to the most hard-hit regions, and DUMBO
(emergency mobile wireless network) and Sahana (disaster relief management system) are
being deployed.

• Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand) is supporting the Relief.Asia online platform by
  feeding the latest photos and content, through local NGOs like Myanmar Egress, to the
  Relief.Asia social networking platform, and is taking the lead on training and deployment of
  the DUMBO system.
  
• An online donation gateway has been set up for collections for relief agencies such as
  Oxfam, WorldVision, and more are expected to join shortly.
  
• Access has been gained with agencies in China through the local Internet communities,
  which are reviewing the deployment of DUMBO and Sahana, for the immediate relief and
  the longer-term rebuilding tasks. 

“In additional to our support for Relief.Asia, The Professional Commons will appeal to our
members and other professionals to donate or contribute their time and knowledge to Sowers’
Action for the reconstruction of rural schools,” says Albert Lai, Chairman of The Professional
Commons. “For engineers, we shall also explore the idea to set up ‘Engineers Without Borders’
so that engineering professionals can contribute top post-disaster rebuilding efforts.”

“I am encouraged by the Relief.Asia and other efforts by the IT and engineering sectors,
particularly in coming forward with effective technology solutions to contribute to the relief
effort,” says Hon. Sin Chung-Kai, IT Legislative Councillor, who joins the Relief.Asia partners to
show his support. “I appeal to all IT and engineering organizations and professionals in Hong
Kong to do all they can to help these victims and survivors in China and Myanmar to get through
this most difficult period.”

Internet Society Hong Kong (ISOC HK) is the Hong Kong chapter of the Internet Society
(ISOC), the global organization of Internet users and professionals. ISOC HK provides
leadership in issues confronting the development of the Internet, such as global coordination,
development and cooperation of the Internet, technology standards, Internet governance and
online civil society.

The Professional Commons is an independent think tank made up of professionals from many
sectors, with the shared commitment to improve the quality of public governance in Hong Kong,
and to empower the community in the policy-making process, by harnessing the soft power of
responsible professionalism, and expressing professional and independent views in the pursuit
of public interest.

Press contact:
Ms Wong, ISOC HK – This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Mr Lui, The Professional Commons – This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it 82006332 / 66911520

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