Sun Microsystems, Inc announced on Monday 17 November, a far-reaching agreement with the China Standard Software Co, Ltd (CSSC) to establish Sun's Java Desktop System as the foundation for standard desktop development and deployment in the People's Republic of China (PRC).
The CSSC is a consortium of Chinese technology companies supported by the Chinese government to produce a nationwide standard desktop software system to help bridge the digital divide among the nation's 1.3 billion citizens. The CSSC has selected Sun as its preferred technology partner to help reach this goal.
This collaboration is the first step in Sun's global campaign to partner with every nation and to help bring an open, affordable and secure desktop to users worldwide. Countries such as China, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Israel and India are driving programs and incentives to improve their IT infrastructures and incorporate technology into government agencies, educational systems and to domestic regions where economic barriers have limited technological growth. In an effort to accelerate these initiatives and quickly bridge this digital divide, Sun is embarking on a program to partner with these nations through the Java Desktop System.
The CSSC and Sun Microsystems technology licensing agreement will pave the way for the CSSC to deliver its own branded desktop products using the Java Desktop System as the foundation for its desktop standards, subject to export approval from the US government. The PRC plans to ultimately install at least 200 million copies of an open standards-based desktop solution throughout the country. Starting with approximately 500 000 to one million seats per year, the multi-year agreement is planned to start at the end of 2003.
"The mission of the CSSC is to offer the best quality, cost-effective and local-branded desktop solution for millions of Chinese customers. Our partnership with Sun Microsystems is instrumental in advancing our technology strategy and helping CSSC to become a competitive force in the global market," said Han Naiping, general manager, CSSC. "With the Java Desktop System, Sun will provide the necessary technology to significantly strengthen our desktop initiatives. We expect to continue evolving our collaboration to cover a wider range of partner projects in the future. I firmly believe the partnership between CSSC and Sun will be a mutually beneficial success."
"Linux and open source software bring new opportunities not only to China, but also to other countries around the world," said Li Wuqiang, deputy director-general, Department of High and New Technology Development and Industrialisation, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) People's Republic of China. "A desktop solution based on open standards means more choice, an affordable price and a higher level of information security. China warmly welcomes international cooperation in this area, such as this agreement between CSSC and Sun."
"Open standards are at the very foundation of Sun Microsystems - enabling connectivity, communication and community. The alliance with CSSC, in concert with the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Ministry of Information and Industry (MII), creates a vast opportunity to use the Linux and Java Desktop System standards to bring information technology to hundreds of millions of citizens across China," said Jonathan Schwartz, executive vice-president of software, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "Our partnering on the Java Desktop System with CSSC and the Chinese government holds the promise of bridging the digital divide, removing barriers presented by proprietary desktop software. We are proud to have been selected, and proud to bring this opportunity to the world community."
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