Industry Public Transportation, property and railway-related businesses Company MTR Corporation was founded in Hong Kong in 1975. It launched its Initial Public Offering in 2000. Employees 6,500 IT staff 96 Annual IT Budget US$20 million

MTR has also implemented one of the most successful automatic fare collection systems in the world using contact-less smart cards. Over 90 percent of its passengers use the system, and over 12 millions smart cards have been issued.

In 2005, the Information Technology Services Department (ITSD) took on several IT projects. Among them was the Engineering Works and Traffic Information Management System (ETMS), which uses artificial intelligence for planning, scheduling and managing engineering works.

Selected by ZDNet Asia for the Project of the Year award, the ETMS helps MTR to efficiently plan and execute preventive and corrective engineering works during the limited time available in the non-traffic hours.

Other notable IT projects include the launch of interactive Web facilities and self-service kiosks at its stations, as well as the development of an enterprise asset management (EAM) framework.

Implementation of the EAM is in progress. When fully implemented, this system will support the effective management of MTR's fixed assets worth over HK$100 billion (US$12.8 billion). This is expected to contribute directly to the profitability of the company.

CIO Daniel Lai told ZDNet Asia that MTR will continue to align its IT strategy with business strategies and priorities. "On a continuous basis, we explore, exploit and evaluate new technologies and consider their applications, designing innovative solutions and adopting appropriate technology that can better support or enable our business," he said.

Over the next 18 months till end-2007, Lai and his team will be busy upgrading the ERP systems as well as implementing the EAM project to better support the organization.

MTR also plans to develop IT applications to support its customer loyalty program, as well as build a data warehouse system for its automatic fare collection system.

And if the proposed merger between MTR and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) takes place, Lai's team will be busy integrating applications, IT infrastructure, as well as the IT functions, organizations and processes of the two organizations. "These are expected to be significant tasks," Lai noted.