After more than two decades of development and reorganization, JUCC has now become the centre for coordinating information technology services of mutual interest for all the tertiary educational institutions in Hong Kong. The cooperation includes areas of bulk tendering and purchasing, joint licensing of hardware and software, participation in training courses, and in particular, the development and operation of a network facility tbr data communications among the institutions. The Steering Committee oversees its operation while the funding authority rests with the Board of Management. Up to the moment, most of the cost of the HAg. NET backbone and its Internet connection has been funded by special grants from UGC, and one donation obtained from the Hong Kong Telecom Foundation.
Any excess cost is borne by the member institutions.
They discuss technical matters relating to the operations of the network and make recommendations on improvement and upgrade of the network to the Steering Committee for decision. JUCC is also in charge-of the registration of Internet domain names in Hong Kong. The cost of maintaining the T1 Internet link is substantial. Furthermore. it is expected that the usage of the Internet link will only be increasing and thus even more funding is required. JUCC has decided that some form of management control is necessary to regulate usage and to ensure that the resource can be fairly distributed and equitably accounted.