It is common for our university's departments to design and produce different kinds of application forms for various purposes. Applicants need to obtain the forms in person, by mail, via fax, or dowloading from the web and printing it out  etc. The same is true for returning the forms.  It is inconvenient, paper wasting and time consuming, and occasionally certain forms would be lost due to improper handling or other reasons. A FormFlow System has been developed by the Computer Centre to collect application forms via the web using the highly secure digital signature infrastructure supported by the  HKUCA service. The FormFlow System can convert an application form in HTML format to an on-line web-based data capturing system in a few simple steps. In addition, it can be programmed to fully automate the application process by interfacing with external systems.

With an on-line application form, an applicant can fill in the information, sign the form with his digital signature using his private key and then submit the signed application form in one operation. In the meantime, the departmental officials will be notified immediately by email of the new application received, so that they can process it right away. Along with the convenience of this on-line application system are the capabilities of the system for tracking the status of any submitted application, and to inform related people of the status by email appropriately.

Beside data capturing, the FormFlow System allows departments to specify data fields such as the applicant's name, staff/student number and department to be automatically determined by the system. Moreover, the FormFlow System has a built-in interface to external program modules to enable data validation at the time when the applicant fills in the form, and to enable the development of sophisticated programs to automate the entire application process.

To introduce this automated application submission system to HKU users, the Computer Centre will provide the following applications via the FormFlow System as a pilot project. More applications will be put on-line at later stages.

1. Application for the UIS Account
2. Application for Change of Computer Account Password
3. Application for Additional Resources for TOS-I Staff
4. Application for Creating a Course on WebCT

Being supported by a secure digital signature architecture, the FormFlow System can enable many applications previously done on paper to be put on-line to save time and paper, to easily keep track of the status of each application, and to readily integrate with additional program modules for data validation and further automation. There is no need to present yourself in person or submit signed papers to verify your identity.  There is also no need for office staff to check the validity of the data submitted, or to scrutinise a signature.  All that will be done by the system. 

To start with, we shall pilot the FormFlow System with Computer Centre's application forms. However, we hope to extend this service to other departments in order to move towards a paper-less environment while providing convenient and quality services at the same time.

Fanny Chau
Tel: 2964 5737
E-mail: hcxccyh@hku.hk