NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY

CONFERENCE NOTICE

	Exactly what is a document? And what is an electronic document?
	The digital age is generating a dizzying array of e-documents.  They will become increasingly important as people move toward producing everything from negotiable bearer instruments to business transaction documents in electronic form.
	NIST is holding a conference on electronic documents that will examine these issues.
	The growth of the Internet and increasing reliance on devices ranging from personal computers to personal digital assistants is contributing to explosive growth in the number of e-docs produced and exchanged every day.
	The conference will examine what standards are needed to encourage the smooth exchange of the documents of the future.
	One example is the generation and transmission of trans-media documents, such as e-mail messages converted to voice mail.
	Other kinds of  “documents” under discussion will be:
-	 documents involved in Web electronic commerce 
-	 three-dimensional content expressed as software, such as DNA structures and other molecular designs, holographs and computer-aided design files
-	 video and multimedia content documents
-	 audio documents such as voice mail messages.
	The Electronic Documents conference will be held March 16-17 at NIST’s Gaithersburg, Maryland campus.  The federal government’s Chief Information Officer’s Council is sponsoring the event.
	Full information is available at http://www.nist.gov/e-docs/conf/.