Re: NEMA Review of Interoperability Standards

[Allen Wyke <emtc@nc.rr.com>]

Jamie - when reviewing and commenting on CAP, the forum for this
discussion is the Notification and Messaging Subcommittee Public Comment
list at OASIS. To help get you started, the best thing to do is go to
the Subcommittee site and click on the Documents link. As a side note,
we are about to post a new version, although a content mirror of the
0.9a1 Draft, so it would be wise to check back at the end of the week.

http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=emergency-msg

After you have read through the document, you can send comments to
emergency-msg-comment@lists.oasis-open.org. Members of our committee
working on this standard will then be able to review your comments and
respond where necessary.

We look forward to hearing from you, and thank you for your interest in
our efforts!

Allen

On Thu, 2003-08-07 at 19:38, MWalton@eteam.com wrote: 
> Jamie,
> 
> Let me start by saying on behalf of the Consortium how delighted we
> are that NEMA through you has become an active participant in the
> EM-XML Consortium's efforts to develop valid interoperability
> standards for emergency and incident management.  Since its founding
> in October, EM-XML has grown to encompass over 60 organizations which
> now represent an excellent cross section of private sector technology
> companies, government agencies (including DHS) and leading NGO's.  The
> goal of this undertaking has been to bring together the formidable
> resources of these diverse institutions to address the core problem of
> interoperability both efficiently and effectively.  
> 
> It is with real pride that we have announced the release of our first
> set of technical specifications called Common Alert Protocols (CAP)
> for comment in less than six months since the formation of our
> Technical Committee.  By the "standards" of any standards setting
> body, this is "warp speed", and reflects the commitment of the members
> to bring forward solutions in key areas quickly.  We are also keenly
> aware that the guiding principle underlying all our efforts must be
> the utility of our standards as determined by the user community.   To
> that end, we are now at a point where obtaining feedback from those
> responsible for providing emergency services through these systems
> will be of great value.
> 
> I would therefore ask if you could convey to NEMA our desire to
> establish a mechanism whereby NEMA's members could have input into the
> evaluation/validation process.  Knowing how busy you all are, our
> suggestion would be to keep it simple.  One approach might be to
> arrange for a briefing of a designated sub-set of the NEMA membership
> on the objectives, methodologies, and current output of the EM-XML
> effort.  We would also provide access to all validation/verification
> exercises.  To the extent that any individual institution wished to
> become more deeply involved, they would be welcomed on both the
> Executive and Technical Committees.  
> 
> We will defer to you and your colleagues on how you would like to
> proceed.   We have already been asked to make a brief presentation to
> the Preparedness Committee at the upcoming meeting in Seattle.  I
> would appreciate your guidance with respect to what steps might be
> taken in the interim to insure that our time at the meeting can be
> used most productively.  I have attached a copy of our current
> membership list and press release announcing the publication for
> comment of the CAP standard.
> 
> Matt Walton
> Chairman, EM-XML Consortium
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Office 818.932.0660 X204 
> Mobile 818.621.0660
> mwalton@eteam.com
> http://www.eteam.com
> 
> E Team, Inc.
> Prepare Better. Respond Faster. Recover Sooner.
-- 
R. Allen Wyke
Chair, Emergency Management TC
emtc@nc.rr.com
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/emergency