[OASIS members] CEO Discusses OASIS Role in Web Services

[Carol Geyer <carol.geyer@oasis-open.org>]

OASIS Members,

With recent announcements being made about web services, I wanted to
take a
moment to clarify where OASIS stands with regards to web services, the
activities we are already taking to achieve interoperability of web
services
and what lies ahead for us.

While OASIS focuses on the development and adoption of XML standards,
which
includes web services specifications, we recognize that we are not alone
in
our efforts. This week's announcement of the Web Services
Interoperability
Organization, for example, has caused some people to question whether
the
activities of this new consortium overlap with existing organizations.
I
spent some time talking with the WS-I organizers -- most of whom are
active
OASIS members, some represented on the OASIS Board of Directors -- about
the
group's plans. The WS-I organizers emphasized their desire to work with
OASIS and not overlap efforts.

WS-I intends to act as an implementer's forum, essentially offering
guidance
to customers of web services solutions based on standards developed at
OASIS, W3C, and IETF.  WS-I will not be developing specifications or
standards themselves. In order to accomplish their goals, WS-I
organizers felt it necessary to form a new group, independent of any one
standards-setting body.  They stated that they seek a complementary
relationship with OASIS, since their intended deliverables will be based
on many of the specifications and standards advanced at OASIS.

The newest of these OASIS specs is WSRP, the work product of the OASIS
Web
Services for Remote Portals (WSRP) TC, chaired by Thomas Schaeck of IBM.
Many of you have signed on to participate in this work to create a
standard
that will allow the plug-n-play of visual, user-facing web services with
portals or other web applications.  WSRP will work closely with the
OASIS
Web Services for Interactive Applications (WSIA) TC, chaired by Charles
Wiecha, also of IBM.

Within OASIS, the ebXML infrastructure specifications continue to be
advanced. In particular, the OASIS ebXML Registry TC recently completed
their TC Specifications, and we encourage all OASIS members to review
these
new TC specifications for consideration as OASIS Standards.  OASIS is
also
hosting the ebXML Messaging Services TC, the ebXML Implementation,
Interoperability, and Conformance TC and the ebXML Collaboration Profile
&
Partner Agreement TC.  These ebXML specifications -- along with work
from
the OASIS Business Transaction Protocol (BTP) TC, OASIS Security
Services
TC, OASIS Provisioning TC, and the OASIS Access Control TC -- have been
described by some OASIS members as specifications necessary to
accomplish
the development and implementation of complex web services or eBusiness
web
services.

As for the future, keeping the OASIS eBusiness and web services
activities
on track for wide-spread adoption is a high priority for us.  To that
end,
the OASIS Board has recently approved plans to form a Technical Advisory
Board that will act in an advisory capacity to the OASIS Board of
Directors.
The TAB will identify technical topics that OASIS should pursue and
identify
technical roadmaps that address how interoperability is achieved through
the
implementation of various specifications.  Look for more details on this
soon.

OASIS is committed to achieving interoperability of the standards we
develop
and is participating on a number of interoperability councils.  We also
maintain active liaisons with other organizations who are working on
various
activities related to eBusiness and web services standards.  OASIS was
recently invited to participate in the W3C Web Services Coordination
Group.
We maintain liaison with the W3C at the highest executive levels,
through
membership activities and through technical liaison by our members who
participate on related W3C working group activities.  OASIS has recently
joined the international eBusiness Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
management group with ISO, IEC, ITU and UN/ECE (see press release from
11
February 2002).

As the activity around web services continues to build, OASIS remains
committed to the value of advancing both the development and adoption of
standards through an open process in which all members of the community
participate and which is governed by a Board openly elected by its
members.
My appreciation goes to all of you who work to advance open
specifications.
I welcome your suggestions, questions or concerns and look forward to
exciting times ahead.

Best Regards,

Patrick Gannon
President & CEO
OASIS
+1-978-667-5115 x201 (Office)
+1-408-242-1018  (Mobile)
+1-978-667-5114  (Fax)
patrick.gannon@oasis-open.org