Draft OASIS-PLCS Press Release

[kreilerc@mantech-wva.com]

All,

Attached is the draft OASIS-PLCS press release for your review and comment.  Please provide your comments by close of business (COB) Thursday, Feb 12th.

No response will be taken as a concur with the current press release.  

If you would like to include any comments by a representative from your company, please forwward to me by COB 12 Feb.  While I can't guarantee I can accept all, I will include as many as possible.

I have also posted the attendance record from the teleconfernece held on 3 Feb.  Please review and if you were there and I missed you, please advise.

The text of the OASIS-PLCS Press Release is shown below:

OASIS Members Collaborate on Data Exchange Sets Based on ISO 10303 (STEP) Application Protocol 239, Product Life Cycle Support


Washington, DC and Farnborough, United Kingdom; 5 February 2004 --Members of the OASIS international standards consortium has formed a new technical committee (TC) that will develop data exchange sets for the exchange of product life cycle data within the ISO 10303, Standard for Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP) Application Protocol 239, Product Life Cycle Support (PLCS).  The ISO 10303 (STEP) Application Protocol 239 was formally launched in September 2003 at events in Stockholm, Sweden, Oxford, England, and Washington, DC.

UK Chief of Defence Procurement Sir Peter Spencer emphasized that the initiative had his personal support, and Norwegian Head of Defence Investment, Commodore Morten Jacobsen, believes that PLCS will be the leading standard for product data and Life Cycle Management.  "PLCS will enable UK MOD to contract against an open, neutral and commercial ISO support data standard.  We see PLCS as a keystone in the development of the MOD support transformation policy driving down equipment support costs" said Major-General Malcolm Wood, Director General Defence Supply Chain, United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The purpose of the OASIS Product Life Cycle Support (PLCS) Technical Committee is to establish structured data exchange and sharing to support complex engineered assets throughout their total life cycle.  These Data Exchange Sets (DEXs) are based upon ISO 10303 (STEP) Application Protocol 239 (Product Life Cycle Support).  The OASIS PLCS TC is responsible for defining, developing, testing and publishing of OASIS PLCS DEXs, and for liaison with ISO TC 184/SC4.  The OASIS PLCS Technical Committee will coordinate these activities with relevant OASIS Technical Committees and promote the use of OASIS PLCS DEXs across industries and governments world-wide.

“One of the biggest challenges for owners and maintainers of complex, high value assets is keeping all of the information that describes the product and its associated support environment aligned with the actual product configuration, as it changes throughout its operating life”, said Howard Mason, Co-Chairman of the PLCS TC.  “The PLCS ISO 10303 Application Protocol 239 satisfies the growing need for open standards to facilitate the next generation of integrated customer support solutions, currently being developed in response to new business models for customer service and after market support.”

To support these objectives, liaisons have been established with:  International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee 184, Industrial automation systems and integration, Subcommittee 4, Industrial Data (ISO TC184/SC4); the European Association of Aerospace Industries (AECMA), POSC Caesar, and Government Electronics & Information Technology Association (G-EIA).

The TC plans to take advantage of the new ISO STEP XML binding to generate standardized XML schemas for the PLCS data exchange sets.

Members of the new OASIS PLCS Technical Committee include BAE Systems plc, Det Norske Veritas, Lockheed Martin, LSC Group Ltd, Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation, Pennant International Group plc, Rolls-Royce plc, Saab AB, Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, The Boeing Company, UK Ministry of Defence Technical Information, US Defense Information Systems Agency and other OASIS members.  Participation remains open to all organizations and individuals, and OASIS will host a mail list for public comment and a technical committee public area where individuals can obtain more information on the OASIS PLCS Technical Committee.

About OASIS (http://www.oasis-open.org):
OASIA (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) is a not-for-profit, global consortium that drives the development, convergence, and adoption of e-business standards.  Members themselves set the OASIS technical agenda, using a lightweight, open process expressly designed to promote industry consensus and unite disparate efforts.  OASIS produces worldwide standards for security, Web services, conformance, business transactions, electronic publishing, topic maps and interoperability within and between marketplaces.  Founded in 1993, OASIS has more than 2,500 participants representing over 600 organization and individual members in 100 countries.

Press contact:

Carol Geyer
Director of Communications
OASIS (http://www.oasis-open.org)
Carol.geyer@oasis-open.org
+1.978.667.5115 x209