[announce] OASIS Members Form e-Gov Technical Committee

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

OASIS Members Form e-Gov Technical Committee

Boston, MA, USA;  4 December 2002--The OASIS interoperability consortium
today announced that it is providing an international forum for
governments to voice their needs and requirements with respect to
XML-based standards. Bringing together government representatives from
around the world, the OASIS e-Gov Technical Committee will support the
modernization of government and assist in the electronic delivery of
services to citizens and businesses through the coordination and
adoption of XML standards.

"The creation of this technical committee provides an excellent
opportunity for all governments to have a significant say in the
development of the standards that support their initiatives," noted John
Borras of the UK Office of e-Envoy, chair of the OASIS e-Gov Technical
Committee. "OASIS has recognized the importance of the emerging
e-government agendas, and the consortium is working hard to produce
standards that are appropriate for both the public and private sectors.
The formation of this new technical committee will help OASIS deliver
open, international standards that will be well supported in the
marketplace and meet the needs of e-Government strategies."

The OASIS e-Gov Technical Committee will identify and organize plans for
the development of new standards. Their recommendations and requirements
will be formally submitted to appropriate working groups within OASIS.
New technical committees may be formed for needs that are not currently
being addressed.

The new technical committee will also work to promote the adoption of
OASIS Open Standards within governments by creating best practice
documents and staging implementation-oriented pilot projects. The group
will coordinate input from governments on emerging technologies, such as
ebXML and Web services, to ensure that existing specifications are not
developed solely for the benefit of the private sector. Special emphasis
will be placed on the needs of EU countries working to deliver aspects
of the eEurope 2005 plan.

OASIS e-Gov Technical Committee members include representatives from the
Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ontario
Government Canada, United Kingdom Ministry of Defense, United Kingdom
Office of e-Envoy, United States General Services Administration, and
United States Department of Navy, as well as developers from Baltimore
Technologies, BEA Systems, Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Commerce One, Drake
Certivo, Entrust, Fujitsu, Logistics Management Institute, Microsoft,
Novell, Republica, SAP, Sun Microsystems, TSO, webMethods, and others.

Participation in the OASIS e-Gov Technical Committee remains open to all
organizations and individuals. OASIS will host an open mail list for
public comment, and completed work will be freely available to the
public without licensing or other fees. Information on joining OASIS can
be found on http://www.oasis-open.org/join. The first meeting of the
OASIS e-Gov Technical Committee will be held at the IDEAlliance XML 2002
Conference in Baltimore on 13 December 2002.


Support for the OASIS e-Gov Technical Committee

"The launch of the OASIS E-Gov effort has the opportunity to benefit
citizens in the United States across multiple dimensions. Perhaps most
important, setting global standards for e-government and e-business
should enable significant reduction in government's burden on citizens,
businesses, and government employees. Better standards should also
improve
security and cut the cost of government IT purchases. We welcome this
initiative and will fully support it," said Mark A. Forman, Associate
Administrator for IT and E-Government, Office of Management and Budget,
Executive Office of the President of the United States.

"BEA Systems, Inc. is at the forefront of helping governments around the
world take advantage of off-the-shelf commercial technologies to improve
service delivery, efficiency, and effectiveness at all levels of
government," said Mark Hogan, general manager of BEA Government Systems.
"The ability to access and securely interact with government agencies
electronically will help reduce information delivery costs and improve
consumer access for the public sector, building on the revolution in the
private eBusiness sector."

"XML and Web services provide the foundation of an E-Government vision
by enabling the enhancement of relationships between government
entities, citizens and businesses," said John Evdemon, Senior Associate
with Booz Allen Hamilton.  "Booz Allen is a leader in facilitating
E-Government transformation, and we look forward to supplying our
expertise in XML, Web services and E-Government business models to help
ensure the success of the OASIS e-Gov Technical Committee," said Terry
Bjornsen, Senior Associate with Booz Allen Hamilton.

"The Logistics Management Institute (LMI), as an active partner in a
variety of U.S. Government eBusiness and eGovernment initiatives,
welcomes the formation of the OASIS e-Gov Technical Committee.  We look
forward to supporting this valuable effort as it looks to enhance
electronic citizen services," said Mark Crawford Research Fellow, LMI.

"Open systems architectures are the linchpins for building the next
generation of e-Government infrastructure--they are the only viable way
to deliver true interoperability and enable government organizations to
take advantage of the widest selection of solutions available," said
Jeff Veis, Senior Director, Public Services Sector at Sun Microsystems,
Inc. "OASIS, through its creation of the e-Gov Technical Committee,
shares Sun's commitment to open standards, and it is a natural industry
body to bring together the specifications for XML-based standards that
address the needs for G2G, G2B, and G2C exchange and interoperability."


About OASIS (http://www.oasis-open.org)

OASIS (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, XML conformance, business transactions, electronic publishing,
topic maps and interoperability within and between marketplaces. OASIS
has more than 600 corporate and individual members in 100 countries
around the world.

For more information:

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