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Subject: W3C and OASIS Jointly Issue WebCGM 2.0


W3C and OASIS Jointly Issue New Web Standard for Industrial Graphics

Cooperation brings broad expertise to WebCGM 2.0
 

30 January 2007 -- Today W3C and OASIS have published WebCGM 2.0, a new
industry standard for technical illustrations in electronic documents. WebCGM,
which is widely deployed in the defense, aviation, architecture, and
transportation industries, has reached new levels of interoperability thanks to
this joint effort between OASIS and W3C.

"Today, industrial designers reap the benefits of the cooperative work between
W3C and OASIS," announced Dr. Steve Bratt, CEO of W3C. "When the developer and
designer communities asked for new features and improvements in this critical
technology, our organizations combined efforts and expertise, and provided
WebCGM 2.0."

"WebCGM demonstrates the benefits that can be realized when standards
organizations work together for the good of the marketplace," said Patrick
Gannon, president and CEO of OASIS. "The result of this collaboration between
OASIS and W3C is a single open standard for CGM on the Web that has been
approved by the membership of both our organizations. This degree of
endorsement assures implementers around the world that they can adopt WebCGM
with confidence."

WebCGM Provides Industrial-Grade Web Graphics

Computer Graphics Metafile, or CGM, is an ISO standard for a tree-structured,
binary graphics format that has been adopted especially by the technical
industries (defense, aviation, transportation, etc) for technical illustration
in electronic documents. As the Web emerged as the environment for sharing and
creating documents, it became apparent that the best way to use CGM on the Web
needed to be clarified, particularly for interactivity such as hyperlinks and
hotspots.

WebCGM finds significant application especially in technical illustration,
electronic documentation, and geophysical data visualization. It unifies
potentially diverse approaches to CGM utilization in Web document applications,
and therefore represents a significant interoperability agreement amongst major
users and implementers of the ISO CGM standard.
 
OASIS and W3C Work Together to Build WebCGM 2.0

W3C published the first WebCGM Recommendation, Version 1.0, in 1999. CGM Open,
an independent group created to advance adoption of WebCGM, was incorporated
into OASIS not long afterward. As users began demanding more features and
improvements, it became apparent that there was both interest and support for a
WebCGM 2.0. To get that work formally underway, OASIS and W3C signed a
Memorandum of Understanding, making it possible for both organizations to work
together on the creation of a new standard. This also allowed for the best
range of participation from both the OASIS WebCGM Technical Committee and W3C
WebCGM Working Group.
 
WebCGM 2.0 Provides New API, and Fulfills Goals

WebCGM 2.0 adds a DOM (API) specification for programmatic access to WebCGM
objects, and a specification of an XML Companion File (XCF) architecture, for
externalization of non-graphical metadata. WebCGM 2.0 also builds upon and
extends the graphical and intelligent content of WebCGM 1.0. The design
criteria for WebCGM aim at a balance between graphical expressive power on the
one hand, and simplicity and implementability on the other. A small but
powerful set of standardized metadata elements supports the functionalities of
hyperlinking and document navigation, picture structuring and layering, and
enabling search and query of WebCGM picture content.
 
WebCGM 2.0 has been approved as an OASIS Standard and as a W3C Recommendation,
signifying the highest level of ratification within both organizations.

 
About OASIS
 
OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) is
a not-for-profit, international 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. The consortium produces
open standards for Web services, security, e-business, and standardization
efforts in the public sector and for application-specific markets. Founded in
1993, OASIS has more than 5,000 participants representing over 600
organizations and individual members in 100 countries. For more information see
http://www.oasis-open.org

 
About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]
 
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where Member
organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web
standards. W3C primarily pursues its mission through the creation of Web
standards and guidelines designed to ensure long-term growth for the Web. Over
400 organizations are Members of the Consortium. W3C is jointly run by the MIT
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) in the USA,
the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM)
headquartered in France and Keio University in Japan, and has additional
Offices worldwide. For more information see http://www.w3.org/


Press contacts:

For W3C
Contact Americas, Australia --
    Janet Daly, <janet@w3.org>, +1.617.253.5884 or +1.617.253.2613
Contact Europe, Africa and the Middle East-
    Marie-Claire Forgue, <mcf@w3.org>, +33.492.38.75.94
Contact Asia --
    Yasuyuki Hirakawa <chibao@w3.org>, +81.466.49.1170
 
For OASIS
Contact Worldwide -
    Carol Geyer, <carol.geyer@oasis-open.org> +1.978.667.5115 or
+1.978.284.0403



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