OASIS to host forum on standards for public sector interoperability

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

Public Sector's ability to deliver inter-department and inter-government
integrated services will depend on standards adoption 

OASIS to host a two-day forum on the state of readiness of standards for the
interoperability of services in public sector IT environments

London, 10 October 2007 - Demand from the private sector and the community for
simpler access to government services is just the tip of the iceberg when it
comes to the need for better sharing of information and services in the public
sector, according to international open standards consortium, OASIS.   

"Within the bounds of a single nation, the need for transformational government
has never been greater, but the need for real-time sharing of information is
also becoming increasingly apparent across national boundaries. Much of the
technology infrastructure that is being put in place to enable this
interoperability is invariably based on Web services and Service Oriented
Architecture. However, to do this in a comprehensive, meaningful, and secure
manner requires the adoption of relevant standards," said Patrick Gannon,
President and CEO of OASIS.

"The IT standards world is already complex and will become more so as the
pressure for interoperability drives the move to replace proprietary interfaces
with standards," explained Rob Hailstone, Software Infrastructure Practice
Director at Butler Group. "Every organisation will need to decide which
standards it should deploy in different business scenarios. For public sector
organisations the need to understand the issues and create a strategy for the
use of standards will become increasingly high profile, as governments will be
required to deliver better coordinated services both within and between
national boundaries."

It is important for decision-makers in public sector IT organisations to
understand the 'big picture' of the standards movement and to discover how
standards are being adopted by different governments and different government
agencies. To this end, OASIS is presenting two days of information on the
diversity, readiness, and adoption of relevant standards.

The event, 'Enabling Transformational Government through Web Services and SOA,'
will take place on 29-30 October 2007 at CA's Ditton Manor headquarters in
Datchet, near London, UK. It will be an international conference featuring
speakers from Asia, Central Europe, North America, and Western Europe. Keynotes
for the event will be presented by Jagdip Grewal, NHS Connecting for Health;
John Wailing, UK Home Office; and David Keene, SAP UK. 

The event will discuss the role of standards in four broad topic areas -
business and organisational change, applications and processes, collaboration,
and quality of service. Within each of these, a broad cross-section of opinions
and experiences will be described. In addition to more technology-focused
sessions, delegates will learn how small businesses are being encouraged to
adopt Web services in Japan, how Europol and Eurojust ensure collaboration
between law enforcement services within Europe, how Estonia has created a
national communication infrastructure, and how the EU orchestrates domestic Web
services to support cross-border eGovernment life-events.

The Forum is supported by the Butler Group and sponsored by BEA Systems, EDS,
IBM, Primeton, SAP, and Sun Microsystems. Other supporters include the
Information & Communications Technology (ICT) Standards Board, CEN/ISSS, and
XML UK.

For more information:
http://events.oasis-open.org/home/forum/2007


Note to Editors:

Attendance at this event is complimentary to members of the press.

To register, or to arrange for interviews with OASIS executives and speakers
prior to, during or after the event, contact:

Carol Geyer   Tel: +1 978 667 5115 x209    E: carol.geyer@oasis-open.org


About OASIS:

OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards)
drives the development, convergence, and adoption of open standards for the
global information society. A not-for-profit consortium, OASIS advances
standards for SOA, security, Web services, documents, e-commerce, government
and law, localisation, supply chains, XML processing, and other areas of need
identified by its members. OASIS open standards offer the potential to lower
cost, stimulate innovation, grow global markets, and protect the right of free
choice of technology. The consortium has more than 5,000 participants
representing over 600 organizations and individual members in 100 countries.
http://www.oasis-open.org