OASIS Launches New Group to Promote Open Standards for Citizen-Centric Government

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

* Please link to this press release at
http://www.oasis-open.org/news/oasis-news-2007-12-05.php *

OASIS Launches New Group to Promote Open Standards for Citizen-Centric
Government

Boston, MA, USA; 5 December 2007 - Interoperability in the public sector is the
focus of a new effort at the OASIS open standards consortium. Representatives
from local, national, and international agencies, as well as technology
providers and systems integrators, have come together to form the OASIS
eGovernment (eGov) Member Section. The group will assess interoperability
frameworks of relevance to the public sector and promote more inclusive and
citizen-centered eGovernment initiatives through the adoption and
implementation of open standards.

"All those concerned with enabling more efficient use of new technologies to
deliver better quality government services are encouraged to contribute to this
effort," noted Carol Cosgrove-Sacks, OASIS Senior Advisor on International
Standards Policy. Dr. Cosgrove-Sacks, widely known for her previous role as
Director of Trade for the United Nations, will be working closely with the
OASIS eGov Steering Committee, which includes government representatives from
Belgium, Canada, and New Zealand, and enterprise executives working closely
with public sector agencies in China, UK, USA, and the European Union.

OASIS eGov will address standards related to election and voter services,
identity management, tax, information access, emergency management, public
procurement, and long-term archiving. The Member Section will work with
technical committees that are involved in these and other issues of particular
concern to public administrations. 

"We will build consensus on the public sector's requirements for open standards
and communicate those requirements to the groups that are engaged in developing
the standards," said Bob Sunday of Canada's Public Works and Government
Services. Sunday, who holds a seat on the OASIS eGov Steering Committee, added,
"Governments will be able to leverage investments they've already made in
standards by exchanging information on best practices and use cases and by
coordinating government-oriented interoperability demonstrations."

"OASIS eGov will serve as a focal point for discussions of governmental and
public administration requirements for e-business standardization," said Peter
F. Brown of Pensive, who serves on the OASIS eGov Steering Committee and the
consortium's Board of Directors. "Our work will encourage the re-use of data
and standards in an open environment."
 
OASIS eGov members include the Austrian Center for Information Technologies
(A-SIT), Belgian SPF Finances, Booz Allen Hamilton, Canadian Public Works and
Government Services, Capgemini, EMC, New Zealand State Services Commission,
Property Records Industry Association, the U.S. Department of Defense, and
others.

"As government challenges globalize and become more diversified, so the need
for standardisation becomes more acute.  Having the eGov group established
within OASIS represents an important step forward in helping governments to
work together more effectively by sharing best practices and helping to drive
the adoption of new technologies and approaches for interacting with and
enabling their citizens," said Steve Jones, Head of SOA, Global Outsourcing,
Capgemini.


Additional information:

OASIS eGov Member Section 
http://www.oasis-egov.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


Press contact:

Carol Geyer
OASIS Director of Communications
carol.geyer@oasis-open.org
+1.978.667.5115 x209 (office)
+1.941.284.0403 (mobile)