OASIS Members Form e-Government 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-Government 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-Government 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-Government 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-Government 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-Government 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-Government Technical Committee will be held at the IDEAlliance XML 2002 Conference in Baltimore on 13 December 2002. Support for the OASIS e-Government 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-Government 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-Government 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-Government 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