Seminar Overview

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As a global leader in open standards for the Information Society, OASIS is concerned about the debate on the future of the European standardisation system as well as about the role of open ICT standards in public procurement and their role in a new generation of citizen-and business-centred public services.

Within OASIS, its “eGovernment Member Section” (eGov MS) serves as a focal point for discussions of governmental and public administration requirements for e-business standardization. Bringing together representatives from global, regional, national and local government agencies, the eGov MS provides a platform for those who share a common interest in directing and understanding the impact of open standards on the public sector.

Standards developed by the many OASIS ‘technical committees’ (TCs) have had major impacts on, and uptake by, public policy makers sharing our vision of open standards-driven interoperability and efficiency. Our standards have made their way in to a wide range of solutions as indeed cited by numerous European Commission and Parliament reports over the last couple of years.

The European Commission is due shortly to publish a draft of new legislation concerning the future of standardisation in the EU and, alongside this, a review is under way of the role played by standards in European public procurement.

The debate is not about whether one technology is better than another; who produces ‘better’ or more ‘open’ standards; or even about the European software industry against the backdrop of US strength and Asian emergence in this market. It is about clarity and transparency in the processes by which standards are created, adopted and proposed for use within a wide range of public service offerings, whether improving services to citizens and businesses or public agencies own back-office infrastructure.

This seminar is proposed as an opportunity to debate issues of common concern and specifically:

• To identify what OASIS, as an organisation together with its TCs, can do to ensure that open standards continue to play an important role and that our standards can be legitimately referenced and used in EU public policy and service delivery in the future; and


• To gain a better understanding of the concerns and expectations of policy-makers. OASIS is looking forward to this valuable interactive opportunity. We hope you will consider joining us and adding your voice to that of others in this sector.

RESERVE A SEAT AT THE SEMINAR