Sensor Web Symposium Set for April 14-15

Wayland, MA, March 21, 2005 – Professionals interested in sensors are invited to attend “Advancing the Sensor Web,” a unique two day event organized by the OGC, the Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) SensorNET Program. This, the third OGC Emerging Technology Summit (ETS III), will be held April 14-15, 2005 at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC. Registration information, including information about group discounts, is available at http://www.gita.org/events/ets/iii/ .ETS III will address “sensor webs,” network-connected arrays of sensors and imaging devices that are being deployed in a growing number of applications including environmental monitoring, disaster mitigation, energy infrastructure management, security monitoring, transportation, weather forecasting, communications and many others. In OGC's Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) effort, the ORNL SensorNET team is working with other OGC members to build a Web-based global framework for discovering, accessing and tasking the rapidly growing number of fixed and mobile network-connected sensors. A universally applicable XML encoding for observations and measurements is part of this ground-breaking effort. “Advancing the Sensor Web” will highlight the work that has been done and the work that remains to be done.The ETS III keynote presentation will feature two top-ranking officials who will detail the use of Web sensors in public safety: Robert W. Corell, Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and the American Meteorological Society and John (Jack) J. Kelly, Jr., Deputy Undersecretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).Other panels will review Sensor Web issues in detail:”Successes in the Application of Sensor Technology” — Industry and government panelists will discuss how networked sensors are being used to address critical government services and business applications, including weather prediction and warning, emergency management and homeland security, telematics, industrial controls and utilities, and defense and intelligence issues. Moderator: Scottie Barnes, Editor in Chief, Geospatial Solutions and GeoIntelligence magazines. Presenters: Murray Armstrong, V.P. Sales and Business Development, CustomWeather Inc.; Benga Erinle, V.P., Special Projects, 3E Technologies International, Inc.; John Krachenfels, Director, Vertical Solutions Group, NEXTEL; Will Pendergrass, Meteorologist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division.Two leaders from the Defense and Homeland Security communities will address “The Role of Sensors in Geospatial Intelligence and Critical Infrastructure Operations and Protection.” Presenters: David Godso, Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical Biological Defense, CBD Software Support Activity Lead Architect; Jeffrey K. Harris, Vice President and Managing Director for Horizontal Integration of Situational Awareness Systems, Lockheed Martin Corporation.The panel “Critical Challenges in Government and Industry” will focus on the critical challenges and issues that technologists face in advancing the use of network-connected sensors. Representatives from industrial controls and utilities, defense and intelligence, environmental monitoring, emergency management/homeland security, and ITS and telematics will address these crucial concerns. Moderator: Matt Ball, Editor in Chief, GeoWorld magazine. Panelists: Curtis Ide, Vice President, Product Development and Support, VistaScape Security Systems Corp.; Sharon Mesick, Deputy Chief Scientist, NOAA Coastal Data Development Center; Ernie Reith, NGA; Jay Warrior, Department Manager, Distributed Systems, Agilent Technologies.Mark Weitekamp, Manager Systems Division, Homeland Security Institute will tackle “Technology Trends in Harnessing Sensor Assets,” detailing the implications of emerging technology trends in critical infrastructure protection, homeland security, and improved governance.”Industry's Response to Challenges — Technology Directions to Address the Need” will provide a forecast of future capabilities that will be available to meet the growing need for sensor access, integration, and application for government, business, and consumer needs. The panelists will include a representative from the sensor manufacturing industry, a data provider, an integrator, a standards consortia representative, and an application software provider. Moderator: Arjun Shankar, Research Associate in the Computational Sciences and Engineering Division, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryPanelists: Rick Lally, President, Oceana Sensor; Kang Lee, Leader of the Sensor Development and Application Group of the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory, NIST; Cindy Paulauskas, Director, Government and Industry Relations, NAVTEQ; John Schullian, Senior Manager, Accenture.Finally, in a panel called “Sensor-Enabling the Location-Aware Enterprise: The Role of Policies and Standards to Address Access, Security, Assurance, and Performance,” Brigadier General U.S. Army (Ret.) Jack Pellicci, OGC Board member and Group Vice President, Business Development for the Oracle North America Public Sector, will discuss with panelists the challenges in sensor-enabling the location-aware enterprise.At an evening event, participants will meet with the day's presenters and view product and service demonstrations in a casual, relaxed atmosphere.Details, the latest additions to the program and registration information can be found online at http://www.gita.org/events/ets/iii/ . For information about the conference organizers, visit OGC at http://www.opengeospatial.org, GITA at http://www.gita.org, and Oak Ridge National Labs SensorNET at http://www.sensornet.gov.The OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 270 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org.”