EC Commissioner For Research to Speak at OGC Meeting

March 22, 2001. OGC, Inc. (the Open GIS Consortium) announced today that Mr. Phillipe Busquin, the European Commission's Commissioner for Research, will be the main speaker at the OGC Evening Reception on April 4 at the Colonster Castle in Liege, Belgium. This reception is part of OGC's program of Technical Committee and Planning Committee meetings scheduled for 2 – 5 April in Liege, and hosted by IONIC Software, an OGC member company.Mr. Busquin is one of 20 Commissioners on the EC and is the individual who oversees all of the EC's research programs. His responsibilities include: European co-operation inside the European Union's research programs, research conducted by the European Union's Joint Research Center (JRC), and the development of research policies and strategies.This event offers an exciting opportunity for multinational discussion of ways to promote the adoption and use of OGC's OpenGIS geoprocessing interoperability specifications throughout Europe, and with other nations around the globe.Private sector, government, and university members of OGC have cooperated in a seven-year international effort to establish open software interfaces that enable transparent communication of geographic information between diverse information systems. Previously, digital communication of such information has been obstructed by complexities related to different earth coordinate systems and map projections and incompatible and often proprietary data formats and processing approaches. OGC's success in developing consensus-based solutions to these technical obstacles has begun to impact research, commerce, government, consumers, and citizens. Mr. Busquin's talk is expected to focus on the benefits of geospatial information and technology interoperability on European Commission sponsored programs.There will be a press conference in the morning on April 4 to inform members of the media about OGC's work and the significance of this event. Details on OGC meetings can be found at http://www.opengeospatial.org/events/nexttc.htm. Information on Mr. Busquin can be obtained at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/commissioners/index_en.htmReception scheduleA reception line will be followed by dinner at 7:00pm. During dinner, the Rector of the University of Liége, Professor Willy Legros, will make introductory remarks and will welcome the group to the University. After dinner, David Schell, OGC's president, and Mr. Ulrich Neunfinger, President and CEO of SICAD Geomatics and a member of the OGC Board of Directors will speak briefly. Mr. Vincent Dessard of IONIC Software will introduce Mr. Phillip Busquin of the European Commission, who will speak on the impact of geospatial information and technologies on global research and European programs that promote the New Information Society. A question and answer period will immediately follow.Other invitees to the reception include: Jean Meyer-Roux of the Joint Research Center, senior officials from the US Geological Survey, the European Space Agency, and the American Meteorology Society.About OGCOGC is an international industry consortium of over 200 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS Specifications establish common interfaces that “geo-enable” the Web and mainstream IT, enabling 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/ .About IonicIONIC Software is an experienced software company with large expertise in the development of Java components to create the most innovative, flexible and interoperable distributed applications. IONIC team has a worldwide recognition as the very best in the industry, with unique expertise in distributed systems and Java Components for Web Mapping. Visit IONIC at http://www.ionicsoft.com .– end –“