A second Interoperability Summit Series event hosted by HR-XML, OASIS, OMG, and XBRL will "bring industry groups, consortia and their members together in an ongoing initiative to coordinate development of electronic business specifications." The Interoperability Summit will be held June 27-28, 2002 in Orlando, Florida. On the first day, reports will be presented on interoperability concerns within several industry sectors. The second day's program will explore the several initiatives developing core vocabularies and related best practices to enable electronic business: (1) UN/CEFACT's eBusiness Transition Working Group (eBTWG); (2) ASC X12's E-Business Cross-Industry XML architecture; (3) OASIS Universal Business Language (UBL) Technical Committee; (4) Open Applications Group Integration Specification; (5) OMG's Model Driven Architecture Initiative . Based upon agreements reached at the first Summit in December 2001, the four organizers "have created an Interoperability Pledge which recognizes the need to identify intersections between major horizontal and vertical standards and promote acceptance of common models and approach."

From the provisional program description: "There are various initiatives to define a core vocabulary and related best practices to enable electronic business. The specific scope, methodologies, and deliverables of these initiatives vary, but broadly speaking, they are directed at delivering libraries of business content, models schema design best practices... The purpose of the second day's program [Chaired by Ms. Karen D. Larkowski, Executive Vice President, The Standish Group] is to explore these initiatives. It is not assumed that there is one best approach to building a broad library of base business documents. Nor is it assumed that only one library will meet all needs. However, clarification of the goals, timelines, and scope connected with the work of these groups would be beneficial for the entire e-business standards community. The Interoperability Summit provides a multi-lateral, neutral venue where this information can be shared and opportunities for convergence and synergies between these groups can be explored."

According to the Interoperability Pledge, organizations who "join in this Pledge" commit to:

• Teleconferences as necessary but at least quarterly to review potential overlaps
• Semiannual Interoperability Summit events of the same structure, with the second day focused on different technology areas each time
• Notify each other and the Summit community of new work items
• Liaise with each other based on new work item announcements as necessary
• Insert into each organization's process some way to ensure that the members look at other organizations' work

From the announcement:

"The Interoperability Summit Series gains momentum as standards developers from around the world make plans to gather in Orlando, Florida, 27-28 June 2002 and advance their mission of collaboration.

Hosted by HR-XML, OASIS, OMG, and XBRL, the Interoperability Summit brings industry groups, consortia and their members together in an ongoing initiative to coordinate development of electronic business specifications.

Building on core issues identified at the first Summit meeting last December, the June event will focus on removing barriers to interoperability and managing against duplication of effort. Several tactics for encouraging real collaboration between e-business standards groups were targeted in the first meeting, and Interoperability Summit participants now plan to actively move forward to implement solutions...