Break-out session
The integration of a wide spectrum of applications in and around homes
and buildings and the control thereof is a concept that has steadily grown
to be a common concept in our daily lives. Network providers, manufacturers
and users are to work together to develop the necessary media to ensure
the interoperability of product-oriented solutions.
The theme will explore several key domains such as:
- HBES from the “Smart House” perspective: how can the needs
of the future society be coped with, especially in terms of the migration
of technologies and services?
- Standards for the interoperability of household appliances and their
monitoring and control through common devices and terminals (e.g. television
set) require in a first instance user-friendliness.
- Power line communication and its extension to the mains supply is
a steadily growing technology. What is the asset and benefit of this
development?
The superposition and interworking of different technologies, applications
and services in the home is steadily growing to its culmination point.
How can the cabling aspect be rationalized in order to allow co-habitation
of media?
Lack of interoperability of eBusiness standards has for a long while
prevented the successful uptake of eBusiness software solutions, especially
by SMEs and by those trading with different sectors. This is as much an
issue concerning “semantic interoperability” as a technical
issue, but both concern standards. The arrival of software solutions based
on XML has compounded the problem, by making it easier to create new business
solutions in isolated “islands”.
This break-out session will consider critical issues such as: who is
trying to resolve them, and how to improve awareness of these issues within
business. The issues will be debated with reference to current activities
in several settings, among them the CEN/ISSS eBusiness Interoperability
Forum in Europe and, internationally, the UN/CEFACT eBusiness standards
process. In the US, the eBSC Forum seeks to accelerate communication,
cooperation, harmonisation and convergence in the development of effective
eBusiness standards and guidelines.
RFID is a very promising technology and many companies have invested
in RFID systems, in particular for tracking goods. However the systems
implemented by different companies are still based on proprietary standards
that prevent interoperability and the development of RFID applications
outside a particular company. This happens in spite of a significant standardization
activity in ISO, CEN, ETSI and the EPCglobal forum.
The break-out session will address the critical compatibility and interoperability
issues that prevent the wide deployment of RFID applications. The break-out
session will focus on technical issues such as supply chain tracking,
inventory control and business process improvements, among others. While
non technical issues such as personal identification, information privacy
(for applications such as ID cards, RFID enabled passports and electronic
payment cards) and spectrum allocation are critical, they will not be
included in this break-out session. The continued development of RFID
technologies and applications hinges in differentiating between technical
and non technical issues.
Communication through electronic means is more and more part of our
daily lives.
Even with the fact that computers are increasingly commonly used, the
television set remains the centre of the home. The recent introduction
of digital TV is the technology allowing upstream communication. CATV
systems are the broadband medium to ensure this data exchange aspect.
Audio and video devices and their applications form part of our daily
life. What is the future promising?
Application software needs to be “interoperable” if the data
it contains is to be shared between more than one company or organisation.
An enormous effort is still needed to ensure the necessary standards are
in place, or, where they are, that they can be used inter-operably. But
“interoperability” in ICT can also imply “interoperability
of people” – that is, ensuring that the necessary skills for
the information society to achieve its full potential are recognised across
European frontiers.
This break-out session will examine examples of standards initiatives
and issues in the applications area, with recent or forthcoming overview
reports on standards interoperability issues in eHealth and eGovernment
and technical work on eLearning. In the US, there are more than 20 eGovernment
initiatives ongoing now, in 5 major categories: government to citizen,
government to business, internal efficiency, and e-authentication. The
agreement on a standardised “European ICT skills framework”
will also be addressed. The major standards obstacles still preventing
interoperability will be identified and solutions proposed.
Interoperability between equipments implementing the same standard is
the ultimate goal and proof of success of standardization. Experience
however demonstrates that there may be a number of reasons why this is
not currently being achieved. Possible ambiguities left and options included
in the standard may contribute to this difficulty, and more generally
raises the issue of the quality of the standard. Validation of the standards
may be provided with the use of formal description languages (UML, SDL,
MSC, TTCN, ASN.1..) and development of test strategies. Both Europe and
the US have a long experience of conformance testing and interoperability
testing. High quality, validated test standards are a prerequisite for
the broad acceptance of test results from either third party testing and
certification or manufacturer’s declaration of conformity.
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