Interoperability: Key to international business -
The role of ICT Standards 

CEN, CENELEC, ETSI and ANSI have combined to organise a conference on Interoperability, to be held in Warsaw (Poland) on 6-7 February 2008 . The Conference will provide an international platform for business and technical decision makers and other stakeholders to exchange views and anticipate necessary interoperability developments in standardization that will help market-driven solutions.

The conference on "Interoperability: Key to international business" is an unprecedented event that will provide a first-class opportunity for stakeholders to develop and discuss their views on a major challenge for the future developments of standardization and industry activities worldwide: interoperability.

Interoperability, not be confused with inter-connectivity or compatibility (co-existence), is a vital component in the development of markets for Information Communication Technologies (ICT) equipment and service. It is the ability to exchange and use information between networks, systems, devices, applications or components .  Without interoperability, the Information Society would not be possible and users would quite simply live in a different world.

Standardization is an essential ingredient in achieving efficient interoperability and assists in avoiding market fragmentation. Understanding about this issue among governments, industries (both as solution providers and end-users) and social partners is improving, but more needs to be done to improve awareness on this matter. Experts from the European, American and Polish industry and standardization arena, as well as officials of the European Commission, representatives of the Polish and American Governments and representatives of Academia will help take the debate further by their contribution to the Conference.

Key conference themes will include:

• Home and Building Electronic Systems
• eBusiness Interoperability
• Radio Frequency Identification Devices
• Entertainment Applications
• Case Studies on Interoperability - eHealth , eLearning, eSkills, eGovernment
• Technical Interoperability and Quality of Standards

The CEN-CENELEC-ETSI-ANSI Interoperability Conference is officially supported by the Directorate General Enterprise and Industry for the European Commission and the EFTA Secretariat, and hosted by the Polish Committee for Standardization (PKN).

For registration and further information, please consult the Conference website:
http://www.interoperabilityconference.org