Wayland, MA, USA, October 8, 2001. The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) (Wayland, MA) and IIR Conferences-UK (UK) announce their joint sponsorship of “GIS In Telecoms 2001,” a multi-speaker seminar to be held 12-15 November 2001 at the Intercontinental Geneva hotel in Geneva, Switzerland.This IIR conference is the best place to hear from and talk with high-level technologists and managers from telecommunications operators and GIS companies who understand the unique spatial data needs of the telecoms market. It is the premier conference providing practical insight into advanced management strategies for spatial data that will result in a more economical, more productive, and more profitable telecoms enterprise. GIS In Telecoms will also provide GIS software developers and data providers with a singular opportunity to learn about the specific needs of the telecoms market so they can make the right choices when adapting their product and service portfolios.Louis Hecht, OGC's VP Business Development, will provide the opening remarks, explaining how geospatial technology and data are an essential part of Location Based Services. Location Based Services, a very important market for providers of GIS and other geoprocessing systems, is advancing rapidly. Attendees will hear from Sam Bacharach, Manager of OGC's OpenLS (Open Location Services) Initiative Testbed, and Harry Niedzwiadek, the OpenLS Testbed Architect. This testbed is developing candidate open interface specifications that will provide the critical interoperability infrastructure for location services. Ron Lake, President of Galdos Systems, Inc., will speak about telecoms applications of Geography Markup Language (GML).One of the speakers will be Dr. Mike Jackson, Head of GSS at Hutchinson 3G, who will discuss the implications for the carrier market and the mobile communications value chain. Dr. Jackson was recently appointed to the OGC Board of Directors. Other speakers will include representatives from Radiolinja, ESRI UK, Pocket IT, SignalSoft Corp., mobilePosition (a SignalSoft Company), and Endoxon AG.In addition to Location Based Services, GIS In Telecoms 2001 will address the GIS requirements of e-1-1-2 legislation, integration of spatial data into revenue assurance databases, use of spatial data in marketing and CRM campaigns, and the opportunities presented by OGC's new Geography Markup Language (a standard XML encoding of spatial data).For conference details, please visit http://www.iir-conferences.com/gis .OGC is an international industry consortium of over 220 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, and empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org .IIR has been a leader in the provision of timely, accurate and objective business information for over 25 years. IIR is the world's largest independent conference company, with offices in more than 35 countries providing strategic, technical, product, legal and financial information to over 300,000 individuals each year. With over 1500 IIR associates working world-wide, IIR is continually researching market areas and listening to the ideas and concerns raised in discussions with market players. IIR conferences are timely, topical and at the forefront of strategic market and commercial change, featuring the very best speakers and offering unrivalled networking opportunities for professionals.– end –“