Wayland, MA, September 21, 2006 – The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.® (OGC), in association with the Geospatial Information and TechnologyAssociation (GITA) will host an Interoperability Day Seminar focusingon the confirmed benefits of using standards-based interoperablegeospatial technologies and the challenges for the future. The event,to be held October 4, 2006 in Tyson's Corner, Vienna, Virginia willkick off with a live demonstration emphasizing the benefits ofstandards based services for coordination of emergency management andresponse across cooperating organizations and jurisdictions.A diverse panel with representatives from Oak Ridge National Labs,Canadian Forest Service, U.S. Naval Research Lab and ESRI will explorehow their organizations and users benefit from interoperablesolutions. Chief Technical Officer of Parsons Brinckerhoff, DougEberhard, will give the keynote address, speaking about “Extending theGeospatial Landscape: Addressing the Complexities of the UrbanLandscape.” A closing panel with representatives from FM Global(insurance company), the Department of Homeland Security, theUniversity of Texas at Dallas and NASA will look ahead toward futureinteroperability challenges and address attendee questions.The day will wrap up with a social presented by Gold Sponsor ESRI andSilver Sponsors Boeing and eSpatial. During lunch and the social, OGCmembers will be available to demonstrate their interoperable solutionsat the Vendor Interoperability Showcase.The event will be held at the Sheraton Premier, Grand Ballroom,Tyson's Corner from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. The complete agenda andregistration information are available athttp://www.opengeospatial.org/event/0610interop.The OGC® is an international industry consortium of more than 320companies, government agencies, research organizations, anduniversities participating in a consensus process to develop publiclyavailable interface specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications supportinteroperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless andlocation-based services, and mainstream IT. The specifications empowertechnology developers to make complex spatial information and servicesaccessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGCwebsite at http://www.opengeospatial.org.”