The Component Software Technology Program does has not yet formed a Program Group but there is nevertheless a great deal of activity in this area.
The Miami conference will see the completion of the first phase of The Open Group work to support CORBA Interoperability certification. The Open Group are also using the Component Software Technology Program as the forum for the ongoing discussion about Java. Of major concern at this conference is what the significance of these developments may be to our members at large and what The Open Group should be doing to support the industry in this area.
An agenda for the session in Miami is still under development, but it will cover some or all of the following items:
The Java Space & Java Certification: From the discussions at the last conference that there is a lot of interest in this area and members have plenty of suggestions for the role of The Open Group. There is confusion relating to all the various areas that Java covers. The result of the ad-hoc Birds of a Feather session at the last conference was that customers would like some assurance with respect to what they are buying when they buy Java implementations. This session will attempt to map out the space and to facilitate a cogent discussion on the priorites going forward. It will also outline what Sun and others are doing and draw some conclusions as to how The Open Group should contribute.
Enterprise Java Beans: This is one of those "Holy Grail" technologies that commands attention from those who value software re-use. The objective in Miami is to ensure that members understand the significance of the Enterprise Java Beans initiative and how it relates to other Object Technology frameworks such as the Business Object Facility being defined by the Object Management Group. The aim of this session is to come to some conclusions as to what actions, if any, The Open Group need to perform during the coming months.
CORBA Interoperability (And Interoperability, in general): Work recently completed between the OMG and The Open Group illustrates the power of blending The Open Group expertise with the OMG's widely-adopted specifications. As part of the work related to the certification of implementations as being compliant to the CORBA Standards, The Open Group has been working on an Interoperability Assurance Program. This is an issue that has wide applicability in the field of distributed computing in general. This session, led by Howard Greenwell of The Open Group, will outline the issues, and the achievements to date.
It is forseen that the conclusions drawn from the Miami conference will provide input to the optimium shape of the ongoing Component Software Technology program at The Open Group Member conferences.
