What is OASIS

Welcome to OASIS, the international open standards consortium.

OASIS is about people coming together from around the world to agree on intelligent ways to exchange information over the Internet and within their organizations.

We believe open standards offer the potential to lower cost, stimulate innovation, grow global markets, and protect the right of free choice of technology.

You are invited to take your place among our international community of dedicated problem solvers and thought leaders who contribute their time, resources, and vision to advancing the use of open standards worldwide.

Advancing open standards for the information society.

Open standards are about ensuring people can choose software today, confident they won't lose access to their data tomorrow—or next year, or next decade.

Open standards impact everything from safeguarding government records to regulating efficient energy use at universities, from reducing the cost of health care services to streamlining the legal process. Some efforts involve major companies and governments from around the globe while others focus on a single, specialized community of users.

The one thing true open standards have in common is that they are advanced within a transparent process — one in which all those affected have a voice.

Open standards are changing the way the world creates and uses information. OASIS is changing the way the world creates and uses open standards.

What makes OASIS unique?

Our technical agenda is set by our members, who are free to start and advance efforts to meet the needs of the marketplace.

Our governance is determined by our members—not by financial contribution or appointment. OASIS Board of Directors and Committee chairs are elected by members through an open, democratic process.

We encourage but do not mandate convergence. We value creativity and consensus over conformity and control. Members who agree to coordinate their standards development for convergence may do so in an open, inclusive manner.

We draw on a balanced membership base that spans industries and geographies, where users and suppliers, government agencies and academic institutions, individuals and multi-national corporations, all come together.

OASIS is...

Open. All Committee work is documented in publicly archived mail lists. All specifications are offered for public review prior to becoming OASIS Standards.

Inclusive. All are welcome to join. A wide range of membership options and dues enable the broadest participation possible. Corporate membership entitles an organization to involve as many employees as it chooses in any and all OASIS Committees.

International. Committees choose the language in which they wish to collaborate. Most work is advanced via email and teleconferences.

Diverse. Our membership encompasses technologists, marketing executives, business managers, public servants, industry analysts, consultants, and others.

Effective. Members choose to work at OASIS because our streamlined process enables efficient collaboration that produces meaningful results.

Development, convergence, adoption—take your pick.

OASIS Committees may address broad, horizontal challenges that affect all business or they may focus on specific, vertical market needs. OASIS currently supports more than 60 Committees advancing standards for:

Computer Management Document-Centric Applications e-Commerce Law & Government Localisation Industry-Specific Applications

Security Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Supply Chain Web Services XML Processing Other Areas of Need Identified by Members

Not all OASIS Committees develop standards. Some promote adoption, interoperability, and conformance. They articulate requirements, identify gaps, recommend best practices, publish test suites, and provide input to other groups.

Our work is making a difference.

OASIS is the home of:

• ebXML (ISO 15000), UDDI, WSRP, WSDM, BPEL and other standards that define the world of e-commerce and Web services
• Award-winning SAML (ITU-T X.1141), WS-Security, XACML (ITU-T X.1142), and many more specifications that define security and access control
• OpenDocument (ISO 26300), DITA, DocBook, and other standards for creating and publishing documents of all kinds
• LegalXML, oBIX, eGovernment, Emergency Management, and other projects that address the needs of specific communities
• Service oriented architecture initiatives, including Open CSA (SCA, SDO), SOA-RM, and others, that put advanced R&D understanding of SOA and e-business methods into concrete, easily consumable terms

Benefits

Take your part in the global conversation.

As a member of OASIS, you:

• ensure your interests are represented in standards decision making
• protect development efforts from single-vendor bias
• contribute work for advancement within the broader community
• build support for new ideas and creative approaches
• define business cases and user requirements
• unify fragmented efforts and encourage convergence
• grow markets for standards-compliant products and services
• promote adoption and educate user communities
• encourage standards to be developed under licensing terms that best meet your needs, including Royalty-Free
• and much more...