This morning, I'm attending the monthly meeting of the federal XML working group. Unfortunately, there's no Wi-Fi (or any other net connections I can see) so this will be posted later.

First up is John Dodd talking about connecting XML with the Federal Enterprise Architecture. John is with Computer Sciences Corp. and working with the IAC (Industry Advisory Council). The focus is" cross government information sharing." Gee, where have I heard that before? Interestingly, one of the first things that John brings up is that the introduction of web services to government will cause people's roles to change and that is going to cause angst.

One of the suggestions John has is that technology working groups (like the one I'm attending) ought to spend some time each year creating a roadmap to serve as guides for others looking at deploying the technology. The second half of this suggestion is that this roadmap needs to be effectively communicated. I think NASCIO, for example, could play an important role in this area for the states. Frequently you go to a NASCIo conference and almost every state is working on the same technology vision, but the group, with its authority and trustworthiness, doesn't communicate that vision to others in state government.

John thinks the most important business case to be made for using web services is interoperability. He mentioned Governor Leavitt specifically saying he'd read some quotes from him over the weekend where he used the word "interoperability." John was surprised (and scared) to hear a Governor use the work. I'm not.