Boeing Company, Northrop Grumman Planning Second Interoperability Summit

This second “Global Product Data Interoperability Summit” promises to be another excellent open and product-agnostic forum.

The Boeing Company and the Northrop Grumman Corporation are co-sponsoring a second joint Global Product Data Interoperability Summit in Chandler, Arizona, November 8-11, 2010.

The first event last year was hailed by attendees and organizers as a success. I found the sessions to have the most honest and open discussions I’d seen in many years, with vendors and users willing to talk straight. Summit organizers say they are preparing another “open and agnostic forum” where attendees share common ideas and solutions about data interoperability challenges confronting industry.

This year’s Summit theme is “Driving quality through industry collaboration focused on leveraging and integrating CAD, visualization, interoperability and data management systems.”  Participants from the aerospace, automotive and shipbuilding industries will present and discuss the latest technical standards and solutions addressing data interoperability issues.  Presentation tracks will cover Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Data Exchange and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).

“Because of the critical importance of data exchange and interoperability for future business success, and Boeing’s long tradition of aerospace leadership and innovation, we continue to be an active participant in the dialogue surrounding this topic,” said Dave Koshiba, Director of Advanced Lean Enterprise, Information Technology / Product Systems, Boeing.  “We look forward to the continuing conversation among the full range of industry experts attending this year’s Summit.”

“As a leader in global security we are keenly aware of the need for continuous evolution of interoperability solutions,” said Doug Norton, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Electronic Systems sector, Northrop Grumman Corporation.  “Product design and development quality, and success in any industrial market segment, are increasingly dependent upon mastering data exchange management across the enterprise.”

Both experts and vendors alike are encouraged to share their knowledge and experiences openly at the Summit, which is being held this year at the Crowne Plaza San Marcos Resort in Chandler, Arizona.  Technical presentations within the three tracks will be grouped within the focus areas of standards, processes or tools.  Some forums are open only to employees of the two sponsoring companies, while others are available to vendors and the invited public.

“This event is unique in that Boeing and Northrop Grumman are teaming with the software solutions industry, rather than any single provider, to share problems and work together to either solve them or develop new solutions,” said Ken Tashiro, COO/vice president, Elysium Inc.  “We chose this year’s theme of driving quality through industry collaboration to underscore these goals.”

The registration deadline for the 2010 Global Product Data Interoperability Summit is October 8. Deadline for submitting abstracts is September 30, 2010. For further information, contact event coordinator Elysium Inc.