In order for alert and warning messages to be interoperable among the various stakeholders, we all need to be talking the same “language”.  One organization promoting this standardization in emergency alerting is OASIS, the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards.  OASIS is developing a family of standards it calls the Emergency Data eXchange Language, or EDXL.  One EDXL standard that AWARE readers may be familiar with is CAP, the Common Alerting Protocol.  Other EDXL standards deal with hospital availability, resource messaging, situation reporting (sit-reps), and the distribution and security of emergency messages.

OASIS recently presented a webinar called EDXL101, which explains the features of the various EDXL standards.  This webinar has been archived and is now available for viewing.  During the live presentation, over 100 people logged in to watch it.  Anyone with an interest in alerts and warnings will find this webinar valuable.  It is especially helpful for developers looking to incorporate these protocols in an alert and warning product line.  Implementers and originators of emergency alerts will also get a good overview of the protocols available and how they might be used.  Interoperability is an important priority in the alerts and warnings field, and EDXL101 is an excellent opportunity to learn the latest on where emerging standards are currently at.  The archived EDXL101 webinar and slide set can be viewed at: www.oasis-open.org/events/webinars/