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Press Release

Contact:

Adam Cargill
Marketing Communications
The Open Group
+ 1 415 374-8280, ext 225

The Open Group Opens Paris Conference with Focus on Mobile Medical Workers

Buyers and Suppliers Address Matches-and Mismatches-Between User Requirements and Vendor Offerings

Paris, France - April 9, 2002 - Through case studies of Norwegian nurses and employees of the National Library of Medicine, members of The Open Group explored mobile user requirements in medical environments in sessions opening its Paris conference on "Managing the Mobile Workforce." Per Hasvold, Research Scientist at the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine, University Hospital of North Norway, addressed "Development and deployment of in-the-field computer supported collaboration tools in Norwegian hospitals." Janet Laylor, Technical Liaison to the Director of the National Library of Medicine, articulated the requirements of large scientific and medical community attempting to go mobile. The presentations were among 17 at The Open Group conference that examine the issues and answers associated with mobilizing workers and their need for access to integrated information.

Hasvold introduced the Hospital's impetus to develop an infrastructure for mobile communications and computing with the story of a nurse in a thoracic surgery ward. The telemedicine team discovered in monitoring activities of such nurses that they were consistently plagued by having to locate people and paperwork roughly half the time they were on duty. The team then determined what mobile tools and systems would support rapid access to required information, including the location of personnel.

Laylor described the rough road she discovered in helping the scientific and medical community at the National Library of Medicine become mobile technology users. On the road, these users had to have access to huge files in multiple formats, as well as e-mail and Internet. A key criterion Laylor established was that "users should not have to be technologists to make the technology work." Satisfied with her first choice of vendor, she had to revamp the organization's mobile program when the company went bankrupt. A second vendor slumped in customer service and significantly modified the costs associated with the service, therefore had to be terminated. After rethinking the program, Laylor described the satisfactory result of discovering that "wireless" and "mobile" are not necessarily synonymous concepts.

Copies of the presentations are available by sending a request to prstaff@opengroup.org.

The Open Group's Conference runs April 8-9 at the Newport Bay Club, Paris, France. For details and conference proceedings, visit www.opengroup.org/Paris2002.

About The Open Group

The Open Group, a vendor-neutral and technology-neutral consortium, is committed to delivering greater business efficiency by bringing together buyers and suppliers of information technology to lower the time, cost and risks associated with integrating new technology across the enterprise. The Open Group's mission is to offer all organizations concerned with open information infrastructures a forum where they can share knowledge, integrate open initiatives, and certify approved products and processes in a manner in which they continue to trust our impartiality. More information on our organization can be found at www.opengroup.org