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The effort is being led by Irish software development company Propylon and the group's first meeting, titled "XML and Web services," will take place on 06 February at Jury's Hotel, Ballsbridge. While the meeting is open to any XML developer who is interested, a panel of experts will be discussing the topic. The panel will include Sean McGrath, chief technical officer at Propylon; Annrai O'Toole, executive chairman with CapeClear; Sean MacRoibeaird, XML Architect with Sun Microsystems; Mark O'Neill, chief technical officer at Vordel and Oisin Hurley, principal engineer with Iona Technologies.
XML, or Extensible Markup Language, is a specification developed by the World Wide Web Consortium and is a condensed version of SGML. XML is designed especially for Web documents, and its most unique property is its ability to let designers create their own customised "tags," or commands. This enables the definition, transmission and interpretation of data between different applications and between separate organisations.
It is a technology that analysts say will grow rapidly over the next few years as developers and companies embrace it, primarily thanks to its flexibility. IDC said earlier this month that the XML server market grew 440 percent from 1999 to 2000, signifying the acceptance of XML as the de facto standard for business-to-business integration. This growth rate, according to IDC, will outperform that of the software industry through 2005.
"XML servers are moving rapidly beyond the early adopter phase to play an integral role in the e-business platform," said Susan Funke, research manager for IDC's information and data management service. The US-based research company says despite current economic conditions, this market will reach USD3.7 billion in 2005.
"I think it's definitely going to come into its own when we see different devices accessing the Web," explained Jonathan Hayes, GUI (graphic user interface) Architect at Propylon. "Behind the scenes it's going to mean a lot for the take-up of e-business as well as allowing businesses to talk to businesses."
Propylon is encouraging as many participants to attend the meeting as possible and hopes new entrants to the SIG will, in the future, influence what is discussed. The company said the group was designed to be an open and free exchange of ideas for industry participants.
"XML has been growing fast in Ireland recently and it's great to see a new forum like this," said Peter Flynn, moderator for the event and editor of the XML FAQ. Flynn is also the author of books on XML and manager of the Electronic Publishing Unit at University College Cork.
For more information visit http://www.propylon.com/xmlireland.htm.
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