Newsletter # 1
MedBiquitous Consortium Newsletter #1
25 July 2001
Published by the MedBiquitous Consortium
Contents:
- Working Groups Update
- Embracing a Global Perspective: The MedBiquitous European Executive Conference
- Modeling the Future of Professional Medicine with UML
1. Working Groups Update
On June 18 and 19, the MedBiquitous Consortium convened its two initial working groups, the Membership Management and Organizational Management Working Group and the Document and Content Management Working Group. The work that these two groups accomplish will serve as the cornerstone for the Consortium's technology offerings.
The Membership Management Working Group focuses on Web-based user registration and membership management for professional medical societies. One of their key efforts will be to create a standard format for member profiles.
The Content Management Working Group will create standards and requirements for the creation of Web-based content in a distributed environment. Initially, they are examining meta-data standards: standards for describing the contents of a document. These types of standards would markedly enhance the ability of societies to create Web content that is easily searched and personalized for individual users.
Representatives from the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Radiology, American College of Surgeons, American Psychiatric Association, American Society for Clinical Oncology, and CorMed participate in the working groups. Information about the working groups is now published on the Web at: http://www.medbiq.org/workinggroups/index.htm.
Other working groups are planned for the near future, including Communication and Collaboration, Abstract Management, Journal Management, Online Meetings and Exhibit Halls, Education and Testing, Certification and Credentialing, Clinical Trails and Registries, and Telemedicine.
2. Embracing a Global Perspective: The MedBiquitous European Executive Conference
Professional society, government, and industry representatives from countries in Europe, Asia, and North America came to Brussels on June 29 for the first MedBiquitous Consortium European Executive Conference. Throughout the course of the day, conference speakers and guests engaged in an active dialogue regarding the best way for professional medicine to advance using XML standards and Web technologies. The day began with a thoughtful presentation from Professor Torkel Åberg as to the practical reasons for establishing global networks of professional medical societies. Simon Phipps from Sun Microsystems followed with an entertaining explanation of how standards can enhance a technology's value while keeping its costs down. Dr. Peter Greene applied many of Simon Phipp's theorems to professional medicine and emphasized the need for European leadership within the MedBiquitous Consortium.
An impressive collection of speakers followed in the afternoon, including Professor Joachim Dudeck from the Institute of Medical Informatics, Dr. Vincent Hazebroucq from the French Government, Dr. Joaquin Azpilicueta from Medtronic Portugal, Salvator Vella from Cabinet du Ministre des Telecommunications, Dr. Ilias Iakovidis from the European Comission, and Malcolm Hutchinson from WISekey.
3. Modeling the Future of Professional Medicine with UML
Before beginning a complex project, you need to have a blueprint of what it is you are building. Rational Software, which is one of the Consortium's technical partners, has begun the process of helping the MedBiquitous team to create this blueprint. Terry Quatrani, Rational Rose Chief Evangelist, and UML co-creator Grady Booch will continue to work with the Consortium as we develop a technology framework for professional medicine. Using UML, Unified Modeling Language, the working groups will soon be able to collaborate on high-level models of the systems and XML standards that they are designing.
