The 10th NASA-ESA Workshop on Product Data Exchange (PDE 2008)

What began originally as an informal meeting venue to discuss and share information on a number of ISO 10303/STEP related data exchange standards ten years ago has now become a focal point for the sharing of a broad range of data exchange and data sharing technologies & standards. The workshop is jointly organized by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA) and an international advisory panel. It is held annually and alternates each year between America and Europe. Alternating the location provides a fresh mix of participants each year and this year's workshop was no exception with speakers from Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, UK, Norway and USA.

The objectives of the workshop are:

• To bring together developers, implementers and users of product data exchange and data sharing solutions, and to share experience obtained in development, implementation, deployment and operational use.
• To provide an international forum to discuss methods and technology for the reliable capture, management, exchange, sharing and long term archival of product/system information, especially through the use of open standards.
• To identify or showcase interoperability standards and technology for product lifecycle management of complex systems, including cross-fertilization between solutions developed in different industry sectors.
• To identify gaps where new solutions need to be developed – or where existing ones need to be extended – and to bring together the people to foster such initiatives.
• To promote development and adoption of open standards for model-based systems engineering – improving the specification, acquisition, design, analysis, verification, validation and operation of complex systems through the use of executable models (executable in a simulation environment).

Common topics include:

• Open standards as enablers for multi-disciplinary integrated product development teams and advanced engineering analysis and simulation:
• Reliable long-term archival and re-use of product data for complex systems Awareness and application of underlying standards and software technology that enable efficient product lifecycles.
• Use of open standards for cost-effective implementations that avoid vendor dependencies Success stories and lessons learned in developing, implementing and/or using open product data exchange and data sharing standards
• Sustainability of open solutions, including total cost of usage/ownership, stakeholder win-win mechanisms, and balancing openness versus business viability and competitive advantage.

Jotne EPM Technology has been an active participant each year since 2000. This year Arne Tøn, Senior Software Developer for EPMT, was well-received with his presentation, ‘The ESA OCDS Project - Enhancing the Concurrent Design Concept'

Next year's workshop will be held in America. The following year the workshop will return to Europe and Jotne EPMT has volunteered to host the 2010 event in Norway. For more information, please see NASA STEP Central at http://step.nasa.gov/.

We hope to see all of you in 2010 here in the land of the fjords!