ALEXANDRIA, VA (November 14, 2001)--James Clark, internationally renowned developer and pioneer in the evolution of XML standards and open-source software, will address conferees this December at XML 2001, the world's leading XML conference and exposition. Clark's keynote address will examine the short-term benefits of recent advances in XML, and the foremost challenges facing end-users today. People planning to implement XML in their organizations will find a wealth of insights and new ideas. Clark, founder of Thai Open Source Software Center, has been involved with XML and SGML for more than 10 years. He was technical lead of the XML Working Group during the creation of the XML 1.0 Recommendation, and editor of the XPath and XSLT Recommendations. He was also the primary author of the DSSSL (ISO 10179) standard. Currently, he is chair of the OASIS RELAX NG Task Committee and editor of the RELAX NG specification. The open-source software that Clark has written includes SGML parsers (sgmls and SP), a DSSSL implementation (Jade), XML parsers (expat and XP), an XPath/XSLT processor (XT) and a RELAX NG validator (Jing). Prior to his involvement with SGML and XML, he wrote the GNU groff typesetting system. Three additional influential leaders will join Clark as keynote speakers during XML 2001: * Lauren Wood is XML 2001 conference chair and director of product technology at SoftQuad Software. Wood plays a major part in the design of SoftQuad's tools for XML-based e-commerce and e-publishing, as well as representing SoftQuad on several technical committees. She chaired the W3C Document Object Model Working Group for almost four years and has been an active member of the CSS and Formatting Properties Working Group, the XML Working Group, the XSL Working Group, and the original HTML Working Group. * David Reed is general manager of XML and data technologies, Microsoft Corporation. Technologies that Reed is responsible for include MSXML, System.XML, ADO.net, ODBC, OLE DB, and the SOAP Toolkit. Prior to leading the XML efforts at Microsoft, he was on the original development team of Microsoft Transaction Server version 1.0, through the release of COM+ in Windows 2000. Before joining Microsoft in 1995, he developed Saber-C++, a UNIX based C/C++ programming environment at Saber Software. Reed had been building commercial software since 1983 and is a frequent contributor to developer-oriented technical conferences. * Larry Cable is chief Web architect, application and integration services, iPlanet. Cable has worked for Sun Microsystems since 1989. He has contributed to the Window Systems Group, working on X11, OpenLook and CDE; and to the Object Products group working on CORBA and OpenStep. He also spent three years at Java Software, where he contributed to a variety of projects and specifications, including JavaBeans, Swing, AWT, Infobus, JSP, and J2EE. Before joining Sun, Cable worked for a variety of companies, including Digital Equipment Corporation, Spider Systems, Office Workstation, Ltd., Burrourghs, The Turing Institute and ICL. XML 2001, produced by IDEAlliance-formerly the Graphic Communications Association-will take place Sunday, December 9 through Friday, December 14 at Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel in Orlando, Florida, USA. Wood and Clark will deliver their addresses Tuesday, December 11; Reed will deliver his Wednesday, December 12; and Cable will deliver his Friday, December 14. "Our four fine keynote speakers bring decades of experience and insight to conferees," says David Steinhardt, president and CEO of IDEAlliance. "Attendees will find their grasp of the technical issues incomparable-and their recommendations invaluable." "XML is becoming an integral part of information technology but we still face challenges with it," says keynoter and conference chair Wood. "Having a thinker and trail-blazer of the caliber of James Clark as a core part of our conference is a tremendous advantage to participants." In addition to the four keynote addresses, XML 2001 offers participants more than 170 technical sessions and tutorials, three plenary sessions, and a variety of informal business receptions, discussion groups and social events. XML 2001 will also feature nearly 150 providers of XML-based products and services offering hands-on demonstrations and displays December 11 through 13. Participants can register for XML 2001 on line by visiting www.xmlconference.org. A discount is available to every participant who registers before November 30. Special discounts are also available to academics and members of organizations affiliated with IDEAlliance.