Schools Interoperability Framework Moves Forward
The
Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF), an initiative involving more than 80 software publishers, technology providers and integrators, along with schools and school districts, has released its first technical interoperability specifications for K-12 instructional and administrative software. An open set of specifications designed to support interoperability among a broad selection of software and technology, SIF is expected to revolutionize the way information is stored, accessed, updated and transferred, sharply reducing schools’ administrative burdens. It is not a product, but rather an industry-supported technical blueprint for K-12 software that will enable diverse applications to interact and share data seamlessly.
Through the release of SIF Implementation Specification v. 1.0, participants are encouraging school administrators to get involved as early as possible. The initial specification defines software implementation guidelines that will directly impact infrastructure, student information services, data analysis and reporting, food services, human resources, financial management, library automation and more. SIF hopes to create an environment where parents, teachers, students, administrators, school boards, and the community at large can share data among applications. For more information on SIF, visit www.sifinfo.org.
This article originally appeared in the 09/01/2000 issue of THE Journal.