PRAGUE (Czech Republic) -- 23 October 2007 -- A revolutionary way to share information about  events has been given preliminary approval by delegates of the  International Press Telecommunications Council at its regular meeting  here. 

The new standard, called EventsML-G2, allows news agencies and information  providers to easily encode highly detailed information about any kind of  event, such as a meeting, exhibition, election -- anytime people gather or  something newsworthy happens. Aside from such obvious details as dates and  places, EventsML-G2 can carry such detailed information as the likelihood  of the event occurring as scheduled.

EventsML-G2 information can be shared  in any language, using readily available text editing tools. It can be  viewed on the World Wide Web, if desired, and EventsML-G2  information can be converted to and from the less-expressive iCalendar format by using such popular schedule management tools  as Outlook, iCal or Blackberry devices.  

As part of the IPTC's family of G2 standards, EventsML-G2 is based on XML - - recognized worldwide as the simplest and most universal method of  encoding text and data for sharing. EventsML-G2 will be used to help  newspapers and web sites build databases of such diverse content such as  calendars of community events and upcoming elections. The possibilities  are virtually limitless; for example, every detail of a child's school  calendar can be published in EventsML-G2.   

Previously, event information (such as a concert schedule) was collected and  stored in a format that was usually invented by a local newspaper or web  site, since the widely used iCalendar format is not  sufficiently structured. Sharing such information was difficult and  expensive; republication required much manual processing and was prone to  error. EventsML-G2 establishes a lingua franca to make sharing as easy as  e-mailing or transmitting an standardized EventsML-G2 file.  

Final approval of EventsML-G2 is expected in the first quarter of 2008,  but detailed information is available now at http://www.eventsml.org/ .

More than 50 delegates  representing Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East participated  in the regular IPTC autumn meeting held in Prague. They represented dozens  of the world's leading news agencies and news system vendors, all of which  use IPTC standards to share, process and publish news.  

In other business, IPTC delegates continued work on the upcoming NewsML-G2  standard, which will be used to bundle news content for easy processing by  news outlets such as newspapers, web sites and broadcasters. NewsML-G2  will enter its final stages of development and approval in  early 2008.  

The next regular gathering of the IPTC is scheduled for Beijing in March 2008, and will include a meeting with the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad to discuss news media issues for the upcoming Olympic summer games.