June 22, 2006, Indianapolis, USA: A Cooperation Agreement between the IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS) and the e-Framework for Education and Research Initiative (the e-Framework) was announced at the IMS annual members' meeting. The principal goal of the Cooperation Agreement is to work together towards a shared vision of service enabled infrastructures for Higher Education.

Outputs from the e-Framework will be important to the deliberations of IMS in terms of further standardization initiatives and feedback from IMS industry members will assist greatly in developing the e-Framework.

Rob Abel, Chief Executive Officer of IMS said, "IMS warmly welcomes this close collaboration with the e-Framework initiative. Together, IMS and the e-Framework initiative will spearhead the development of service oriented approaches for the global education industry."

Neil McLean, a Board member of the JISC-DEST e-Framework Initiative, remarked "This heralds an important milestone in the evolution of the e-Framework in that it harnesses the energy and insights of a vibrant IMS community. There is a will to succeed on both sides and this augers well for meeting the challenges of developing the next phase of e-learning and e-research infrastructure."

About the IMS Global Learning Consortium:
The IMS Global Learning Consortium is the leading advocacy group encouraging the growth and impact of learning technology worldwide. IMS/GLC is a nonprofit member organization that provides leadership in shaping and growing the learning industry through community development of standards, promotion of high impact innovation, and research into best practices. For information about IMS/GLC on-going activities, and membership visit http://www.imsglobal.org/

About the e-Framework for Education and Research:
The e-Framework is an initiative of the UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and the Australian Department of Education Science and Training (DEST) undertaken as part of their Cooperation Framework Agreement. The e-Framework currently has as partners, JISC, DEST, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, and the SURF Foundation (the Netherlands). The e Framework Partners are able to influence policy and development of educational and research infrastructure at a national level. The primary goal of the e-Framework is to facilitate technical interoperability within and across education and research through improved strategic planning and implementation processes. For more information on the e-Framework visit http://www.e-framework.org

For More Information:
Please contact:
Lisa Mattson at lmattson@imsglobal.org

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