Windsor selected for "Open Source Node" project

February 27, 2009

LAKE OSWEGO, OR — Windsor Solutions is the apparent successful bidder on a contract with the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) to lead the Open Source Sharable Exchange Network Node project. Windsor Node 2008 was chosen from among several competing alternatives as the preferred solution to support the next generation of the Exchange Network. This initiative was funded via a 2008 multi-state Challenge Grant and will allow states, counties, and tribal groups to exchange data with EPA and other Exchange Network partners at a substantially reduced cost. Windsor Node 2008 has been placed in production with over half a dozen Exchange Network partners and has proven to be a robust and reliable engine in a variety of configurations. Windsor Node 2008 simultaneously supports both the 1.1 and 2.0 versions of the Node Specifications, and works in either .NET or Java environments and with a wide range of supporting databases including Oracle and SQL Server.

This nationally available open source Node should be released and readily available to all Network Partners in time for the Exchange Network conference in late April, subject to the contract execution anticipated to occur later this month. Since implementing the first fully functional Network Node for the Washington Department of Ecology in 2003, Windsor has been on the forefront of Node development and Exchange Network technology, having developed several innovative data exchanges. Many of these exchanges are available immediately along with the open source Node, which is provided along with plugins needed to implement the FRS, NEI, AQS, WQX, SDWIS, and RCRAInfo Handler data flows. Other flows that are available or currently in development include the HERE Network, the Pacific Northwest Water Quality Exchange, and eManifest, among others.

This new sharable, open source Node builds upon Windsor’s long-standing support for the Exchange Network. The “build once – share many times” approach is consistent with Windsor’s philosophy of encouraging reuse and collaboration among Network Partners. The selection of Windsor’s solution validates our longstanding approach to the implementation challenges over the last several years and is another reason Windsor is behind the majority of Exchange Network Node deployments throughout the United States.

Additional deployments of Windsor Node 2008 are currently underway in several agencies. Please contact Craig Austin if you’d like more information on how your agency might benefit from Windsor Node 2008.