One year after the launch of the JCP 2.6 program, the Java Community Process Program Management Office and Executive Committees have announced strong results on multiple fronts. In May alone six JSRs moved into Final Approval Ballot and two into Final Release.

"That we have great results to report today across the board is a credit to us all", said Onno Kluyt, Chairman, JCP (pictured).

"We believed in Java technology's power to build a community dedicated to platform development through open-standards," he continued, "we consistently acted on our beliefs, we made it happen. Not only does the JCP set a standard for technology with compatibility and conformance, it also sets a standard for collaboration and sharing in the industry. We welcome all those who share this belief to join the forum."

On the process side, one year after launch, the JCP 2.6 program is appreciated by its members for having introduced developer-friendly changes, Kluyt observed. While on the innovation front, the JCP program further built on its reputation of developing quality, open standards-based Java Specification Requests (JSRs).

A record number of JSRs in key areas such as wireless, tools, JAIN technology and OSS systems, web services and enterprise technologies have recently been finalized or are nearing completion. On the membership side, the JCP program is seeing growing interest from developers all over the world to join the program and become part of the Java binary standard development process.

"JCP 2.6 is the most transparent and accessible iteration in the program's evolution to date," said Scott Stark, CTO, JBoss, Inc. "It has substantially improved and enriched the developer experience and broadened access to JSR information by encouraging participation from Java developers at every level."

The latest innovation track record of the JCP program includes: in the enterprise space, three versions of Java Enterprise Edition; in the desktop space, three versions of the Java Standard Edition; in the wireless space, three versions of Java Micro Edition; in the web services space, multiple Java API interfaces for XML standards; for vertical industries, OSS and JAIN APIs.

Since January 2004 to date, 39 new projects were approved to be developed as JSRs through the JCP program. In May alone six JSRs moved into Final Approval Ballot and two into Final Release. In June seven JSRs are moving into Final Release - among them key JSRs like Java Business Integration (JBI), JSR 208.

Driven by Sun and an Expert Group of over 22 industry vendors and individuals including Apache, JBoss, IONA, Novell, Oracle, SAP, SeeBeyond, Sonic Software, Sybase, TIBCO Software, and webMethods, the JBI specification extends Java Enterprise Edition with a protocol infrastructure supporting the range of integration component models and the range of bindings required by standards-based service oriented architectures (SOA).

Other JSRs expected to advance into final stages or complete development in June are XML Digital Signature APIs, JSR 105, co-led by Sun and IBM; Content Repository for Java Technology API, JSR 170, developed by Day Software; Content Handler API, JSR 211, spearheaded by Sun; Personal Profile 1.1, JSR 216, Connected Device Configuration (CDC) 1.1, JSR 218, Foundation Profile 1.1, JSR 219, from Sun; Web Services Metadata, JSR 181, from BEA Systems; Payment API, JSR 229, from Siemens AG.

Currently the JCP has 912 members, a 12% increase from last year's numbers - representative of a steady upward trend in membership. Individual developers, corporations, universities, governments, and open source groups continue to be attracted to the JCP.  Among the newest members is SouJava, the largest Brazilian Java Users Group (JUG). They joined the JCP early this year as a society which includes Java technology users and Java technology evangelists from Brazil whose objectives are to strengthen, expand and professionalize the use of Java technology in the country. With SouJava now a member of the community, the global reach of the JCP program expands considerably.

IT industry leaders from countries like China have already announced their intention to join the community and are expected to finalize the process in the coming months. Indian based Tata Elxsi, provider of customized design solutions to companies across the globe, recently became a JCP member. In the Americas, Serpro, a Brazilian government contractor, just announced their intention to join the JCP program.