Press Release ECE/TRADE/99/14
Geneva, 20 September 1999
United Nations and OASIS Join Forces to
Produce
Global XML Framework for Electronic Business
(Geneva, Switzerland / Boston, Mass. USA - 17 September 1999)
The United Nations body for Trade
Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) and the Organization for the Advancement
of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) have joined forces to initiate a worldwide
project to standardize XML (extensible markup language) business specifications. UN/CEFACT
and OASIS have established the Electronic Business XML Working Group to
develop a technical framework that will enable XML to be used in a consistent manner for
exchanging all electronic business data. Industry groups currently working on XML
specifications will participate in the 18-month project. Results of the
Electronic Business XML Working Group will be placed in the public domain on XML.org and
uncefact.org.
OASIS President, Bill Smith (Sun
Microsystems) explains, "To be effective for global business, it is
vital that XML specifications are based on a common framework. Because that framework does
not yet exist, there are many -- often competing -- efforts under way worldwide. This new
Electronic Business XML Working Group will end the confusion and duplication of effort
that currently exists".
Ray Walker, Chairman of the UN/CEFACT
Steering Group states, "This is good news especially for small and medium-sized
companies, developing countries and economies in transition. In the long term, this
initiative will contribute to the growth of world trade."
Carol Cosgrove-Sacks, Director of the
Trade Division, UN/ECE adds AThe opportunities for business development that can result in
matching the existing EDI technology with XML are very exciting. By incorporating the new
technique into their existing operations, companies will be able to offer a more coherent
and efficient service to their customers. The aim of this significant development is to
enable large and small international supply chains to be linked to the Internet in an
innovative way.
The Electronic Business XML Working Group
will be led by Klaus-Dieter Naujok of the Harbinger Corporation, a senior member of the
UN/CEFACT Steering Committee, and Robert S. Sutor of IBM, Chief Strategy Officer of OASIS.
Editor's Notes
XML(Extensible Markup Language) offers
exciting new opportunities for the exchange of business data, be that
application-to-application, application-to-person or person-to-application. Structural and
semantic information that can be added with XML allows computers to do a great deal of
processing on the spot. The combination of more efficient processing, more accurate
searching and more flexible linking is set to revolutionize business on the Web.
UN/CEFACT (www.unece.org/cefact)
is the United Nations Centre for
Facilitation of Procedures and Practices for Administration, Commerce and Transport, whose
mandate covers worldwide policy and technical development in the area of trade
facilitation and electronic business. Headquartered in Geneva at the secretariat of the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE), it has developed and promoted many
tools for the facilitation of global business processes including UN/EDIFACT, the
international edi (electronic data interchange) standard. Its current work programme
includes such topics as Simpl-edi and Object Oriented edi. It strongly supports the
development and implementation of open inter-operable, global standards and specifications
for electronic business.
OASIS ( www.oasis-open.org) is a non-profit, international consortium dedicated solely to
product-independent data and content interchange. Focusing on product interoperability,
OASIS embraces the complete spectrum of structured information standards including XML,
SGML and CGM. OASIS operates XML.org (www.xml.org),
the first global XML industry portal featuring the XML.org Registry and Repository that
offers automated public access to XML schemas for electronic commerce,
business-to-business transactions, and tools and application interoperability. OASIS
sponsors include Adobe Systems, AND-USA, Arbortext, Bentley Systems, Boeing, Chrystal
Software, Compaq, DataChannel, DMSi, Documentum, Dun & Bradstreet, Enigma, Extricity
Software, GCA, IBM, Inso, InterCAP, Interleaf, Interwoven, ISOGEN, ITEDO, Keyfile, Larson
Software, Microsoft, NextPage, NIST, Object Design, POET Software, Reed Technology,
Reuters, Sabre, SoftQuad, Software AG, STEP, Sun Microsystems, Synthbank, System
Development, Wavo, Xerox, XyEnterprise and Zeh Graphics Systems.
HARBINGER CORPORATION NASDAQ:HRBC
IBM NYSE:IBM
For more information:
Carol Geyer, Program
Manager, OASIS, +1.412.963.1479, [email protected] or
Hans Hansell, Chief, UN/CEFACT Secretariat, +41.22.917.2457 [email protected]