[Index]
UN/CEFACT and OASIS cooperate
to strengthen work on ebXML
Geneva, 10 May 2004
-- The United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE) today announces that
the UN Centre for Trade Facilitation and
Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) and the
Organization for the Advancement of Structured
Information Standards (OASIS)1 reaffirm
their commitment to cooperating on ebXML.
They plan on entering into an agreement
at both the strategic and tactical levels,
which will ensure that each party endeavours
to maintain clarity in its work programme
and effective communications with a view
to avoiding duplication of effort - subject
to the rules of each organization and
consistent with the objectives of the
IEC/ISO/ITU/UNECE2 Memorandum of Understanding
on e-Business.
In a joint statement,
UN/CEFACT and OASIS stress that the proposed
cooperation agreement should improve understanding
and clarify the public perception of how
the two entities work together. Ms. Cosgrove-Sacks,
Director of the Trade Development and
Timber Division, says that the decision
to enter into this kind of agreement at
the strategic and tactical levels “shows
that the cooperation is now entering a
mature phase, and also that UNECE is looking
forward to expanding its cooperation in
ebXML as well as in other areas”.
Both parties intend by
this undertaking to demonstrate their
commitment to ebXML and its communities
of developers and users. "There is
much more to be done," agreed Mr.
Christian Frühwald, Chairman of UN/CEFACT.
"Members from both UN/CEFACT and
OASIS are focused now on articulating
how ebXML meets actual business needs
and where it fits in a service-oriented
architecture. By continuing our efforts
with OASIS, UN/CEFACT looks forward to
advancing domestic and international electronic
trade – with widespread ebXML deployment
as our common goal".
"Our work is just
beginning," says Mr. Patrick Gannon,
President and Chief Executive Officer
of OASIS. "Although it stands as
a tremendous accomplishment, the original
collaboration between OASIS and UN/CEFACT
that created ebXML - an initiative that
involved thousands of participants from
around the world - was just the first
step. The greater challenge lies ahead.
The task before us now is to advance deployment
of ebXML and work towards harmonization
with emerging technology standards. UN/CEFACT's
longstanding strengths in trade facilitation
and e-business will be a key factor in
this”.
Looking at the broader
picture, Ms. Cosgrove-Sacks says that
UNECE values the proposed submission by
UN/CEFACT of Part 8 of the ebXML Framework
‘Core Components Technical Specifications’
to the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO), as well as the
recently ratified four ebXML OASIS Standards
as ISO Technical Specifications. “This
underscores the long-standing partnership
between UNECE and ISO in the MoU on electronic
business. It shows that the international
community recognizes the importance of
ebXML as an enabler of electronic business.
UNECE applauds the developers of ebXML
in both UN/CEFACT and OASIS for contributing
to open trade data interchange and harmonization”.
For further information
please contact:
Jean Kubler
Chief a.i, Global Trade Solutions
Branch
Trade Development and Timber Division
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe
Palais des Nations, Room 446
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 27 74
Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 06 29
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.unece.org/cefact/
_____________
1 OASIS (Organization
for the Advancement of Structured Information
Standards) is a not-for-profit, international
consortium that drives the development,
convergence, and adoption of e-business
standards. Members themselves set the
OASIS technical agenda, using a lightweight,
open process expressly designed to promote
industry consensus and unite disparate
efforts. The consortium produces more
Web services standards than any other
organization along with standards for
security, e-business, and standardization
efforts in the public sector and for application-specific
markets. Founded in 1993, OASIS has more
than 3,000 participants representing over
600 organizations and individual members
in 100 countries. Approved OASIS Standards
include CAP, DocBook, DSML, ebXML, SAML,
SPML, UDDI, WSRP, WSS, XACML, and XCBF.
http://www.oasis-open.org
2 International
Electrotechnical Commission/ International
Organization for Standardization/ International
Telecommunication Union/ United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe
Ref: ECE/TRADE/04/P04