This document provides insight into a new approach to the well-known and wide-spread problems created by the lack of information interoperability between applications in the e-business arena. Traditionally, standards for the exchange of business data, including international trade data, have been focused on static message definitions, reflecting historical paper-based trade documents and related business processes. Such static message definitions have not enabled a sufficient degree of interoperability or flexibility. The era of reliance on static message definitions (documents) for information exchange throughout supply chains is
being complemented or replaced with real-time supply chain collaboration and real-time standard data exchange structures which use cloud-based services.
A more flexible and interoperable way of standardizing business semantics is required. The development by the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) of Reference Data Models (RDMs) paves the way for this required new approach. The RDMs being developed by UN/CEFACT are applicable to specific segments of the e-business arena and are based on UN/CEFACT standardized business semantics. In summary, “an RDM provides a consolidated list of standardized data and processes for use in a particular business domain, which are globally understandable and exchangeable between parties using common standard data exchange structures.”