Jon Bosak

Sun Microsystems

XML Europe 2003

London, 6 May 2003

Documents Revisited:

eCommerce for Everyone

The big picture

UN Millenium Goal Number 8: to “develop further an open trading and financial system that is rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory and includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction – both nationally and internationally.”

A fair and open global electronic marketplace would

allow big companies to extend their electronic trading relationships to small and medium-size companies

allow small companies to participate on an equal basis

put small nations on an equal commercial footing with big ones

solve a lot of economic and social problems

So.... how do we do this?

The problem: cost of entry

Most e-commerce is B2B

Most B2B is EDI

EDI is expensive!

Most small businesses are locked out

Key enablers

The addition of a few key enablers to the ubiquitous Internet can bring small and medium-sized businesses into global e-commerce.

1. A document-centric architecture

2. A standard royalty-free XML B2B tag set

3. A standard royalty-free B2B infrastructure

4. A standard royalty-free office productivity format

5. Free open-source software to make it all happen

Enabler #1: A document-centric architecture

Business is built on the concept of standard, legally binding documents. Putting business as we understand it online means putting those documents online.

Documents: 3300 B.C.

Source: UN eDocs (an initiative of the UN Economic Commission for Europe)

Documents and humans

Business is about intent and intent is about meaning. The hard part of e-commerce is the definition of shared semantics. Documents are the universally understood way to convey semantic information. Documents keep humans in the loop:

error handling

legal action

records management (audit trail)

The system has to remain transparent to humans. XML document standardization is the way to do this.

The role of documents

Source: OASIS UBL 0.7 Review Package

Enabler #2: a common business tag set (UBL)

Library of standard electronic business documents

Plugs directly into existing traditional business, legal, and records management practices

Eliminates re-keying of data in existing fax- and paper-based supply chains

Fills the “payload” slot in B2B frameworks such as the UN/OASIS ebXML initiative (http://ebxml.org) and various “web services” schemes

Extends global trade to businesses of all sizes

Advantages of a single business format

Lower cost of integration, both among and within enterprises, through reuse of common data structures

Lower cost of commercial software (much lower than generic XML software)

Easier learning curve (just a single library)

Lower cost of entry and therefore quicker adoption by small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs)

Standardized training, many skilled workers

Universally available pool of system integrators

The role of a hub format

One adapter interfaces all suppliers to a common consumer...

as well as all consumers to

a common supplier...

and all businesses to

the tax authorities

and the customs agents

and the accountants

and the transporters ...

There appears to be no practical alternative to this plan.

UBL liaisons

ACORD (insurance)

ARTS (retail sales)

ebXML Asia Committee (ebXML)

e.centre (EAN UK)

EIDX (electronics)

HL7 (healthcare)

Information Technology Standards Committee of Singapore

NACS (convenience stores)

RosettaNet (information technology)

SWIFT (banking)

UIG (utilities)

VCA (optical supplies)

XBRL (accounting)

ASC X12 COTG

UN/CEFACT TBG

UN/CEFACT ATG

OASIS eGov TC

OASIS CIQ TC

UBL in UN/CEFACT

UN/CEFACT has proposed “that the OASIS UBL TC and UN/CEFACT core component and related syntax activities be incorporated into the work plan of the UN/CEFACT Applied Technologies Group (ATG).”

Teams have been appointed by both UN/CEFACT and OASIS UBL TC to negotiate an agreement

This would put UBL into the UN body responsible for the development of electronic data interchange standards such as UN/EDIFACT

Enabler #3: a standard B2B infrastructure (ebXML)

Joint UN/OASIS initiative, now in its third year

International effort involving hundreds of participants

Basic specifications delivered 2001, most now at version 2 or 3

The only nonproprietary XML-based B2B infrastructure

Centerpiece of national initiatives in Korea and Japan; under active consideration by other European and Asian governments

Basic components can be implemented separately, allowing great flexibility in adoption

Commercial products available from Sun, Sybase, BEA, Excelon, webMethods, Fujitsu, Samsung, and others

EDI to
ebWS
(ebusiness web services)

B2B in a box

Enabler #4: A standard office productivity format

A set of standard tag sets for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations

OASIS Open Office TC

A free cross-platform open-source software suite for editing and presenting the standard formats

openoffice.org

This will have a revolutionary effect in the office productivity space similar to the effect that UBL is intended to have in the B2B space

Enabler #5: Free open-source software

O/S: Linux/Gnome (including utilities, GUI, database, ...)

Web server: Apache

freebXML

ebXML registry/repository: ebxmlrr*

ebXML HTTP messaging: Hermes

ebXML SMTP messaging: ebMail

OpenOffice*

word processor

presentation

spreadsheet

graphics

xmlroff*

XSL-FO batch production of business forms

* ebxmlrr, OpenOffice, and xmlroff are Sun contributions to the international open-source community

Portable
B2B

ebWS outcomes

Web-enable existing fax- and paper-based business practices and achieve the basic EDI ROI by eliminating rekeying

Preserve the existing investment in EDI and paper systems while allowing businesses to migrate into electronic commerce at their own pace

Integrate small and medium-size businesses into existing EDI-based supply chains

Maintain an audit trail understandable at the level of a local civil court

Incrementally enable true global market availability

The standardization of XML business documents within a nonproprietary infrastructure is the easiest way to accomplish these goals.

UBL timeline

January – March 2003: UBL 0.7 review (see UBL web site)

XML naming and design rules

Library of about 500 reusable XML data components

Set of basic buy/sell schemas based on the library

Data models, UML class diagrams, example instances, stylesheets, process descriptions, ASN.1 specification

June 2003: release UBL 0.8 data models to RN, eGov, and OAG reviewers

July/August 2003: TC meeting in Montréal

September 2003: finish 1.0 data model

October 2003: finish UBL 1.0

Historical observations

The web came about when a simple fixed tag set for electronic publishing (HTML) was combined with an appropriate transport mechanism (HTTP) and some free software (Mosaic)

The combination of a simple fixed tag set for electronic business (UBL) and an appropriate transport mechanism for B2B (ebXML) together with some free software (freebXML) can create the equivalent phenomenon in the business space

Historical fact: Microsoft tried to kill the web with a proprietary alternative (“Blackbird,” 1995-96), but it failed

Prediction: we can expect the same kind of struggle this time, and national governments will play a pivotal role in the outcome

Let's remember the social agenda of XML!

Slide from keynote presentation, SGML/XML Europe '98:

XML inherits the social agenda of SGML

The social agenda of SGML has always been about creator ownership of content.

Freedom from proprietary data formats

Vendor neutrality

Platform neutrality

Language neutrality

Not only can XML change the world — it's about to!

For more information

UBL: http://oasis-open.org

ebXML: http://ebxml.org

CECID (Hong Kong University): http://www.cecid.hku.hk

freebXML: http://www.freebxml.org

OpenOffice: http://openoffice.org

xmlroff: http://xmlroff.sourceforge.net/

Note: these slides combine the XML Europe 2003 keynote with a slightly revised version of the same talk presented at Enterprise Ireland one week later (Dublin, 12 May 2003). The information contained herein is current as of June 2003.

2002-11-30T13:06:14