Recent announcements from the Open Applications Group, Inc. (OAGI), the Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail (STAR) Group, and Drummond Group describe collaborative efforts to design XML-based specifications for use in the automotive retail industry. Drummond will facilitate the creation of "a set of XML-based Infrastructure specifications and protocols for the Open Applications Group Inc. (OAGI) and the Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail (STAR) consortium. OAGI and STAR have partnered to lead a series of specification building projects focused on automotive distribution business processes and the messaging infrastructure supporting them. Drummond Group will lead the messaging infrastructure development effort for this group. The Open Applications Group, Inc. announced they have been selected by the STAR consortium as their development partner for their next generation business language and data messaging architecture. The two organizations have formed a collaborative initiative to design XML (Extensible Markup Language) based messages conforming to and extending the OAGIS specification. The STAR/XML project will enhance current systems, making them more timely, easier to use, and more automated. The STAR/XML initiative will use the standard collaborations and messages from the OAGIS specification and will also build new collaborations and messages specifically for the STAR constituency. In addition, OAGI architects and technologists, working with domain experts from the auto industry, will design a standardized infrastructure to streamline business data flowing between auto dealerships, manufacturers and other auto distribution 'value chain' companies. This infrastructure will be Internet based and utilize elements of the recently approved ebXML specification, which is a B2B protocol recently approved by the United Nations. The results of this initiative will enable STAR members to conduct business in real time by communicating data in common terms using standardized business processes."

STAR XML SIG description: "The SIG will employ a proven XML standards methodology to develop applications supporting automated information exchange between dealers, manufacturers, and their business partners." The XML SIG Project Leader is Vicki Harper (Ford)... XML Schema names will be camel-case abbreviated versions of STAR Data Dictionary Data Element Names based on the Common STAR Abbreviations Table. OAGI XML guidelines will be adopted for STAR XML standards. XML messaging guidelines will be maintained with a version control separate from file transfer specifications. By adopting the OAGI guidelines, STAR would have a common naming convention that has proven its value over the last 3 years in the implementation of 170+ OAGI BODs. The OAGI XML naming convention has proven to be an effective naming convention in thousands of implementations... OAGI will grant STAR members and non-members access to use and/or modify (and use) OAGI XML standards. Consultants are available on a fee basis to train STAR/XML team members on the use of OAGI XML methodology."