The UN/CEFACT eBTWG Core Component Project Team has released an updated version of its Core Components Technical Specification: Part 1, replacing the previous draft version of 31-October-2001. Comments sent to the project team leader by January 30, 2002 will be addressed in the February 2002 ebTWG/TMWG Meeting in Seattle. The Core Components Technical Specification "provides a way to identify, capture and maximize the reuse of business information to support and enhance information interoperability across multiple business situations. The specification focuses both on human-readable and machine-processible representations of this information. The Core Components approach described in this document is more flexible than current standards in this area because the semantic standardisation is done in a syntax-neutral fashion. UN/CEFACT can guarantee that two trading partners using different syntaxes (e.g., XML and EDIFACT) are using business semantics in the same way on condition that both syntaxes have been based on the same Core Components. This enables clean mapping between disparate message definitions across syntaxes, industry and regional boundaries."

The UN/CEFACT eBTWG Core Component Project Team "consists of experts with broad knowledge in the area of electronic business (ebXML, UN/EDIFACT, and national EDI/eBusiness), ebXML core components, and technical specification development. The purpose of the project team is to produce: (1) A consolidated ebXML Core Components Technical Specification that incorporates the material in the ebXML Discovery and Analysis, Naming Convention, and Context technical reports, [and that] adds material related to Metadata Definition (2) A specification for [and the beginning lexicon of] core components..."

Bibliographic information: UN/CEFACT Core Components Technical Specification, Part 1. By United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business. eBTWG Core Component Project Team. Project Team Leader: Hartmut Hermes (Siemens). Lead Editor: Mark Crawford (Logistics Management Institute) Editing Team: Mike Adcock (APACS), Alan Stitzer (Marsh, Inc.), and James Whittle (eCentre). Draft Version 1.75. 15-January-2002. 97 pages. Previous version (Version 1.7): 31-October-2001.

The document was posted by Mary Kay Blantz (Iona) to the 'ebtwg@lists.ebtwg.org' list. Comments received by Wednesday, 30-January-2002 will be addressed in the Seattle meeting 2002-02.

This Technical Specification is being developed in accordance with the UN/CEFACT/TRADE/22 Open Development Process. It has been approved by the eBTWG Core Component Project Team for final eBTWG release for comment as defined in Step 4 of the Open Development Process. This document contains information to guide in the interpretation or implementation of ebXML concepts.

Overview from the introductory sections:

The Core Components technical specification describes and specifies a new approach to the well-understood problem of the lack of information interoperability between applications in the e-business arena. Traditionally, standards for the exchange of business data have been focused on static message definitions that have not enabled a sufficient degree of inter-operability or flexibility. A more flexible and interoperable way of standardising business semantics is required. The UN/CEFACT Core Component solution described in this technical specification presents a methodology for developing a common set of semantic building blocks that represent the general types of business data in use today.

This Core Components Technical Specification provides a way to identify, capture and maximize the reuse of business information to support and enhance information interoperability across multiple business situations. The specification focuses both on human-readable and machine-processible representations of this information. The Core Components approach described in this document is more flexible than current standards in this area because the semantic standardisation is done in a syntax-neutral fashion. UN/CEFACT can guarantee that two trading partners using different syntaxes (e.g., XML and EDIFACT) are using business semantics in the same way on condition that both syntaxes have been based on the same Core Components. This enables clean mapping between disparate message definitions across syntaxes, industry and regional boundaries.

This Core Components Technical Specification can be employed wherever business information is being shared or exchanged amongst and between enterprises, governmental agencies, and/or other organisations in an open and world wide environment. The prime users are business people, business process modelers, and application developers of different organisations that require interoperability of business information. This interoperability covers both interactive and batch exchanges of business data between applications through the use of Internet and Web based information exchanges as well as traditional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems.