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Last modified: June 30, 2003
XML Industry News: 2003 Q2

XML News

This XML Industry News section consists mainly of links to company press releases announcing support for XML/XSL/XLink/XQuery etc. Other documents with reference collections:

Major articles on XML in the trade magazines, as well as the more substantive refereed articles on XML in technical publications, are listed in the dedicated database sections: Current XML Surveys and Overview Articles

Search: [Indexed Search]

  • [June 30, 2003] "M-Tech Announces Availability of ID-Synch v2.0. Industry's Most Flexible Access Management Solution Delivers Broadest Functionality." - "M-Tech Information Technology, Inc., "leading provider of identity management solutions, today announced the availability of ID-Synch v2.0. ID-Synch is the most flexible and comprehensive access management solution, enabling enterprise organizations to securely manage user accounts and access rights more effectively and efficiently. ID-Synch delivers a broad range of benefits to enterprise organizations including, enhanced systems security, reduced administration costs, improved corporate productivity, and increased customer satisfaction. ID-Synch enables organizations that are looking to streamline identity management to securely create new login accounts, provision physical as well as electronic access, manage user access, and effectively terminate user access to systems faster than manual provisioning... ID-Synch supports the most number of updates compared to competitive solutions, including creating, deleting, enabling, disabling, renaming, moving, changing attributes and changing security group membership for users on over 60 different target systems. ID-Synch's unique architecture and design allows organizations to deploy it very quickly and with very little professional services. New features in ID-Synch v2.0 include: (1)Automatic Access Management: Captures hires, moves and terminations on systems of records (such as HR) and automatically updates target systems. (2)Authorization Workflow for Change Requests: Provides powerful capabilities that extend beyond traditional user-add and user-delete, to include operations like move, change attributes, enable, disable, and join/exit a group. (3)Fulfillment Engine: SOAP and XML compatible web service for fulfilling updates authorized by other identity management systems. This service extends the reach of existing workflow engines, delegated administration systems and meta directories. (4)Central User Administration: Empowers security administrators to manage any user, on any system, from a single point. This web-based console makes security administrators mobile. Built-in support for delegation allows departmental IT staff to manage local users and systems. (5)Reporting and Auditing: Generates audit trails that report on the accounts that each user has, when they were created and who authorized them. Also report on orphan accounts, authorizer response times and much more. Pre-defined reports and a well-documented schema allow enterprises to audit privileges across systems and eliminate unused accounts. (6)Access Control System: powerful access control system combined with simpler management of access control lists. Authorizer ability to see or change user attributes is controlled and logged. (7)Platform Support: Supports over 60 different types of target systems out of the box. Also, allows for the provisioning of physical objects, such as SecurID tokens, down to the level of inventory management..."

  • [June 30, 2003] "Meridian Project Systems Introduces New Business Process Management (BPM) Solution. Proliance is a Revolutionary Enterprise BPM Solution for Real Estate and Construction." - "Meridian Project Systems (MPS), a leading software and application service provider of project management solutions, announces the market introduction of Proliance -- the first Web native enterprise process management solution for corporate real estate and construction markets. MPS brings to market Proliance, a new paradigm for managing projects, programs and organizational processes across global and large national companies. Targeted toward large facility owners, and architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) companies, Proliance is MPS' third-generation Internet technology platform enabling the benefits of business process management across the enterprise... Proliance utilizes Web Services and XML technology on the Microsoft .NET application framework. Proliance is built on a powerful foundation of Platform Services that include workflow automation, action and distribution management, security, file management, reporting, and communication tools. Proliance's built-in workflow automates business processes for every function within an organization, allowing enterprises to reduce the time and effort to process information, and enforce best practices company-wide. A business intelligence dashboard that reports on key performance indicators (KPI) across all projects and programs caps Proliance, providing valuable metrics on how to increase revenue by completing projects faster and reduce capital construction costs across the company. While building Proliance, MPS worked with a diverse group of existing and potential clients to assess and anticipate the needs of vast global and national operations. Large enterprises need to consolidate multiple stand-alone software applications across their organizations that represent a significant IT burden and fail to provide an integrated solution for business operations. Proliance addresses this need, consolidating applications on a common Internet technology platform with built-in integration. Proliance enables large enterprises to centrally manage all project information, and provide real-time Web access to their global project managers and clients. Modular business applications incorporate Proliance's platform services and include solutions for companies to gain valuable forward views on forecasted project costs based on real-time information. Some of the initial key capabilities of Proliance include: Budget Management; Contract Management; Change Management; Billing and Invoice Management; Drawing Management; Correspondence Management; File Management; Viewing and Redlining; Project Management Planning; Multi-currency Management; Tax Management; Vendor Management..."

  • [June 25, 2003] "Systinet Announces WASP Server for Java, 4.6 With Full Support For WS-Security. WASP Provides Industry's Best Web Services Security, Performance and Interoperability." - "Systinet, "leading independent provider of Web services infrastructure software, has announced the general release of WASP Server for Java, 4.6, the award-winning Web services infrastructure platform that fully supports the latest standards, including OASIS Web Services Security (WS-S) and offers the industry's best performance and interoperability. The 4.6 release has new and unique functionality that makes it much easier to create and run Web services applications, including enhanced support for asynchronous Web services, full support for SOAP 1.2, and the industry's most comprehensive support for Java Web services APIs, including JAX-RPC, JAXM and SAAJ. WASP Server for Java is a complete solution for creating, running and managing sophisticated Web services applications and is available for free download from Systinet's Website... In addition to the many security capabilities already in WASP Server for Java, version 4.6 now includes WS-S message-level security. WASP supports both the OASIS WS-S standard currently in final draft, and the earlier Microsoft-IBM WS-Security specifications. This support ensures that WASP is compatible with all WS-Security implementations. WASP Server for Java, 4.6 also offers unique security and alerting features. For example, users will be alerted if a message cannot be decrypted or if an authentication event failed... WASP Server for Java offers unique asynchronous web services support: Simple Web services are invoked synchronously -- when a client sends a message to a server, it halts until a response is received. This method becomes unworkable, especially for complex computations or for multi-part tasks. Since it is much more efficient to asynchronously invoke services, WASP 4.6 supports an easy-to-use, event-based way of calling Web services asynchronously. The mechanism eliminates the need for developers to write client code for polling the service. Also, WASP Server for Java features transport-level asynchronous messaging, which relies on using different transport channels for the request and response messages, such as an HTTP request, an e-mail response, or even an email request and an e-mail response... WASP makes is easy to build Web services using popular IDEs and has expanded support to include IntelliJ IDEA, a popular Java development environment. WASP already supports Borland JBuilder, Eclipse, IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer, Sun ONE Studio and NetBeans. Systinet's WASP suite of products is a complete solution for building, deploying, securing and managing Web services. Systinet WASP Server for Java and WASP Server for C++ are industrial-strength Web services runtime environments that fully support industry standards, including SOAP 1.1, SOAP 1.2 and WSDL 1.1. WASP UDDI is a V2 complaint registry with advanced V3 functionality. WASP UDDI is a full-featured UDDI registry that allows businesses to standardize the way businesses organize, catalog, discover and reuse Web services across the company..."

  • [June 24, 2003] "SALT Forum Advances Mobile Content Delivery with Enhancements to Scalable Vector Graphics Specification. New Proposal Paves the Way for Speech Applications on Portable Devices." - "The SALT Forum, a group of companies with a shared goal of accelerating the use of speech technologies in multimodal and telephony systems, today announced that it has published a SALT profile for the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) markup language. The new SVG profile supplements the SALT 1.0 specification, which was contributed to the W3C by the SALT Forum and already included profiles for use with the XHTML and SMIL specifications. SVG is an XML-based language for describing advanced graphics that enables developers to deliver a visually rich user interaction experience in their Web applications. By adding SALT to SVG, developers can further enhance the user experience with interactive spoken interfaces coupled directly to the visual interface. The SVG specification has gained considerable support since its release by the W3C, capturing the attention of leading Web developers. Its ability to render high-quality graphics on displays of varying size and resolution, along with a lightweight design that reduces computational requirements, has made it particularly attractive to manufacturers of cell phones, PDAs and other portable devices. SVG with SALT provides the means to build sophisticated mobile applications for these devices with easy-to-use speech interfaces that are accessible without looking at or touching the equipment. SVG with SALT can be used to provide speech 'hot spots' within a graphic or provide spoken commands for scrolling and zooming the display. It can also be used to embed descriptive services for the visually impaired directly within a graphic, streamlining the workflow process. 'SALT seamlessly adds new speech capabilities to the versatility of SVG that enhance its capacity to make Web applications more powerful and easier to develop,' said Antoine Quint, SVG consultant for Fuchsia Design and co-author of the SVG specification. 'Graphics and speech play complementary roles in making information readily accessible no matter what the situation may be.' The SALT specification was designed to add speech input, speech output and call control capabilities to practically any XML-based language. The SALT profile for SVG demonstrates the potential of this flexible and platform-independent approach for responding to technology advances that support improved content delivery. 'The SALT profile for SVG is an example of the exciting industry developments now underway to realize the full potential of SALT,' said Glen Shires, chairperson of the SALT Forum's Technical Working Group. 'The SALT Forum continues to take an active role in refining, enhancing and supporting the SALT 1.0 specification as an open industry initiative'..." (1) "W3C Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)"; (2) "Speech Application Language Tags (SALT)."

  • [June 23, 2003] "DMSi Announces Availability of X2XL Beta." - "Document Management Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of XML integration services for the publishing industry, today announced the beta release of X2XL, a program designed to convert tables adhering to the OASIS XML Exchange model to Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. 'Our customers have asked us to develop an application that would make it easy for them to transform their XML tables into Excel spreadsheets for use by their internal users as well as their customers and suppliers,' said David Giusto, President of DMSi. The product was unveiled at Open Publish 2003, held in Philadelphia, PA. X2XL provides an easy-to-use GUI that guides the user through the setup process, defining user-specific markup used within the OASIS model to identify style information such as bold, italic, superscript and subscript, as well as any specific fonts and ruling requirements. The application can be run in the background, processing hundreds of tables at a time, or interactively, depending on the workflow process. 'The OASIS table model is the de facto standard in XML publishing environments,' said Mary McRae, Senior Vice President and Principal XML Technologist at DMSi. 'The only problem is that most individuals do not use an XML editor on a daily basis; instead, they use Microsoft Office. X2XL allows tables to be delivered to users in a format that they're extremely comfortable with -- Microsoft Excel.' Built on Java, X2XL runs on both Windows and Unix platforms, and works with Excel '98, 2000, or XP..." See also OASIS Table Models.

  • [June 18, 2003] "Choreology Launches Cohesions 1.0: BTM Software for Application Coordination and Process Synchronization." - "Choreology Ltd, the business transaction management (BTM) software company, has released Cohesions 1.0, a coordination service that enables the synchronization of related business processes and the coordination of update operations spanning multiple applications. Cohesions ensures application-level consistency, and automated completion of business transactions, even in the event of failures. When processes and interactions between systems involve complex or high-value transactions, inconsistent business results can create serious costs, risks and delays which both afflict internal operations and damage customer relations and business reputation. Until now, there has not been a versatile solution, in product form, for the management of business transactions across applications. Traditionally, organizations have been faced with two choices: either they build complicated logic into their applications or they identify and manually repair transactional discrepancies after the fact. In either case the processes are costly and time-consuming to operate or construct. The management of business transactions spanning multiple applications is a common requirement across a broad range of business sectors. In investment and commercial banks applications include numerous aspects of straight through processing, transactional account aggregation and consistent cross-system data dispersal, such as distributed credit approval. In the insurance sector long-running transactions are common in policy and claims processing. Coordination of multiple systems is also needed in the telecommunications sector where service provisioning and billing applications are widespread. Cohesions implements OASIS Business Transaction Protocol and Web Services Coordination+Transaction. It works in the native Java environment and is also integrated with several leading Web Services toolkits - as well as working in the context of the developing Grid services environment. Cohesions is a critical underlay for reliable BPEL-based processes, simplifying their design and providing transactional control and automated recovery of business state. Cohesions is the culmination of two and a half years of theoretical and practical pioneering work in the developing field of business transaction management. The Cohesions product reflects the experience of Choreology's staff who have previously been involved in the engineering and marketing of three commercial transactional product lines..." On Web Services Coordination+Transaction, see: (1) WS-Coordination Specification Index Page and (2) WS-Coordination Transaction Index Page. Also: "OASIS Business Transactions Technical Committee."

  • [June 18, 2003] "Federal Banking Regulators Award Unisys Outsourcing Contract to Transform the Collection of Bank Data. Call Agencies to Employ Web Services and XBRL to Streamline Bank Call Report Processing." - "Unisys Corporation announced today that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), on behalf of the Federal Financial Institution Examination Council (FFIEC) agencies, has selected the company to modernize the current collection of bank data, known as Call Report processing, and to help the agencies transition toward a paperless, electronic environment. The bank data are used in a wide range of regulatory, supervisory and analytical functions, including the design and conduct of banking policy and industry risk assessment. The business process outsourcing contract has an initial term of seven years and value of approximately $28 million; the FDIC can extend it for three additional one-year periods. In addition, the FDIC can order optional technical requirements. If the FDIC exercises all options and extensions, the contract will be worth approximately $39 million. Streamlining the Call Report process should help the agencies to reduce paperwork and lower the cost of doing business. Key to the new process is the implementation of a central data repository (CDR) using proven technologies to collect and process the bank data as well as serve as a single source for all information related to this data submitted by financial institutions. To help the Call Report agencies modernize business operations, the CDR will provide the platform for timely, efficient, low-cost and standardized exchange, storage and distribution of accurate Call Report data. Unisys will provide a range of services covering solution development, hosting, help desk and application maintenance... The solution will be implemented in a Web services architecture leveraging the Microsoft .NET framework. As a Web services-based architecture, the solution implements extensible business reporting language (XBRL) as the standard data format for the Call Reports. XBRL is the XML-based standard for identifying and better communicating the complex financial information in corporate business reports allowing for easier and more reliable exchange of corporate financial information..." General references in "Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL)."

  • [June 17, 2003] "Work on Radio and TV Listing Markup Language Started." - "A new way for broadcasters, newspapers and web sites to exchange TV listings has been begun the formal approval process that will end with adoption as a new worldwide standard. At its annual meeting, the International Press Telecommunications Council voted to move ahead with review and approval of ProgramGuideML, a powerful but simple way to show program and channel information in any language. Designed by a group of Japanese newspapers and broadcasters, ProgramGuideML uses XML technology to mark up important programming information with simple text tags that allow easy files exchange between news agencies and automatic processing. If approved by the IPTC at its spring 2004 meeting in Athens, ProgramGuideML will join a list of standards that are used by news agencies around the world. IPTC members also studied proposals to redesign the group's web site, where standards and documentation are made available at no cost. The redesign will include interactive aids to help programmers and news executives understand the features of the standards... The IPTC's next regular meeting will be in Leipzig, Germany, in October 2003. The IPTC, based in Windsor, UK, is a consortium of the world's major news agencies and news industry vendors. It develops and maintains technical standards that are used by virtually every major news organization in the world..." Related story 2003-05-15: IPTC Approves SportsML Version 1.0. See also: (1) NewsML and IPTC2000; (2) News Industry Text Format (NITF); (3) SportsML.

  • [June 17, 2003] "OGC Trials 'Common IT Language' To Drive Government eCommerce Agenda. BASDA's eBIS-XML in Proof-of-Concept Trial With OGC." - "Assessment trials are underway to find the most effective way to allow computers running different purchasing software packages to 'talk to each other'. This is a joint initiative from Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Business Applications Software Developers Association (BASDA). The Proof of Concept trials of the common vocabulary (known as XML) are another example of a growing 'joined up' approach between OGC and the IT Industry to establish common IT standards for eProcurement. These standards will enable suppliers and public sector buyers to conduct business online more easily. The objective is to make it easier for government departments to run IT purchasing systems, whilst at the same time ensuring suppliers are able to do business with government online, regardless of which software system they use. Importantly, the move will enable easier access to the government marketplace for smaller suppliers (SMEs) OGC's Executive Director for Supplier and Government Marketplace Development, Martin Sykes, welcomed the collaboration saying: 'OGC has been working closely with BASDA to drive the interoperability agenda forward. OGC is committed to providing better value for money for taxpayers through offering better access for suppliers to the Government marketplace. These trials represent a major step in the right direction.' Commenting on the trial, Dennis Keeling, CEO of BASDA, said: 'We are very pleased to co-operate with OGC on this project which employs a development of eBIS-XML, our eBusiness XML communications standard. Most of our members support the standard, which has already been proved commercially across Europe. It enables their software to generate and read the standard XML based documents which cuts costs and eliminates re-keying. We believe that this will not only help Government departments, but will also encourage more businesses to adopt eBusiness with all the benefits it can bring'..." See details in the news story: "UK Office of Government Commerce and BASDA Conduct eProcurement Assessment Trials."

  • [June 12, 2003] "SAP Unleashes Cross-Enterprise Collaboration with Out-of-the-Box Support of Industry Standards. New Business Content for SAP NetWeaver Enables Immediate Support of Data Exchange Standards Such as RosettaNet and CIDX." - "SAP AG today announced industry-specific enhancements for the SAP NetWeaver integration and application platform that will help companies in diverse vertical industries accelerate cross-enterprise business processes and lower total cost of ownership (TCO). SAP is expanding the integration capabilities of SAP NetWeaver with add-on packages comprising pre-configured, industry-specific business content and out-of-the-box support for XML-based data exchange standards of diverse industries. Beginning with offerings for the high tech and chemicals industries -- providing native support for RosettaNet and Chem eStandards, as well as pre-configured mappings for the most common EDI standards -- the pre-packaged business content in SAP NetWeaver will allow companies to avoid costly, time-consuming integration projects, and quickly and easily enable their IT systems to exchange information in the lingua franca of their respective industries... The industry-specific business content extends SAP Exchange Infrastructure (SAP XI), a software component of SAP NetWeaver. SAP XI provides an open business process integration technology platform that supports process-centric collaboration between SAP and non-SAP systems and applications, both within and beyond the enterprise. SAP XI defines the interfaces and XML mappings required for specific business scenarios to manage message exchange, and transform message contents between sender and receiver systems for efficient cross-system collaborative processes. SAP XI offers the capability to deliver industry standard compliant business scenarios as well as the ability to orchestrate industry standard adherent business processes. The technology foundation for all SAP solutions, SAP NetWeaver unifies and aligns people, information, and processes across organizational and technological boundaries. Designed to be completely open, SAP NetWeaver easily integrates information and applications from virtually any source and interoperates with Microsoft .NET, Sun's J2EE, and IBM WebSphere... SAP's support for RosettaNet in SAP NetWeaver will include an RNIF (RosettaNet Implementation Framework) 2.0 adapter, mappings from SAP R/3 and other SAP applications to the RosettaNet Partner Interface Processes (PIPs), RosettaNet message choreography as pre-delivered business scenarios, the ability to maintain trading partner information as well as business process management and error handling capabilities..."

  • [June 12, 2003] "BT, Cisco, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Siemens form RosettaNet Telecommunications Industry Council. Leading Global Telecommunications Suppliers and Operators Join Forces to Standardize Key E-Business Processes Using RosettaNet." - "RosettaNet, the technology industry's leading e-business standards consortium, today announced the formation of a Telecommunications Industry (TC) Council. BT, Cisco, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Siemens are among the first major industry players to join as founding member companies with the goal of promoting RosettaNet to streamline the exchange of information throughout the global telecommunications trading network. The TC Council, which is comprised of global network operators and equipment suppliers, will take a leadership role in driving adoption of the standard within the telecommunications industry sector and related supply chain ecosystems. Building on the past standards integration success realized by the high tech industry, the TC Council is slated to work closely with established RosettaNet Supply Chain Managing Boards to support development activities while also engaging in implementation program initiatives and deployment projects... In forming the TC Council, leaders in the telecommunications industry have acknowledged that the RosettaNet model addresses many of the business process issues facing companies today. For example, the acceleration of product lifecycles is impacting business-to-business communication between trading partners more than ever before. Adoption of RosettaNet can, in effect, build-in critical success factors by helping to streamline communications linkages between suppliers and customers, including real-time data exchanges in the areas of design, product information, forecast, order and inventory management and logistics... It is expected that RosettaNet's TC Council will grow to include additional founding member companies representing the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions over the next several months. Currently, active discussions are underway with prospective manufacturer and operators candidates, including Vodafone, one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications network companies... RosettaNet is a non-profit consortium dedicated to the collaborative development and rapid deployment of open internet-based business standards that align processes within the global technology trading networks. More than 500 companies, representing over $1 trillion in annual information technology, electronic components and semiconductor manufacturing revenues, currently participate in RosettaNet's standards development, strategy and implementation activities. Information on the consortium's worldwide activities in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and a complete list of partner companies, is available at www.rosettanet.org. RosettaNet is a subsidiary of the Uniform Code Council, Inc. (UCC)..." See general references in: (1) "RosettaNet"; (2) "Uniform Code Council (UCC) XML Program."

  • [June 12, 2003] "ebMail Source Code Donated to ebXML Development Community." - "Center for E-Commerce Infrastructure Development (CECID), Department of Computer Science and Information Systems (CSIS), The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is pleased to announce its code base donation of ebMail to the ebXML development community. This open-source project is released under the Academic Free License that permits royalty free use of the source and binaries. Developers are encouraged to download ebMail at www.freebxml.org and subscribe to the mailing lists set up at SourceForge for enquiries. ebMail is a desktop e-mail client which helps organizations, small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SME) in particular, to engage in B2B e-commerce activities. This lightweight toolkit enables trading partners to exchange business documents cost-effectively through email, or ebXML Message Service (ebMS) over Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP). ebMail is a trimmed-down ebMS handler which does not require any application server software and dedicated Internet connection to use ebXML. It allows a user to compose electronic documents offline through graphical user interface (GUI), and send and receive documents when the user is connected to the Internet..." See other details in the news story "Hong Kong CECID Donates ebMail Client Software for ebXML Message Handling."

  • [June 10, 2003] "Microsoft Announces Commitment to Support Uniform Code Council In Commercialization of RFID Technology. Microsoft Will Work Closely With Organization to Develop Standards For Radio Frequency Identification Technology." - "Today at Retail Systems 2003 Conference & Exposition, Microsoft Corp. announced it will join AutoID Inc., a joint venture of the Uniform Code Council Inc. and EAN International, which will develop and oversee commercial and technical standards for the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Network. Microsoft will work closely with AutoID to take product and item identification to the next level across manufacturing and retail supply chains. Central to fulfilling that mission is radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, which combines the benefits of the silicon chip and radio frequencies. The technology has been widely lauded for its potential to provide an unprecedented level of product visibility across the supply chain. If widely adopted, RFID-enabled systems will have the capability to greatly reduce human error from data collection, reduce inventories, improve product availability, identify and reduce loss and waste, and help ensure safety and security. Microsoft's efforts with AutoID will initially focus on the manufacturing and retail supply chains. In the future, Microsoft plans to work with its partners to develop affordable technology and solutions that take advantage of the capabilities of RFID technology to improve efficiencies throughout the value chain. Microsoft has a significant partner ecosystem that includes independent software vendors and systems integrators that deliver solutions built on Microsoft technologies for customers in a variety of industries, including manufacturing and retail. Microsoft anticipates that many of these partners will benefit from the further development of RFID technologies and standards. Microsoft is already a certified In Sync alliance partner of UCCnet Inc., an industry-endorsed initiative to resolve product data inaccuracies among trading partners. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced the Microsoft BizTalk Toolkit for UCCnet, which allows retailers and their suppliers to quickly and cost-effectively connect to UCCnet and helps bring them together with trading partners..." Note: the AutoID, Inc. FAQ document references 'Physical Markup Language (PML)' as one of the EPC network's "five fundamental elements that enable the automatic identification and tracking of physical objects in real time..." See: "Physical Markup Language (PML)." See also: (1) the May 21, 2003 announcement: "UCC Finalizes Agreement with MIT. Forms Joint Venture with EAN International to Drive Standards for Electronic Product Code (EPC) Network." and (2) "Spanning the Supply Chain: Why Microsoft Supports Radio Frequency Identification Technology."

  • [June 10, 2003] "Sun Microsystems Fuses Java Technology and Web Services. Announces Availability of J2EE 1.4 Beta2 SDK, WS-I Basic Profile Support, Web Services Developer Pack Version 1.2, and New Software for Secure Java Technology-Based Web Services. Major Open Source Donation of Web Services Technology to the java.net Initiative." - "Sun Microsystems, Inc., the creator and leading advocate of Java technology, today announced the next step in the convergence of Web services with Java Technology for the Enterprise, version 1.4. 'There is no line of demarcation between Java technology and Web services,' said Mark Bauhaus, vice president of Java Web Services, Sun Microsystems. 'It's not Java technology or Web services. It's Java technology and Web services. Sun is making a significant investment in the Java platform and the related community infrastructure to help ensure that Java technology is the industry's best platform for developing and deploying secure Web services, now and in the future.' With the following announcements, Sun demonstrates its continued leadership in positioning the Java platform as the preferred environment for developing and deploying Web services: (1) Immediate availability of the Beta 2 version of the J2EE 1.4 software development kit (SDK), delivering extensive support for Web services and the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I) Basic Profile specification. (2) Immediate availability of the Java Web Services Developer Pack (Java WSDP), Version 1.2, providing enhanced Web services capabilities. (3) Donation of important Java Web Services APIs included in the J2EE 1.4 SDK to the newly created java.net initiative for the development of open source versions (JAX-RPC, JAXB, SAAJ). (4) Immediate availability of enhanced network identity capabilities delivering the strategic foundation for identity-enabled Web services through the use of SAML, Liberty Alliance specifications and, in the future, via the OASIS WS-Security standards. New products include the Sun ONE Directory Server 5.2, Sun ONE Meta Directory 5.1, Sun ONE Identity Synchronization for Windows 1.0 and Sun ONE Identity Server 6.0 Service Pack 1.0. Sun's network identity platform contains extensive Java support including open J2EE standard APIs such as JAAS for authentication; enables management of access to EJBs, servlets and JSPs; and supports XML and SOAP through the use of the JAX-M/JAX-R standards..." See details: (1) "Java Web Services Developer Pack V1.2 Supports WS-I, WS-Security, and UBL Applications"; (2) "Sun Microsystems Launches Java.net Portal for Java Technology Collaboration."

  • [June 10, 2003] "Sun Microsystems Unveils java.net, the Ultimate Destination for Developers and Focal Point for Open Source Collaboration. Sun Will Contribute Millions of Lines of Code to Newly Launched java.net Community Led by Father of Java Technology, James Gosling. New 'Javapedia' Provides Easy Access to Java Terms and Content, Wikis and Blogs Facilitate Collaboration." - "Sun Microsystems, Inc. today unveiled java.net (http://www.java.net), a new community and Web site created to facilitate Java technology collaboration in applied areas of technology and vertical industry solutions. Sponsored by Sun, the creator and leading advocate of Java technology, with editorial resources and technology infrastructure provided by CollabNet, Inc. and O'Reilly & Associates, java.net aims to expand the Java technology portfolio of applications, tools and services. Leading technology companies, industry associations, universities and research institutions, Java user groups and individual Java technology enthusiasts will all come together at java.net with industry veterans such as James Gosling, the creator of Java technology, to enhance the developer community and experience. java.net, an open source development site, will offer a rich array of advanced collaboration tools including project and community source code hosting, mailing lists, forums, blogs (online journals featuring regular participation by James Gosling) and wikis -- collaborative hypertext documents authored with a simple markup scheme. java.net also hosts a 'Javapedia' -- a wiki-based encyclopedia of Java software, terms, luminaries, service providers and more -- currently being developed by Java technology enthusiasts... Sun Microsystems also announced today that it will open-source millions of lines of code at java.net. Examples of the wide variety of code and toolsets, communities and projects Sun will make available at the site include: (1) Java Desktop: A new gathering place for members of the Java graphical user interface (GUI) community offering discussions, technical articles, open source projects and other news of interest to developers who use the Java desktop platform to produce applications with rich client interfaces. (2) Java Web services and XML: Sun demonstrates its commitment to the open source Web services community with its contribution of key XML technologies including Java API for XML-Based Remote Procedure Calls (JAX-RPC), enabling developers to build Web applications and services with Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) and supporting Web Services Description Language (WSDL); Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB), enabling developers to generate Java classes from XML schemas, providing an efficient and standard way to map between XML and Java code; and SOAP with Attachments API for Java 1.1 (SAAJ), providing fundamental support in the Java platform for building basic SOAP messages. (3) Java Gaming: A community Web site that provides the gaming community with a place to share ideas and gain up-to-date information about Java technology-related gaming development resources..." See details: (1) "Sun Microsystems Launches Java.net Portal for Java Technology Collaboration"; (2) "Java Web Services Developer Pack V1.2 Supports WS-I, WS-Security, and UBL Applications."

  • [June 10, 2003] "Microsoft Reinvents FrontPage, Tapping Into the Power of XML To Build Live Data-Driven Web Sites. Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 Provides More Power to Connect PeopleTo Dynamic Information on the Web." - "Microsoft Corp. today announced that Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003, part of the Microsoft Office System, has been reinvented to support a wide range of capabilities for building dynamic, Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based, data-driven Web sites, while retaining the ease of use that has helped make it one of the most popular Web site design tools on the market today. FrontPage 2003 will be the first commercially available, fully WYSIWYG Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) editor in which users can work with live data to create interactive and dynamic Web sites, streamlining the process of sharing information on the Web. In the WYSIWYG editor, users can easily create XML data-driven Web sites connecting to XML files, Web services and OLE DB data sources. FrontPage 2003 makes building sophisticated data-driven Web sites accessible not only to the Web developer but to anyone who wants to design dynamic Web sites. It is no longer necessary to program with server-side scripting tools such as the Visual Basic development system, Visual C#, Visual Basic Scripting Edition, ColdFusion or Java to develop data-driven Web sites... 'We have made a big investment in supporting XML throughout the products in the Microsoft Office System to unlock customer data,' said Jean Paoli, an XML architect at Microsoft and one of the co-creators of the XML 1.0 standard with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). 'An important component to the Microsoft Office System, the FrontPage 2003 WYSIWYG editor lets you define how XML following customer-defined schema should be formatted on a Web page. This is done by authoring XSLT, a standard defined by the W3C. The XML data-driven functionality makes it easier to transition content from internal systems onto the Web. Data-driven solutions in the past took days or even months of hand-coding, but these can now be accomplished in just hours with FrontPage 2003.' FrontPage 2003 supports a complete set of WYSIWYG tools for creating and editing XSLT data views, including support for styles, sorting, filtering, grouping and conditionally formatting data. Furthermore, users can connect multiple data sources and use the results of one database query to filter the data supplied by an XML Web service. All this work can be saved into a Web package, a new feature in FrontPage 2003 that allows for easy reuse. FrontPage will ship with a couple of prebuilt Web packages, including a Web log (blog) solution that can be set up easily with a couple clicks... Beta 2 of Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003 is available as part of the Microsoft Office System..." See also the FrontPage 2003 Overview, Product Guide, and FAQ document.

  • [June 09, 2003] "OGC Board Approves IPR Policies To Further Safeguard Open, Public Standards." - "The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announced that its Board of Directors voted on May 27, 2003 to reaffirm OGC's intellectual property rights (IPR) policy. OGC's IPR policy is designed to protect the Consortium's standards framework from patents that would impede development of open infrastructure for interoperable geoprocessing. These policies, under review for the last year in OGC, are very similar to those adopted last month by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). OGC manages a global, consensus-based standards process to develop publicly available interface specifications to support interoperable solutions that 'geo-enable' the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. 'Our members support our IPR policy because there is a belief that OpenGIS specifications must be royalty free and unencumbered by patents, and therefore freely available to any party - buyer, commercial developer, government agency, or open source developer - that wants to implement OpenGIS Specifications in their enterprise', explained David Schell, OGC President. 'The net result is that our market can grow, more organizations can benefit from our work, and ultimately buyers will have greater choice at less risk.' OGC's IPR policy works to: (1) ensure that OpenGIS specifications are unencumbered; (2) protect the IPR rights of each of its members; (3) make OGC IPR policy clear and available to both members and non-members; (4) anchor OGC IPR procedures firmly in the mainstream of current standard-setting 'best practices.' OGC's IPR policy is the responsibility of its Board of Directors and the policy has represented the consortium's philosophy and practice since OGC's inception. A number of OGC members with diverse opinions and policies related to IPR have worked with OGC staff to refine the written policy since it was originally published. It also takes into account the significant patent policy work undertaken at the W3C, which has emerged as the consortium leader in establishing a pragmatic way to successfully develop royalty-free Web Standards in the current patent environment. The result reflects agreement with the basic goal to preserve a free and open standards-based information infrastructure. At the same time, the new IPR policy respects the patent rights of member organizations and the value their patents represent..." See details in the news story: "OpenGIS Consortium Adopts Revised Royalty-Free Intellectual Property Rights Policy."

  • [June 09, 2003] "OpenTravel Alliance Announces Publication of OTA Specification Version 2003A." - "The OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) is pleased to announce the publication of the 2003A Specification that provides the travel industry and travel related services the ability to deliver new features and enhanced capabilities to travelers, through enhanced XML transactions. The 2003A release enhances messages previously released and introduces three new message pairs, two (2) for the Hotel Industry and one (1) for the Travel Insurance Industry. Also new in 2003A, additional business scenario and instance documents have been added to the text section of the Specification. These were added to assist those companies in the implementation process. OTA would like to thank its 120 member companies, project teams, working groups and committees that worked so diligently to provide a richer, more robust specification and further travel technology and XML development. Thanks to this effort, the OTA is one step closer to its goal of creating a common and complete XML dialect for the travel industry... The OpenTravel Alliance (www.opentravel.org) develops communications specifications to allow for the efficient and effective exchange of travel industry information via the Internet. With over 120 members representing influential names in all sectors of the travel industry, OTA is comprised of representatives from the airlines, car rental firms, hotels, leisure suppliers, service providers, tour operators, travel agencies, and trade associations. OTA working groups, together with an OTA interoperability committee to coordinate their efforts, develop open Internet-compatible messages using XML." See details in the news story: "OpenTravel Alliance Releases OTA Specification Version 2003A for Travel Related Services."

  • [June 09, 2003] "Tibco Drives Web Services Standards to Benefit Enterprise Customers. TIBCO Continues Leadership in Shaping Interoperability Standards." - "TIBCO Software Inc., a leading enabler of real-time business and the leading independent business integration software company in the world, as demonstrated by market share and analyst reports, today announced a number of intiatives demonstrating its leadership role in defining and shaping interoperability standards for enterprise integration solutions. Adherence to standards has consistently been integral to TIBCO's product strategy, and the company's leadership role in setting enterprise integration standards is attracting a wide range of customers to TIBCO, including UTi, a global, non-asset-based provider of logistic services for the shipping and storage of raw material, supplies, components and finished goods to multinational companies and smaller local businesses... TIBCO's commitment to standards emphasizes process modeling and choreography, and employs standards such as XML for data representation, XML Schema for data validation, XSLT for data transformation, XPath for data addressability, and WSDL for description of services. TIBCO designs its products to interoperate with other vendors' solutions and deployment environments, such as J2EE and .NET. In addition, TIBCO is actively participating in standards bodies such as OASIS and W3C, working to define the standards for future development of Web Services. (1) BPEL4WS (Business Process Execution Language for Web Services): TIBCO, along with IBM, BEA, Microsoft and other vendors, joined efforts to submit the standard for Business Processes to OASIS for review and approval. Historically, standards for Web Services have not addressed business processes. (2) WSRM (Web Services Reliable Messaging): Based on its fifteen years of experience with enterprise messaging, TIBCO was asked by Microsoft to review the WSRM standard recently submitted to OASIS. TIBCO will also be participating in the co-authoring of this standard going forward. WSRM provides a vehicle for companies to exchange information reliably with each other over the Internet and receive delivery notification, a capability that was not previously supported by existing Web Services specifications. For more information, please see the press release: "Microsoft, IBM, BEA and TIBCO Announce Reliable Messaging Specifications. Publication of WS-ReliableMessaging and WS-Addressing Signifies Milestone In Development of Web Services Architecture." (3) Web Services Attachments: TIBCO participated in a consortium with AT&T, BEA, Canon France, Microsoft, and SAP to write the specification for enhanced attachment support for Web Services. This was submitted on April 1, 2003 to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). (4) WS-I (Web Services Interoperability Organization): TIBCO actively participates in the WS-I, the organization responsible for ensuring products are verified as 'fully compliant' with industry standards. TIBCO actively reviews its software to meet compliant with WS-I standards. This is the first of several interoperability tests that TIBCO will be conducting with the WS-I. (5) SOAP 1.2 (Simple Object Access Protocol): Leveraging its extensive experience with messaging, TIBCO is driving the 'next generation' messaging specification that will further define details of the SOAP standard. 'Our ongoing leadership and support for standards is of great importance to our customers and partners. TIBCO products combine The Power of Now with the power of standards to offer customers and partners the most comprehensive integration solutions available today,' said Brad Rode, executive vice president of products and technology, TIBCO Software Inc..."

  • [June 03, 2003] "UN/CEFACT Plenary Endorses Latest ebXML Specifications." - "International standards bodies OASIS and UN/CEFACT today announced that the latest completed versions of ebXML specifications have been endorsed by the 2003 Plenary session of UN/CEFACT meeting in Geneva. The United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business endorsed the adoption of ebXML global standards for exchanging business messages, establishing trading relationships, communicating data in common terms and defining and registering business processes. Seven components of ebXML were reviewed and endorsed by the Plenary including the OASIS Open Standards: ebXML Message Service Specification v2.0; ebXML Registry Information Model v2.0; ebXML Registry Services Specification v2.0; and the ebXML Collaboration Protocol Profile and Agreement v2.0; as well as the ebXML Business Process Specification Schema v1.01 now managed by UN/CEFACT, and the jointly managed ebXML Technical Architecture v1.04 and the ebXML Requirements v1.06. 'We are proud that the UN/CEFACT Plenary has added another level of international endorsement to the four ebXML specifications which are OASIS Open Standards,' noted Patrick Gannon, president and CEO of OASIS. Ray Walker, chair of the UN/CEFACT Steering Group added, 'The endorsement of the UN/CEFACT Plenary is another milestone for ebXML. It demonstrates conclusively that ebXML has begun to fulfill its promise to make e-business possible for any company or organization anywhere in the world. It also paves the way for the development of a formal UN recommendation to governments and to inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations on the use of ebXML in their eBusiness exchanges'..." General references in "Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML)."

  • [June 03, 2003] "Iopsis Unveils Web Services Assembly Product for ebXML and Business Process Orchestration. Iopsis iNsight Provides Architecture and Modeling Tools for Web Services Applications." - "Iopsis Software, an innovator in production grade Web services development tools and infrastructure, today announced version 2.1 of its iNsight application assembly product. Iopsis iNsight is the industry's first tool that lets developers use standard UML notation to define and orchestrate Web services, and it has pioneering support for OASIS ebBPSS and BPEL4WS modeling. Working as a supplement to the Sun ONE Studio and NetBeans Integrated Development Environments from Sun Microsystems, Iopsis iNsight provides modeling, code generation, choreography, and assembly of Web services for use in business processes and end-user applications. 'Iopsis's iNsight 2.1 is an ideal complement to Sun ONE Studio 4 Enterprise Edition for Java, providing a complete platform for businesses to rapidly develop enterprise class Web services applications,' said Ashwin Rao, Senior Product Manager for SunONE Studio... Iopsis iNsight allows developers to rapidly assemble Web services from existing Java code. Unlike previous tools that blindly generate WSDL and XML from low-level Java interfaces, iNsight helps developers use rich business logic interfaces (e.g., 'reserve inventory') in long-running Web services transactions. 'Until now, tools generated WSDL files that merely reflected internal interfaces that were often useless for application-level contracts,' said Rajesh Pradhan, CTO of Iopsis. 'Iopsis iNsight works at a higher level and automatically handles versioning, object naming and interoperability issues, creating Web services that are useful in a real business context.' Iopsis will be showcasing iNsight in booth 406 at San Francisco's JavaOne next week. The demonstrations will show modeling Web services interfaces, choreographing their actions in long-running business processes, and deploying working applications to the standard environments of .NET, Apache and J2EE's JaxRPC... Iopsis iNsight has always worked as a seamless extension to the SunONE Studio IDE, providing ease of use and automation to Java developers working in Web services. iNsight has added a series of packs that lower the costs and time involved with developing Web services applications: (1) Foundation Pack: The core components that extend the SunONE IDE with new windows and code generators for XML and WSDL, plus functionality for repurposing existing software assets in SAP R/3 and XML data sources. (2) Basic Pack: Creates Web Service Interfaces that conform to the WS-I Basic profile, extending the IDE capabilities with UML based modeling of WSDL interfaces. (3) Orchestration Pack: Creates choreography interfaces based on BPEL4WS 1.1 and ebXML BPSS 1.05 modeling, facilitating deployment to IBM's BPWS4J, Collaxa's Orchestration server, and ebMSH 2.0-compliant servers. (4) Mobile Access Pack: The Configuration and deployment tools for wireless web service applications using the Iopsis iNfinite multi-channel application framework... Iopsis iNsight 2.1 will be available for free download, evaluation and purchase in June 2003 at www.iopsis.com. iNsight runs on Solaris 8 + 9, Windows 2000 + XP, and RedHat Linux 7. Iopsis iNsight 2.1 is typically $1000-2000 per developer seat, depending on the number of packs used..." Related references: (1) "Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML)"; (2) "Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (BPEL4WS)."

  • [June 03, 2003] "Microsoft and VeriSign Teaming Up to Provide Next-Generation Security Solutions for Enterprise Customers. Windows Server 2003 and VeriSign Trust Network to Ease Certificate Deployment and Management for a Range of PKI Services." - "Today at Microsoft TechEd, Microsoft Corp. and VeriSign Inc., the leading provider of critical infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, jointly announced plans to develop and deliver a series of next-generation security solutions for enterprise customers. Built on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and VeriSign's Managed PKI Services, this next-generation public key infrastructure (PKI) platform is expected to allow enterprises to deploy and manage secure communications and digital identity management solutions more easily, with seamless interoperability across heterogeneous systems and enterprise networks. The effort is aimed at delivering security solutions that address key enterprise security needs, such as strong authentication for remote access. It would also address emerging requirements, such as allowing roaming users to securely access wireless local area networks (LANs). The next-generation security solutions are expected to become available in late 2003... Initial work will focus on utilizing the certificate auto-enrollment capabilities in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP to develop a simple-to-deploy service that can take advantage of a range of PKI enhancements. Automating the issuance and renewal of digital certificates to users allows customers to facilitate new secure usage scenarios, such as confidential and secure e-mail, file protection and digital signatures, which enable tamper-proof and legally binding transactions. The service would also support secure access to corporate networks through wireless LANs, virtual private networks (VPNs) and other applications. A second initiative is expected to focus on interoperability services to enable enterprises to federate trust, extending internal PKI capabilities beyond the corporate network. This would allow enterprises to extend their secure commerce and communications infrastructure beyond the perimeter and enable applications such as secure e-mail, messaging, form signing and secure network access across enterprises. Enterprises can benefit from Microsoft's ability to embed PKI seamlessly into desktop applications and from VeriSign's expertise in defining, deploying and operating highly scalable and secure PKI solutions. As a pioneer in Internet security, VeriSign also provides SSL certificates, which enable secure e-commerce. In addition, VeriSign manages PKI implementations for thousands of enterprise customers. Finally, the effort is expected to enable enterprises to take advantage of the ubiquitous desktop application and back-office integration that is an important component of Windows Server 2003. This functionality seamlessly integrates the certificate provisioning and life-cycle management with Windows XP-based desktops, Active Directory, Exchange and Internet Authentication Server..." See also "XML Digital Signature (Signed XML - IETF/W3C)." General references in "XML and Digital Rights Management (DRM)."

  • [June 02, 2003] "Enigma Has Been Selected By Volvo Cars as the Foundation For Its Global, Integrated Aftersales Support Solution. Standards-Based Technology Delivers Integrated Service and Parts Information in Real Time to Dealers and Independent Service Technicians WorldWide." - "Enigma Inc., the leading provider of content-driven e-business solutions for the support chain, today announced that Volvo Cars Corporation has selected Enigma's 3C Platform as the foundation for the next generation of its aftersales and diagnostic information system. Designed to leverage Volvo Cars' existing infrastructure and information systems, Enigma 3C will provide Volvo Cars dealers and independent motor traders around the world with access to integrated parts, services and pricing information for all models of Volvo automobiles. The completely integrated, browser-based support chain solution will be deployed globally in 17 languages via the Web and CD/DVD. Volvo Cars is leveraging Enigma's 3C Platform to create a single, easy-to-use application that ties together its existing XML-based service manuals, electronic parts catalogs and service bulletins as well as diagnostic interfaces and software (firmware) downloads for on-board automotive control systems. The resulting support chain solution will provide technicians and mechanics with a customized and comprehensive view of all of the information they need for fast and accurate price quotes and repair information for any Volvo automobile. In addition, the Enigma 3C-based solution will tie into Dealer Management Systems and other dealer-based back-office systems to streamline parts ordering, inventory and other financial processes. Through the Enigma 3C Platform, Volvo Cars will implement 'Horizontal Navigation,' which will allow users to type in an automobile's Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) once and then seamlessly navigate across all relevant information, such as service information, electronic parts catalogs and diagnostics. The result will be to decrease workshop lead time, bolster aftersales efficiency, and promote more cost-effective services and repairs for Volvo Cars' 3,000 dealers and 15,000 independent motor traders around the world... Because this aftermarket service system is being deployed globally, it requires a standards-based, open platform, and a consistent, browser-based user interface that supports both on-line and off-line environments (Web and CD/DVD). The flexibility of Enigma's n-tier architecture and J2EE standards-based environment provides Volvo Cars with the scalability, customization and integration needed to bring its complex content and back-end systems together in one unified, multilingual solution. 'Volvo Cars is dedicated to building the safest, most dependable automobiles on the road and to providing customers with the most efficient and cost-effective service and repairs, and this commitment to excellence and innovation is reflected in its extensive aftermarket information system,' said Jonathan Yaron, CEO of Enigma. 'By choosing Enigma as the foundation for its next generation system, Volvo Cars has made our technology an integral part of a strategic investment that will not only provide cost savings but also drive new revenue. This agreement highlights the growing recognition of the business opportunity that resides within the support chain and of Enigma's value as the software partner of choice for maximizing its potential'..."

  • [June 03, 2003] "OASIS and RosettaNet Form Standards Development-to-Implementation Alliance. Consortia Collaborate to Advance E-Business Standards Across Industries." - "Industry standards consortia OASIS and RosettaNet have formalized plans for a coordinated approach to standards development and implementation that will streamline business-to-business (B2B) integration practices for global supply chain companies. The new alliance leverages the supply chain expertise of RosettaNet with the broad, interoperability focus of OASIS. 'This is a productive alignment of activities, and where practical, a convergence of our work,' emphasized Patrick Gannon, president and CEO of OASIS. 'Under this scenario, RosettaNet can leverage standards developed by OASIS, such as ebXML and the Universal Business Language (UBL), creating implementation-oriented solutions at a content level. OASIS, in turn, will look to RosettaNet for domain-specific input to ensure the applicability of universal standards within and between industries.' As a first step in putting this new agreement into practice, RosettaNet has assumed a major role in the OASIS Electronic Procurement Standardization (EPS) Technical Committee. The group provides a forum for government agencies, organizations, and companies to guide the coordinated development of global e-procurement standards. The committee is working to analyze requirements for electronic procurement processes, identify gaps, and recommend new standards as needed. 'While RosettaNet remains committed to developing business process standards required to support the complex needs of the high-technology industry, we also want to realize interoperability across all supply chains. To that end, we see tremendous value in ensuring our supply chain standards are supported by cross-industry, universally accepted standards, such those developed by OASIS,' said Jennifer Hamilton, RosettaNet CEO. RosettaNet and OASIS have established respective liaison memberships that allow representatives of each consortium to actively participate in the technical work of the other. In addition to the OASIS EPS Technical Committee, RosettaNet representatives contribute to the OASIS UBL Technical Committee. RosettaNet is also using the binary collaboration portion of ebXML BPSS, initially developed by OASIS, in its PIP specification format. Possible areas for future collaboration and cross participation are messaging services, advanced business process descriptions, constraint representation, document presentation, repository and meta data standards... RosettaNet is a non-profit consortium dedicated to the collaborative development and rapid deployment of open internet-based business standards that align processes within the global high technology and telecommunications trading networks. More than 500 companies, representing over $1 trillion in annual information technology, electronic components and semiconductor manufacturing revenues, currently participate in RosettaNet's standards development, strategy and implementation activities. Information on the consortium's worldwide activities in the Americas, Europe and Asia, and a complete list of Partner companies, is available at www.rosettanet.org. RosettaNet is a subsidiary of the Uniform Code Council, Inc. (UCC)." See general references in "RosettaNet."

  • [June 02, 2003] "Industry Leaders Announce New Consortium to Develop Standards for IP-Based Design. SPIRIT Consortium Focused on Increasing Efficiency Through Standards for IP Packaging and IP Tools." - "Leading companies from the EDA, IP, system and semiconductor industries today announced the creation of a consortium to develop industry standards that will enable easier integration of semiconductor intellectual property (IP) and IP tools. The consortium, named SPIRIT (Structure for Packaging, Integrating and Re-using IP within Tool-Flows), will focus on developing standards for describing and packaging IP in order to cut costs, increase ease of use and enable greater flexibility in selecting and integrating IP. The founding consortium members are ARM, Beach Solutions, Cadence Design Systems Inc., Mentor Graphics, Royal Philips Electronics, STMicroelectronics and Synopsys Inc. 'SPIRIT will address a key issue dominating the semiconductor industry today: the complexity of IP integration', said Ralph von Vignau, SPIRIT consortium chairman. 'By combining our technological strengths, the SPIRIT consortium members will create standards that will help express complex IP and deliver greater flexibility and efficiency to the SoC design process.' Designers today need a mechanism to express IP integration requirements, performance and configuration capabilities. SPIRIT strives to enable automated IP integration through the development of a standard mechanism for importing complex IP bundles into SoC design tool sets. SPIRIT intends to create two proposed standards: an IP meta-data description and an IP tool integration API. The meta-data standard will create a common way of describing IP so that it is compatible with automated integration techniques. It will enable integrators to use IP from multiple sources with SPIRIT-compliant tools. The tool integration API aims to provide a standard method for linking tools into an IP framework, enabling a more flexible, optimized development environment. SPIRIT-compliant tools will be capable of interpreting, configuring, integrating and manipulating IP blocks that comply with proposed SPIRIT standards. The EDA and IP vendors participating in SPIRIT are committed to making their IP and IP tools interoperable through the proposed SPIRIT standards." From the Consortium FAQ document: "Once the SPIRIT consortium specifications are stable and approved, the defined standards will be transferred to an internationally recognized standards body... Beach Solutions will contribute experience in the field of IP packaging and integration based on XML, and expertise in System-on-Chip (SoC) architectures and IP design. Beach will be Chair of Schema Working Group and will actively participate in other Technical Working Groups as appropriate... Cadence has incorporated schemas into its system level design tools for years, and has recently extended those some of those tools to support SystemC. Cadence will work in the consortium to bring this knowledge into a new and combined XML Schema, meeting the needs and goals of standardization and the users... Mentor Graphics is committed to contributing the Platform Express XML Component Schema technology to the SPIRIT consortium. This schema has been used to generate complex multiprocessor designs from a wide variety of IP sources. As a founding member, Mentor Graphics intends to be an active participant in the standardization to encourage the adoption of this evolving PBD methodology..."

  • [June 02, 2003] "Jabber, Inc. Announces Global Agreement with HP. HP Becomes Development Partner and Global Reseller of Open-Architected Jabber, Inc. Commercial Product." - "Jabber, Inc., the leading developer of open architecture for enterprise-and carrier-class presence-enabled communications, including instant messaging (IM), today announced that HP is now a worldwide distribution and development partner for Jabber, Inc. According to terms of the agreement, HP, already a Jabber, Inc. customer, recently completed the co-development of Jabber for the Microsoft Windows 2000 and 2003 Enterprise Servers and HP-UX platforms, and will be jointly selling Jabber on these platforms as well as the existing Linux-based platform to HP's worldwide customer base beginning in Q2 of this year. Along with joint development and resale of the Jabber, Inc. commercial server, HP will be offering end-to-end service to businesses for implementation and customization of Jabber, Inc.'s open and extensible XML-based enterprise messaging architecture. According to the Gartner Group, instant messaging is increasingly driving enterprise communications. Beyond chat, businesses are integrating instant messaging into their enterprise applications such as enterprise directories and ERP systems... The Jabber, Inc. commercial product and its open source counterpart, Jabber.org, are based on the eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), which ensures that all XMPP-compliant solutions can interoperate. XMPP achieved IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) Working Group status in October 2002 and is quickly moving towards full ratification... 'HP's agreement to co-develop, sell, and service the Jabber platform within global accounts speaks to the gathering momentum behind Jabber and XMPP as the underlying architectures that will drive the adoption of a broad range of presence-enabled applications, beginning -- not ending -- with IM.' said Rob Balgley, Jabber, Inc.'s President and CEO..." See also: (1) "Jabber XML Protocol"; (2) "Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP)"; (3) "IETF Publishes Internet Drafts for XML Configuration Access Protocol (XCAP)."

  • [June 02, 2003] "Microsoft Delivers Beta for First Phase of 'Jupiter,' Dubbed BizTalk Server 2004. BizTalk Server 2004 Delivers Jupiter's Core Foundation for E-Business." - "Today at Microsoft Tech Ed, Microsoft Corp. announced the beta availability for the first phase of "Jupiter," code name for the company's next-generation e-business vision. This first phase, BizTalk Server 2004, provides the key foundational technologies, including business-process orchestration, single sign-on, human-based workflow and Web services support, to enable customers to build tailored e-business solutions to connect people with information and processes. Built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and integrated into the Microsoft Office System and Visual Studio .NET, BizTalk Server 2004 addresses the unique needs of information technology (IT) professionals, information workers and developers for increased efficiency and productivity. Paul Flessner, senior vice president of the Server Platform Division at Microsoft, today announced this milestone in his keynote presentation at the conference... Core technologies in Jupiter include (1) Business process: BizTalk Server 2004 provides a powerful orchestration engine as well as integration with Microsoft Office System and Visual Studio .NET, making it easier for business analysts and developers to orchestrate dynamic business processes within and between organizations... (2) Business rules engine: BizTalk Server 2004 provides a single integrated engine through which enterprises can design, build, compose and manage increasingly complex business processes... (3) Human-based workflow: In BizTalk Server 2004, customers will see a core human-based workflow engine that can be used to build end-to-end workflow applications. Microsoft Human Workflow Services (HWS) enables companies to adapt a workflow modeled on the needs of users.... (4) Single sign-on: With the Enterprise Single Sign-On (SSO) feature in BizTalk Server 2004, organizations can enable users to access multiple heterogeneous applications through a single enterprise login. A core Microsoft technology, SSO will be a strategic asset throughout Microsoft products such as SharePoint Portal Server and Host Integration Server, providing users with easy and secure visibility into enterprise systems... (5) Web services: Native support for Web services, including Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), is built deep into BizTalk Server 2004 to provide a standard way for enterprises to communicate across disparate back-end systems, enabling them to leverage existing investments... Integration with the Microsoft Office System allows for increased ease in monitoring business activity in real time from within Microsoft Office Excel. BizTalk Server 2004 uses Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 as an easy-to-use interface into Business Activity and Human Workflow Services, allowing users to take advantage of XML-based Web services in a familiar Office System environment. Intuitive InfoPath and Windows SharePoint Services based tools for business process and trading partner management help ensure that information workers have easy access to information..."

  • [May 30, 2003] "SchemaSoft and W3C to Host SVG Open Conference in July 2003." - "SchemaSoft and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) will host the 2nd annual SVG Open Conference on Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) in Vancouver, British Columbia from July 13-18, 2003 at the Westin Bayshore Resort & Marina. The SVG Open 2003 Conference and Exhibition is a forum for software developers, Web developers, graphic artists and other technical specialists to exchange ideas, methods and advances related to Web graphics. SVG is the recently adopted W3C open standard for delivering rich graphical content over the Internet. 'The SVG Open Conference is an excellent venue for people to educate themselves on the format and explore how to effectively implement the technology,' said Dr. Philip Mansfield, President of SchemaSoft. The conference will include workshops, presentations, and a product exhibit area. The sessions will explore techniques to author, process and use SVG in a variety of areas including content delivery to mobile devices, interactive mapping, computer aided design (CAD), print publishing, multimedia, business reporting and scientific visualization. For more information and online registration, visit http://www.svgopen.org. Since 1987, SchemaSoft has been designing and building software applications and components for many of the world's top application vendors. Since the formation of the SVG Working Group in 1998, SchemaSoft has been heavily involved in co-authoring the SVG standard, engaging in SVG-related research, and developing SVG software for clients..." General references in "W3C Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)."

  • [May 30, 2003] "Global Computer Enterprises Wins E-Government Contract from GSA. FPDS-NG Will Collect Procurement Data From Across the Federal Government in Real-Time." - "Global Computer Enterprises (GCE) announced today [2003-05-01] that it had been awarded a $24 million dollar contract from the General Services Administration (GSA) for the development, implementation and operation of the Federal Procurement Data System - Next Generation (FPDS-NG). The current system will be re-engineered to take advantage of new technology that will allow for millions of transactions to be recorded and reported upon in real-time, while providing tremendous cost savings to the federal government. 'This is a key victory for GCE and our partners,' stated Ray Muslimani, President of GCE. 'We have worked for more than a year on producing a prototype that proves that a services-oriented architecture employing web services, open standards, and XML, can be the underpinning of a federal enterprise system.' 'Federal enterprise systems have hardly scratched the surface when it comes to real-time interoperability. The potential for information sharing between systems is vast, with huge implications for the nation's financial, procurement, logistics and security domains,' stated Venkatesh Kalluru, Chief Technology Officer for GCE. FPDS-NG is the first system in the Federal Government designed from the ground up with large scale integration capabilities -- it will integrate with every government procurement system in real-time. GCE's Plug & Play Integration architecture provides a sound model for interoperability between federal enterprise systems. GCE partnered with IBM, Oracle, and Business Objects in their bid to win this contract. 'We have taken a best-of breed-approach with respect to our partners,' stated David Lucas, Director of Business Development for GCE. 'IBM is the leading provider of hosting services, business process re-engineering, and investment in web services. Oracle provides the GSA with real application clustering, a cost-saving application server technology that allows for the scalability required of an enterprise-wide system. Business Objects is the clear market leader in providing web-based reporting tools that will transform the data collected by FPDS-NG into business intelligence.' One of the GSA's key objectives is the reduction of transaction costs from nearly $40.00 per transaction to under $1.00. 'The FPDS-NG re-engineering effort is a critical e-Government initiative because the award data that it collects helps Congress and the public understand how taxpayer funds are being spent everyday by the government,' said David Drabkin, Deputy Associate Administrator For Acquisition Policy..."

  • [May 30, 2003] "Blue Titan Network Director 2.0 Enables Pragmatic Adoption of Enterprise Service-Oriented Architectures. New Generation of Web Services Networking Software Delivers Adaptive, Event-Driven Control for Enterprise SOAs." - "Blue Titan Software, Inc. today [May 19, 2003] unveiled the most pragmatic path towards adopting enterprise service-oriented architectures (SOAs) with the release of Network Director 2.0, the latest version of its industry-leading Web services networking solution. Network Director 2.0 brings adaptive control through advancements in event-driven messaging, distributed policy execution and shared infrastructure services. Unlike Web services management solutions that manage services for a particular platform, or merely provide visibility applications, Network Director actually enforces policies throughout a distributed enterprise by reacting to real-time operational events and metrics. This makes Network Director a pragmatic solution for actually controlling Enterprise SOAs... 'Enterprise IT organizations increasingly see Web services' strategic value as more than a practical way to achieve simple point-to-point integration, said Brent Sleeper, Principal at The Stencil Group. 'As these innovators work to achieve the strategic benefits of service-oriented architecture, issues of visibility, control, and architectural flexibility become paramount. Blue Titan's service-oriented 'fabric' offers a compelling, and genuinely service-oriented, foundation for realizing this vision.' Network Director 2.0, which is available immediately, offers the following new capabilities enabling customers to realize an Enterprise SOA: (1) Fabric Services - which expose every function of the Network Director as shared, reusable Web services, thus freeing developers and IT managers to utilize their own tools and applications while leveraging the power of Blue Titan (2) Active Event Messaging - which provides an easy and powerful way to introduce event-driven capabilities into an Enterprise SOA (3) Adaptive Policy Execution - which introduces adaptability into how enterprises manage Web service interactions, enabling them to change policies in real-time based on current traffic information (4) SOAP Stack Interoperability - ensuring virtually any service consumer or provider has a zero footprint path to benefit from a Blue Titan network (5) Emerging Standards Support - giving customers a path for adopting emerging standards such as WS-Security, WS-Policy and WS-Reliable Messaging in a structured, pragmatic fashion..."

  • [May 30, 2003] "New XML DTD Describes Standard Content Model for Electronic Archiving and Publishing of Journal Articles." - "Today we release two Document Type Definitions (DTDs) that will simplify journal publishing and increase the accuracy of the archiving and exchange of scholarly journal articles" [said Dr. David Lipman, Director of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine (NLM)]. The Journal Publishing DTD and the Archiving and Interchange DTD were both created from the Archiving and Interchange Tagset, a set of XML elements and attributes that can be used to define many other types of documents, including textbooks and online documentation. NCBI created the Journal Publishing DTD to define a common format for the creation of journal content in XML. The advantages of a common format are portability, reusability, and the creation and use of standard tools. Although the Publishing DTD was created for electronic production, the structures are robust enough to support print publication as well. Built using the same set of elements, the Archiving and Interchange DTD also defines journal articles, but it has a more open structure. Where the Publishing DTD defines the content and order of most of its elements (which eases content creation), the Archiving DTD is less strict about required elements and their order. The Archiving DTD defines a target content model for the conversion of any sensibly structured journal article and provides a common format in which publishers, aggregators, and archives can exchange journal content. The Tagset provides a set of XML modules that defines elements and attributes for describing the textual and graphical content of journal articles as well as some nonarticle material such as letters, editorials, and book reviews. The purpose of the Tagset is to preserve the intellectual content of journals independently of the form in which that content was originally created. The Tagset has been written as a set of XML DTD modules, each of which is a separate file. No module is a complete DTD by itself, but these modules can be combined to create any number of new DTDs. The Archiving and Publishing DTD may be used as is, or the Tagset can be used to construct DTDs for authoring and archiving journal articles as well as DTDs for transferring journal articles from publishers to archives and between archives..." See details in the news story "NLM Releases XML Tagset and DTDs for Journal Publishing, Archiving, and Interchange."

  • [May 28, 2003] "OASIS Works to Establish Classification Standards for Web Security Vulnerabilities." - "Members of the OASIS standards consortium are uniting to create an open data format to describe Web application security vulnerabilities. The new OASIS Web Application Security (WAS) Technical Committee will produce a classification scheme for Web security vulnerabilities, a model to provide guidance for initial threat, impact and risk ratings, and an XML schema to describe Web security conditions that can be used by both assessment and protection tools. 'Gartner believes the OASIS WAS standard effort will play a key role in supporting innovation in security assessment tools and application-level intrusion prevention products,' said John Pescatore, Vice President for Internet Security at Gartner Inc. 'Having a standard vulnerability description language will allow enterprises to choose and integrate best-of-breed products to best address changing threat scenarios.' 'Currently, security advisories are published in ambiguous textual forms or proprietary data files. The same vulnerability is often described in several different ways, using different languages and contexts that quantify risks in different ways,' explained Mark Curphey, chair of the OASIS WAS Technical Committee. 'WAS will allow vulnerabilities to be published and received in a consistent manner. Risks will be universally understood by law enforcement agencies, government representatives, companies, and organizations, regardless of which tools or technologies are used.' OASIS WAS Technical Committee members include NetContinuum, Qualys, Sanctum, SPI Dynamics, and others. Participation remains open to all organizations and individuals, and OASIS will host an open mail list for public comment. The committee will hold its first meeting on 3-July-2003. 'WAS is complementary to the work of the OASIS Application Vulnerability Description Language (AVDL) Technical Committee, which was formed earlier this year to standardize the format for the way security products communicate. AVDL, using WAS vulnerability classification, will deliver a standard method for vulnerabilities to be described and communicated across multi-vendor products,' noted Kevin Heineman of SPI Dynamics and Jan Bialkowski of NetContinuum, co-chairs of the OASIS AVDL Technical Committee. In the interest of convergence, the OASIS WAS Technical Committee will consider contributions of related work from other groups and companies. The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP), an Open Source community group dedicated to helping government and industry understand and improve the security of Web applications and services, plans to submit its Vulnerability Description Language (VulnXML) to the new OASIS technical committee..." See details in the news story of 2003-05-13: "OASIS Members Form Web Application Security Technical Committee." General references in "Application Security."

  • [May 28, 2003] "Open GIS Consortium Releases Web Map Service Cookbook." - "The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) today announced the availability of the Web Map Service (WMS) Cookbook version 1.0, the first in a planned series of books detailing the implementation and use of OpenGIS Specifications. WMS defines interfaces for Web-based software to learn about, retrieve, merge and query maps. The Cookbook provides the basic understanding and steps needed for implementing and exploiting the WMS interface and related technologies... The book is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1 establishes the background and context of the WMS interface implementation specification including a discussion of WMS client and server development technologies (XML, XSL/XSLT, ASP/JSP, etc.). This introductory chapter provides a general orientation for all readers but is targeted for managers and end-users. Chapter 2 addresses the design architecture of software systems that implement the WMS interface through use-case scenarios, WMS request examples, and illustrations. DTD/XML documents and XSL/XSLT style sheet examples highlight the role these technologies can play in WMS client and server implementations. Chapter 3 explores implementations of WMS in existing software on both the server and client side. Detailed 'recipes' for implementing WMS in popular commercial, open source and freeware products are provided. Technical personnel deploying existing systems and developers implementing new systems will find this chapter particularly useful. Stephan Winter, Associate Professor at the Institute for Geoinformation, Technical University Vienna, Austria shared his students' experience with the Cookbook. 'The students were able to implement a WMS service (with no prior knowledge of server installation) within 4 weeks of part-time effort. The result is currently running on an intranet. The students reported that it was possible to do such a project with only the cookbook in hand. I'm confident the Cookbook will be valuable to a wide range of users.' OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 250 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. OpenGIS Specifications support interoperable solutions that 'geo-enable' the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications..." Related: (1) "OGC Releases OpenGIS Location Services (OpenLS) Implementation Specification"; (2) "OGC Announces OpenGIS Geography Markup Language Implementation Specification (GML 3)." General references in "Geography Markup Language (GML)."

  • [May 27, 2003] "XML for Analysis Council Gains Momentum and Added Industry Support. Public Interoperability Event Showcases Industry Adoption and Support of XMLA." - "The XML for Analysis (XMLA) Council today announced the success of the first public XMLA Interoperability Event, which took place at The Data Warehouse Institute (TDWI) conference in San Francisco, May 11 - 14, 2003. The goal of this event was to provide more detail into the efforts and progress of the XMLA specification, and to further demonstrate the importance of XMLA as a leading open, industry standard in the Business Intelligence and Business Performance Management marketplaces. The event, sponsored by the XMLA Council, showcased early release versions of XMLA-compliant products from 18 Business Intelligence and Business Performance Management solution providers, including Applied OLAP, Arcplan, Aspirity, Brio, Comshare, Crystal Decisions, Hyperion, Intellimerce, Microsoft, Microstrategy, MIS, Panorama, ProClarity, SAP, SAS, Simba Technology, SPSS, and Temtec. The event followed the XMLA Council's second successful Interoperate Workshop, hosted by Simba Technologies, in early April 2003... The new council members join a growing group of industry leaders who have previously announced their support for XMLA. The importance of the growing list of companies supporting XMLA underscores the need for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to adopt XMLA as an open, industry standard, as well as the importance of customers to evaluating the purchases they are making in order to ensure that their investments will be able to interoperate with the leading products in the industry... As part of the recent Interoperability Event(s) the XMLA Council has not only demonstrated the interoperability among the various ISVs that make up the Council, but also the interoperability between XMLA and J2EE architected solutions and other cross-platform technologies. Given that XMLA is built on standard Web services technologies and is fundamentally a standard Web services query and reporting interface for Business Intelligence platforms, it is proving itself to be an open and cross-platform industry standard that works well in either .NET or J2EE environments. As an example of the cross-platform interoperability that is enabled via XMLA, one of the Council members, MIS AG, demonstrated both Java and DHTML based Consumers that use XMLA to seamlessly connect to XMLA Providers at the recent Interoperability Event(s)..." General references in "XML for Analysis."

  • [May 23, 2003] "ebXML Applications Demonstrated Live at London Conference." - "The XML Europe 2003 Conference showcased two days of live ebXML demonstrations and presentations that tackled demanding real-life business needs, to an overflow audience each day.Highlighting the event, a group of five technology companies -- XT-I, Seeburger AG, Sun Microsystems, Sonic Software, TIE International -- representing the e-Business Board for European Standardization, in association with OASIS, demonstrated ebXML messaging in real-life steel industry business scenarios. The business cases, supplied by the European steel industry e-marketplace Steel24-7, showed transactions with XML and EDI business payloads sent and received by different vendors' systems using the ebXML Messaging Services protocol. In each case the systems exchanging the data integrated the payloads into simulated corporate databases. The demonstrations showed that ebXML can routinely handle the rigorous requirements of high-performance business under realistic conditions. In one demonstration, the participants even took one of the systems out of service interrupting the transaction, but the message remained in persistent storage -- a key requirement of ebXML messaging -- which allowed the message to go through once the system came back online. The event featured several case studies of current business uses of ebXML including: the telecommunications industry in the U.K. (Martin Roberts, BT), the container shipping industry in India (Visva Visvanathan, Indian Institute of Science), a travel industry global distribution system in the U.S. (Mike Wheaton, Sun Microsystems), General Motors (Dan Malks, Sun Microsystems), and the international paper industry (Tilo Zimmermann, Ponton Consulting). The program also discussed innovative applications and extensions of the ebXML architecture, including: the European openXchange project (Erwin Folmer and Dennis Krukkert, TNO E-business), an open-source implementation of the ebXML registry specifications (Farrukh Najmi, Sun Microsystems), Content Assembly Mechanism (David Webber, SmartDraw), ebXML Test Framework (Jacques Durand, Fujitsu), ebXML Test Centers (Monica Martin, Sun Microsystems), and interoperability of ebXML messaging (Rik Drummond, Drummond Group). Patrick Gannon, president and CEO of OASIS who gave the welcoming address to the conference participants said, "The ebXML Showcase illustrated that these specifications are for real, and delivering solid business value for companies large and small... The demonstrations and cases discussed at the conference should erase any doubt that the ebXML framework can provide the reliability, security, and flexibility companies need to do e-business in the 21st century'..." General references in "Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML)."

  • [May 22, 2003] "Microsoft, ACORD Link Insurance Forms to XML Web Services, Helping Agents Enter Data Once and Share Data Across Their Businesses. Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 to Help Insurance Industry Cut Processing Time and Costs, Reduce Errors." - "[On May 19, 2003] at the 2003 ACORD Conference, Microsoft Corp. and the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD) announced that ACORD will provide more than 500 insurance forms built using Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003, Microsoft Office System's new information-gathering application. InfoPath utilizes XML and XML-based Web services to enable insurance agencies to complete forms once and then link the data to other forms, databases, back-end systems and applications. As part of the forms service, Microsoft .NET Web services can be used to provide additional functionalities, including e-mail, printing and data-routing. The ability for insurance agents and brokers to use InfoPath-based forms is expected to help the insurance industry reduce the processing time and cost of completing insurance transactions, while reducing errors associated with re-entering data multiple times. It also will unify and standardize the way forms are delivered and relate to Extensive Markup Language (XML) standards such as that of ACORD's, which is the most commonly used standard in the insurance industry today. "Availability of current ACORD Forms is essential for agents and brokers. This technology will deliver and update ACORD Forms quickly and encourage the development of Web services around ACORD Forms," said Gregory Maciag, CEO of ACORD. "We've embraced XML as a key standard in insurance transaction processing, and Microsoft's InfoPath tool will increase productivity and efficiency for ACORD participants." InfoPath will be available as part of Microsoft's most popular Office suite for businesses, Microsoft Office 2003 Professional Enterprise Edition, with standalone versions available via retail outlets, volume licensing and OEM channels..." See details in the news story "Microsoft and ACORD Use InfoPath for Linking Insurance Forms to XML Web Services."

  • [May 22, 2003] "Microsoft and ACORD to Link Insurance Forms to XML Web Services." - "At the ACORD 2003 Annual Conference, one of the largest insurance industry conferences of the year, Microsoft and the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD) -- a nonprofit insurance industry standards organization -- announced a joint effort to create a forms service that will link standardized insurance forms to XML Web services. The XML-based forms, which will be developed using Microsoft Office Infopath 2003, Microsoft's new information-gathering application, will enable insurance agencies to fill out electronic forms once and then link the data with the click of a button to other forms, databases, back-end systems and applications via XML Web Services. Aimed at helping the insurance industry reduce the overhead associated with complex transaction processing and the errors that result from having to re-key data several times, the forms service is expected to standardize the way forms relate to industry-specific XML data standards such as ACORD's, and how the data itself is delivered... PressPass spoke with Josh Lee, managing director and lead strategist of the Financial Services group at Microsoft, about the significance of the announcement, Microsoft's overall strategy for serving the insurance industry and the role of InfoPath and XML Web Services in the new technology solution... [Lee:] 'We hope the work we're doing with ACORD sends a strong message to insurance carriers, brokerages, and agents that Microsoft is committed to solving some of their biggest business challenges, which include workflow inefficiency, data redundancy and errors. Microsoft has been working hard to increase the relevance and value of its products to vertical industries, and announcements like this one are direct evidence that we're totally committed to increasing support for industry workflow and standards'..." See other details in the news story "Microsoft and ACORD Use InfoPath for Linking Insurance Forms to XML Web Services."

  • [May 21, 2003] "UCC Finalizes Agreement with MIT. Forms Joint Venture with EAN International to Drive Standards for Electronic Product Code (EPC) Network." - "The Uniform Code Council, Inc. (UCC) and EAN International, leaders in facilitating efficient international business, announced today at the UCC's annual U Connect Conference, the intention to establish AutoID, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that will develop and oversee commercial and technical standards for the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Network. The EPC Network, based on research conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), uses radio frequency in combination with a network system to allow items or products to be identified. This technology will enable companies to have true visibility of their supply chains in real time, in any industry, anywhere in the world. AutoID, Inc. is an initiative between the UCC and EAN International. Both organizations have more than 25 years developing standards for the Universal Product Code (U.P.C.) and EAN13, now incorporated in the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN). Through the global standards of the EANUCC System, nearly one million member companies in more than 140 countries worldwide conduct business every day using bar codes and related electronic communications... The EPC Network was developed by the Auto-ID Center, a not-for-profit global research project headquartered at MIT. In addition to a research lab at MIT, the Center has established research facilities at Cambridge University in England, Adelaide University in Australia, University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, Keio University in Japan, and Fudan University in China. 'We knew that our research would one day migrate from the lab to real world applications,' said Sanjay Sarma, co-founder and chairman of research at the Auto-ID Center and professor in the department of mechanical engineering at MIT. 'That day has come, and we are pleased to work with the UCC and EAN International not only to bring this technology to market, but to continue to refine it in the future.' AutoID, Inc. will continue to work closely with Professor Sarma and lead researchers at the Center's sister labs around the world..." Note: the AutoID, Inc. FAQ document references 'Physical Markup Language (PML)' as one of the EPC network's "five fundamental elements that enable the automatic identification and tracking of physical objects in real time..." See: "Physical Markup Language (PML)." See also "Uniform Code Council (UCC) XML Program."

  • [May 21, 2003] "Yellow Dragon Announces the General Availability of Yellow Dragon Messaging 1.0. Secure and Reliable Messaging for Web Services and ebXML." - "Yellow Dragon Software Corporation, a developer of key messaging and metadata management software for Service Oriented Architectures (SOA's), including ebXML and Web Services, announced today the general availability of Yellow Dragon Messaging version 1.0, its ebXML Messaging Services v2.0 compliant messaging platform. Yellow Dragon Messaging 1.0 supports all mandatory and optional features of the ebXML Messaging 2.0c specification, as well as Collaboration Protocol Agreements, version 2.0. The software has been certified interoperable with 12 other software vendors under under another name. The software makes secure and reliable messaging for web services a reality. This is a "must have" requirement for many web service users. Yellow Dragon Software's offers the product for a free evaluation period along with a new Messaging Server Management console to make it easy to get up and running. Yellow Dragon Software has experienced a high degree of serious interest from value added resellers who appear to agree that this ebXML-based messaging solution is a needed commodity. The business community has been applying pressure to web services vendors to offer this functionality. Now anyone can download and have it running in less than 30 minutes... Yellow Dragon Software provides messaging and metadata management software for Service Oriented Architectures (SOAs), including ebXML, Web Services and others. Yellow Dragon is an active member of the ebXML community, and several of its personnel are prominent participants in the standardization activities within the W3C, OASIS, UN/CEFACT and OAG..." General references in "Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML)."

  • [May 20, 2003] "World Wide Web Consortium Approves Patent Policy. W3C Members, Director Establish Policy for Encouraging Royalty-Free Web Standards." - "Today, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced approval of the W3C Patent Policy, based on widespread Member endorsement, agreement in the W3C Patent Policy Working Group, and support from interested members of the public. The W3C Patent Policy aims to solve a specific problem -- to reduce the threat of blocking patents on key components of Web infrastructure. 'W3C Members who joined in building the Web in its first decade made the business decision that they, and the entire world, would benefit most by contributing to standards that could be implemented ubiquitously, without royalty payments, explained Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director. 'By adopting this Patent Policy, W3C's Members will continue to be able to concentrate on the business of producing the best possible technical standards for the Web with the best chance for widespread adoption. W3C now sets the benchmark for the pragmatic way to successfully develop royalty-free Web Standards in the current patent environment.' Berners-Lee's full remarks are available on the Web... Based on overwhelming support of the W3C Membership, agreement in the Patent Policy Working Group and support from interested members of the public, W3C's Director approved the W3C Patent Policy. The Policy lends support to the basic intellectual property business model that has driven innovation on the Web from its inception. Companies, researchers and independent developers make contributions of design insights, valuable engineering resources, and hard work in order to develop technical interoperability standards upon which a worldwide information infrastructure can be built. Beyond establishing a commitment to royalty-free standards, the policy provides W3C with a stable, practical patent policy, a clear licensing framework, consistent disclosure obligations, and a reasonable dispute resolution process. This policy will help W3C concentrate on the business of producing the best possible technical standards for the Web... The premise of the policy is that it is in the interests of all who participate in building and using the Web -- including patent holders and all others alike -- to enable royalty-free implementation of Web standards. To this end, the policy doesn't require giving up one's entire patent portfolio; it concerns only those patent claims held by W3C Working Group participants that are essential to implement the specific W3C standard... The W3C royalty-free license requirements are consistent with generally recognized Open Source licensing terms. This royalty-free definition provides reasonable assurance that the Recommendations themselves are available to all users and implementors of the Recommendation..." See details in the news story "W3C Approves Patent Policy Supporting Development of Royalty-Free Web Standards."

  • [May 20, 2003] "UDDI v2 Ratified as OASIS Open Standard. Building Block for Web Services Advances Within Open Process." - "The OASIS interoperability consortium today announced that its members have approved the Universal Description, Discovery and Integration specification (UDDI) version 2.0 as an OASIS Open Standard, a status that signifies the highest level of ratification. UDDI enables companies and applications to dynamically publish, locate, and use Web services. Uttam Narsu, Vice President, Forrester Research, Inc. noted, 'While UDDI has not been as widely adopted as SOAP and WSDL, UDDI v2, under the aegis of OASIS, offers a concrete step to the widely anticipated version 3 specification. We forsee UDDI adoption as critical to the realization of a service-oriented architecture, and expect to see a significant increase in its adoption over the next two years.' 'We came to OASIS with the goal of advancing UDDI into a recognized industry standard with support and input from the broadest possible range of constituents,' recalled Luc Clement of Microsoft, co-chair of the OASIS UDDI Specification Technical Committee. 'UDDI's ratification as an OASIS Open Standard indicates our success in establishing an interoperable, cross-industry standard that provides a cornerstone for the Web services architecture.' Members of the OASIS UDDI Specification Technical Committee include Computer Associates, Fujitsu, IBM, IONA, Microsoft, Novell, OpenNetwork, Oracle, SAP, SeeBeyond, Sun Microsystems, Tata Consultancy Services, and others. According to Tom Bellwood of IBM, co-chair of the OASIS UDDI Specification Technical Committee, 'UDDI v2 is being widely implemented today. It provides powerful features like business relationships and external taxonomy validation. As OASIS now continues moving version 3 towards a standard, with its support of multi-registry environments and digital signature features, we expect the use of UDDI in all environments to expand even further.' Before becoming an OASIS Open Standard, UDDI v2 first completed an extensive public review and was approved by the OASIS UDDI Specification Technical Committee. Then, the specification demonstrated its readiness through multiple implementations, after which UDDI was reviewed and approved by the OASIS membership as a whole..." See: (1) the news story "UDDI Version 2 Approved as an OASIS Open Standard"; (2) general references in "Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI)."

  • [May 19, 2003] "XML 2003 Call for Presentations, Tutorials, Exhibits, and Sponsors." - "XML 2003 will be held December 7-12, 2003 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Now We're Cooking is the XML Conference theme for this year. XML is now used in many different ways and in many different applications. Leading (best) practices are starting to emerge, and recipes for success are starting to be reliable and reproducible. The Conference this year is dedicated to telling people what they need to know to get their systems working. This is where you come in. We are looking for top-quality tutorials and talks that help attendees understand what the leading practices are, how to use them, what to watch out for, and how to solve problems that show up. They also want to know which new technologies are coming down the pipeline. The attendees at XML 2003 want to hear first hand from the experts which products will solve their problems and which methodologies will meet their needs. Whether as speaker, tutorial presenter, exhibitor, or sponsor, you will find that XML 2003 provides the best forum to share your knowledge or demonstrate your products. We already have some excellent keynote speakers confirmed: Adam Bosworth (BEA), Jon Udell (InfoWorld), and Shantanu Narayen (Adobe) and expect to confirm others shortly... Suggested topic areas are Case Studies, Core Technologies, Integration, B2B, Vertical Industries, Government, Graphics and Multimedia, Knowledge Management, Publishing, Storing XML, Web Services, Wireless... The XML Conference has earned a reputation for excellence, providing vendors access to a very well-informed and well-qualified audience. We invite you to join the exhibiting companies at this year's event. The conference and exposition also has sponsorship opportunities available..." See also the event listing.

  • [May 19, 2003] "International Consortium Seeks Global Standard for Electronic Data Exchange for Advertising. AdsML Standard Will Build on Existing Standards, Set Specifications For Crucial Processes. All Advertising Media Ultimately Affected." - "An international consortium of organizations serving the print and electronic publishing industries is creating a global standard that will govern how digital information is exchanged for all types of advertising, across all media and through all stages of the lifecycle of an advertisement. The AdsML standard will provide standardized electronic processes for all sectors of the advertising industry, in order to shorten deadlines and time to market, save time and money, improve communication, reduce errors, enhance business relationships and create new business opportunities. Beginnin