[September 21, 2001] A public posting from Klaus-Dieter Naujok (UN/CEFACT/eBTWG & TMWG Chair) on 2001-09-21 announced the approval of an XML Business Document Library Project (XBDL) by executives of the UN/CEFACT Electronic Business Transition Working Group. The initiative is a response to "the business user community in providing a migration path for established legacy EDI semantics and associated business process artifact dictionaries containing codes, elements and message semantics to a Standard Library of XML business grammatical components." The XBDL Project as designed was "in concept identical to the recently approved work of the OASIS UBL Technical Committee; however, the work is not related to ebXML infrastructure work, but related to ebXML content and context work which is the agreed responsibility of UN/CEFACT." The project team was scheduled to have its first meeting as part of the eBTWG meeting, 8-12 October 2001 in San Francisco, CA, USA. "CommerceNet will host this first meeting of the UN/CEFACT eBusiness Transition Working Group (eBTWG); participants will identify and further develop future plans for the completion of the ebXML specifications as related to Core Components, Business Process and eBusiness Architecture."

From the draft eBTWG Project Proposal for the XML Business Document Library (XBDL):

Purpose: The purpose of the project is to provide a migration path for established legacy EDI semantics and associated business process artifact dictionaries containing codes, elements and message semantics to a Standard Library of XML business grammatical components. These XML business artifacts and document structures will allow trading partners to unambiguously identify the business content to be exchanged in a specific business context. These business artifacts and content will also fully utilize all aspects of ebXML based interchanges. For SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) partners this will provide "jump start kits" for basic adoption of ebXML based transactions and interactions. A further goal will be to provide a model to facilitate interoperability between XML based vocabularies where these are already aligned on an existing EDI base.

Scope: Electronic Business artifacts from existing UN/EDIFACT semantic dictionaries, including existing harmonization and simplification efforts, such as Simpl-edi and Simpl-eb. To harmonize as far as practical with the Core Component work from Phase 1 of ebXML, including the work of the Joint Core Components initiative, and with the work of other standards or industry efforts in this area.

Deliverables: The project deliverables are (1) Standard Library of XML business grammatical components, including nouns, verbs and context rules for business document structures and their associated content semantics. (2) Rules for the generation of context-specific schemas for basic business documents and their components through the application of transformation and assembly rules from a common XML source library stored in an ebXML Registry system.

[September 24, 2001] From the XBDL project team page: "The purpose of the project is to provide a migration path for established legacy EDI semantics and associated business process artifact dictionaries containing codes, elements and message semantics to a Standard Library of XML business grammatical components. This project team will develop: (1) Standard Library of XML business grammatical components, including nouns, verbs and context rules for business document structures and their associated content semantics. (2) Rules for the generation of context-specific schemas for basic business documents and their components through the application of transformation and assembly rules from a common XML source library stored in an ebXML Registry system. The XML Business Document Library project team is a group of experts with broad knowledge in the area of Electronic Business (ebXML, UN/EDIFACT, and national EDI/eBusiness), ebXML Core Components, semantic and context related development."

Rationale: "UN/CEFACT strongly supports the need for this standard library and believes that UN/CEFACT is the correct forum for this work to progress. The approved XBDL Project has been part of the UN/CEFACT work plan as it relates to the approved UN/CEFACT eBusiness vision, it is not a totally new item. CSG [UN/CEFACT Steering Group] and eBTWG are aware that approving the XBDL Project results in two similar efforts. The dual efforts of UN/CEFACT and OASIS potentially complicate the development of a single standard library. We believe that XBDL is directly related to the work plan of UN/CEFACT; however, we understand the value that the UBL participants could add to the XBDL Project. We strongly encourage the UBL members to join our open, international effort to produce a true global dejure specification..." [from the announcement of 2001-09-21]

See the UBL and XBDL positioning statements from some of the principals.

About UN/CEFACT Electronic Business Transition Working Group [2001-09-18]: "The mission of the eBTWG is to identify specific work items to facilitate the completion of the activities related to the ebXML Business Process and Core Components Projects and to oversee the further development of those items. Detailed information about these work items can be found on the ebXML Web site: www.ebxml.org. In addition, this group would be responsible for developing and maintaining the UN/CEFACT eBusiness architecture to ensure consistency with the ebXML architecture specification... The eBusiness Transition Working Group (eBTWG) was created by UN/CEFACT Steering Group (CSG) in July 2001 for the purpose of continuing the UN/CEFACT's role in pioneering the development of XML standards for electronic business. The group was formed to build on the success of the earlier ebXML Joint Initiative between UN/CEFACT and OASIS, which delivered its first set of specifications in May 2001. To help ensure the success of the eBTWG, CommerceNet will provide administrative and logistical support to the working group for the next twelve months. CommerceNet is a global not-for-profit organization that brings together forward-thinking leaders to actively focus on the advancement of eCommerce worldwide." See additional details in the eBTWG web site project description; project teams [e.g., Core Component Specification; Business Collaboration Patterns and Monitored Commitments Specification; eBusiness Architecture Specification]; the documents and proposals [eBTWG Mandate, eBTWG Terms of Reference, UN/CEFACT Development Process, User Guide to Open Development Process, eBTWG Project Proposal Template]; eBTWG FAQ document; and news. [cache/snapshot]

References:

• Announcement: XML Business Document Library Project (XBDL)
• eBTWG Project Proposal: XML Business Document Library (XBDL)
• UN/CEFACT Electronic Business Transition Working Group
• "CommerceNet and UN/CEFACT eBusiness Transition Working Group (eBTWG) Holds Inaugural Meeting"
• Announcement 2001-09-06: "eBTWG Announces Inaugural Meeting to Advance ebXML Development." [CommerceNet URL]
• Announcement 2001-08-01: "CommerceNet to Assist in Next Phase of UN's ebXML Initiative for eCommerce"
• XML Business Document Library Project Team
• XML Business Document Library Project Proposal [project web site]
• eBTWG discussion group archives - "The purpose of this discussion list is to establish a public forum for sharing information and opinions on any aspect of ebXML and the work of the eBusiness Transition Working Group (eBTWG). [This is] a public forum ...Anyone interested in this subject is welcome to subscribe to this list and contribute to the discussions, or simply listen in..."
• CommerceNet
• See also: "Joint UN/EDIFACT and ASC X12 Core Component Development Initiative" - Main reference page.
• See also: "Universal Business Language (UBL)" - Main reference page.
• See also: "Electronic Business XML Initiative (ebXML)" - Main reference page.