ANSI ASC X12 & OASIS ebXML Messaging Technical Committee Co-Located Meetings Addressed Incorporating ebXML Infrastructure into X12 Transaction Sets

Business Wire, Oct 30, 2002

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 2002

OASIS UBL & the IFX Forum Scheduled to Meet in Conjunction with

ASC X12 in Denver, Feb. 2-7, 2003

The ANSI Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 hosted the OASIS ebXML Messaging Technical Committee at its most recent ASC X12 Meeting, Oct. 6-11 in Miami.

At this meeting, the two organizations discussed ASC X12's future use of the ebXML infrastructure and its requirements to enable information exchange from X12 Interchange Control Header or envelope structures to ebXML messaging.

"The OASIS ebXML Messaging Service Technical Committee had a productive meeting hosted by ASC X12, where we completed a review and prioritized the outstanding requirements list for the messaging service specification," said Chair of the OASIS ebXML Messaging Service Technical Committee Ian Jones of British Telecommunications. "We were also able to start working on high priority items, including the completion of two items that will aid interoperability and understanding of the existing version 2.0 specification."

The OASIS ebXML Messaging Technical Committee develops and recommends technology for the transport, routing and packaging of business transactions using standard Internet technologies. This committee fosters consistency across specifications developed in other forums and advances the work started in the ebXML Transport, Routing and Packaging project team.

The OASIS Unified Business Language (UBL) Technical Committee and the Interactive Financial eXchange (IFX) Forum are scheduled to co-locate with the next ASC X12 Meeting, February 2-7, in Denver.

The IFX Forum develops robust XML specifications, global business requirements and implementation guidelines for electronic business-to-business exchange of data among financial institutions around the world.

The OASIS UBL Technical Committee is developing a standard library of XML business documents and designing context-specific business schemas through the application of transformation rules to the common UBL source library.

"We are delighted that UBL and the IFX Forum have decided to co-locate their meetings with ASC X12 in February 2003," said ASC X12 Vice Chair Ralph Berwanger of bTrade, Inc. "It allows our independent organizations to have meaningful face-to-face exchanges. Everyone wins."

About ASC X12

The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12, accredited by the American National Standards Institute and comprised of cross-industry representation, develops robust e-business exchange standards in EDI and XML formats that interact with a multitude of e-commerce technologies and serve as the premier tool for integrating electronic applications.

Through standards setting and active participation in emerging and technically relevant initiatives, ASC X12 facilitates the effective exchange of electronic information.

Propelling global e-business, ASC X12 is an active contributor to the United Nations/Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport (UN/EDIFACT), an international standard relating to the exchange of trade goods and services. To learn more about ASC X12, visit www.x12.org or call 703-837-6155.