ECCMA Announces New Technology to Make it Easier for Government Agencies to Purchase Goods and Services Over the Internet

Business Wire, Sept 26, 2002

Business Editors

BETHLEHEM, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 26, 2002

The Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA) and Lehigh University signed an agreement to work with Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) of Johnstown, PA on the development of the functional specifications for standardized catalog builders and browsers.

The project is centered on the new ECCMA Open Technical Dictionary (eOTD). The eOTD is an open standard for product catalogs that leverages the work of the Federal Cataloging System, a truly amazing 50-year-old initiative by the US government in cataloging that was developed to streamline the supply chain.

This cataloging system, managed by the Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) in Battle Creek, Mich., is now used to maintain the world's largest inventory system and has become one of the cornerstones of a remarkable effort in international cooperation at the heart of NATO and the Partnership for Peace.

Commenting on the agreement Yvette Thomas the Executive Director of ECCMA said: "This is a major initiative that would not have been possible without the vision and commitment of the leaders and staff of DLIS. We are grateful to DLIS for their willingness to support the development of open standards that will benefit all businesses by making it easier for them to be visible not only to government buyers but to all buyers."

Dr. Donald Hillman, Professor of Computer Science, and the leader of the Lehigh University contribution to the project said: "The eOTD is truly unique in the simplicity and elegance of its approach to solving the catalog standardization issue. Web catalogs coded to the eOTD will be able to be 'browsed' with far greater efficiency and accuracy than anything available today".

Joe Homan, the Executive Director of Enterprise Integration at CTC said: "CTC is proud to have been chosen as the lead developer in this very important project that will improve visibility to Department of Defense contractors by providing better quality and more timely information on the goods and services they have available."

Editor Notes:

CTC (www.ctc.com) is an independent, nonprofit, applied research and development organization that provides management and technology-based solutions to a wide array of clients representing state and federal government as well as the private sector. Established in 1988, CTC operates from more than 20 locations throughout the United States with a staff of over 1,100 employees.

ECCMA (www.ECCMA.org) is a not for profit membership association that develops and maintains open standards for content. ECCMA is based in Bethlehem, PA and has a growing membership of over 1,200 in 49 countries.

Lehigh University (www.Lehigh.edu) is a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania founded in 1865 offering B.S., B.A., M.S., MBA, Ph.D and Ed.D programs in 44 different fields to approximately 4,500 undergraduates and 2,000 graduate students.

Lehigh is a national leader in engineering research with an international reputation in several interdisciplinary fields, including information and communications technology, optoelectronics, and biotechnology. Lehigh also benefits from major research grants from government and industry.

Web site address: www.eccma.org