Urgent - Need review of presentation abstract by COB Monday

[Simon Nicholson <simonn@eng.sun.com>]

All,
I'm trying to get an ebXML presentation added to one of the upcoming events 
(XML based) and have been asked for an abstract.  Before sending it I'm 
hoping if we can get this right, we can all use it in the coming 
months.  Please review the following and get responses to me by close of 
business Pacific time on Monday - as, if we are to have a hope of getting 
the submission accepted I need to get it in on Tuesday.
I've also given it a rough, working title claiming ebXML is the vowels of 
e-business i.e. it doesn't provide everything you need in an electronic 
business language, but without it communication would be somewhat 
tricky.  I've had a stab at trying to define meaning for each of the vowels 
and would appreciate the insights of your collective wisdom.

Simon


Title: ebXML - The Vowels of Electronic Business
or how ebXML is
Adopted by orgs of all sizes - or Adaptable
Easy to implement - or Earth on which to build
Infrastructure on which you can build solutions - Internet based
Open to all
Universal in scope

There is nothing new in the concept of Electronic Business.  For the last 
25 years organisations have been conducting their transactions over the 
wire in volumes that today are measured in billions of dollars.  However, 
this method of business is only available to organisations with deep 
pockets and large support resources.  Now, with the availability of the 
internet, organisations of all shapes and sizes are looking to do business 
electronically with each other, globally, in ways which remove technical 
interdependence and vendor lock-in.
In the last 12 months we have seen an explosion in initiatives whose goal 
is to provide the infrastructure to enable the vision whereby small, medium 
and large organisations can conduct business electronically using the 
infrastructure of the internet. Many of the initiatives share common 
requirements in core infrastructure and to reduce reinvention and the risks 
of incompatibility the UN CEFACT and OASIS organisations came together, in 
November 1999, to form an 18 month initiative, ebXML.  The objective of 
ebXML is to develop a global infrastructure for electronic business, based 
on public, proven standards, and being freely open to all, it represents 
the only global initiative of its type in the industry today.  As a result 
it now has the global backing and participation of vendors (large and 
small), users and key industry verticals from both the EDI and XML worlds.
The first phase of this work is now nearing completion and is defining the 
framework by which all enterprises, irrespective of size, location and 
implementation will interact and do business.  This presentation provides 
an insight into the ongoing work of ebXML and will discuss the architecture 
defining the framework and how the specifications for transport, business 
process, registry and repository and core components fit together.


===========================================================================
Simon Nicholson
Snr. Market Strategist
XML Technology Centre
Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Tel:    +1 (650) 786 4238
Fax:    +1 (650) 786 5723
Email: simonn@eng.sun.com