[ebxml] OASIS Joins International Alliance of Standards-Setting Bodiesfor E-Business

[Carol Geyer <carol.geyer@oasis-open.org>]

OASIS Joins International Alliance of Standards-Setting Bodies for
Electronic Business

XML Consortium Unites in MoU with IEC, ISO, ITU, and UN/ECE

Geneva, Switzerland and Boston, MA, USA; 11 February 2002 -- OASIS, the
XML interoperability consortium, joined the four International Standards
Organizations in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Electronic
Business. Founding members of the MoU include the International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU),
and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE). As the
newest invited member of the MoU, OASIS adds its resources to the
efforts of these international standards-setting bodies to coordinate
the development of global standards for electronic business.

"We welcome OASIS to the MoU on Electronic Business," noted Cynthia L.
Fuller, Chair of the MoU Management Group. "The consortium's work with
UN/CEFACT on ebXML, the specifications that provide an infrastructure
for e-business information exchange, is just one example of the many
contributions OASIS continues to make towards interoperability. OASIS
members span the globe in a united effort to promote convergence and
collaboration, and we look forward to their involvement as active
members of the MoU."

"OASIS is honored to be invited to participate in this MoU and
contribute to its work in furthering the interoperability of electronic
business standards worldwide," said Patrick Gannon, President and CEO of
OASIS. "Working together, we can help to increase coordination across
many different international programs for more efficient standards
development and more rapid adoption that will benefit the entire global
marketplace."

The Electronic Business MoU establishes a coordination mechanism under a
unique cooperative model to produce mutually supportive standards
required in business transactions (data interchange and
interoperability), as well as product design and manufacturing to meet
the urgent needs of both industry and end-users.

"The purpose of the MoU is to minimize the risk of divergent and
competitive approaches to standardization, avoid duplication of efforts
and confusion amongst users," said Houlin Zhao, Director of ITU
Telecommunication Standardization Bureau. "Under the MoU's Management
Group, for instance, ITU technical groups will be able to share their
agendas with OASIS technical committees to promote convergence where
appropriate and advance the interests of the marketplace at-large."

According to Dr. Carol Cosgroves-Sacks, Director, UNECE Trade Division,
"Since 1999, OASIS and UN/CEFACT have worked closely together, uniting
developers from around the world on ebXML. UN/ECE appreciates the
contributions OASIS members bring to the standards process, and we look
forward to continuing and broadening our cooperative relationship under
the MoU."

ISO Secretary-General, Dr. Lawrence D. Eicher, commented, "Participation
from OASIS underscores the role of the Electronic Business MoU as a
partnership between the governmental and private sectors. It lays the
foundation for a healthy future development of e-commerce to the benefit
of all stakeholders."

IEC's General Secretary, Mr Aharon Amit, added, "We recognize that
within electronic business, there is the potential for convergence for
all types of data interchange. OASIS joins the MoU in advancing a work
program that is tailored to bring all types of information exchange
development within a single framework."

About OASIS
OASIS (www.oasis-open.org), a not-for-profit, global consortium, drives
the development, convergence and adoption of e-business standards.
Members themselves set the OASIS technical agenda, using a lightweight,
open process expressly designed to promote industry consensus and unite
disparate efforts. OASIS is the home for XML conformance, Web services,
security, business transactions, electronic publishing, topic maps and
other interoperability specifications development.

OASIS has more than 400 corporate and individual members in 100
countries around the world. OASIS and the United Nations jointly sponsor
ebXML, a global framework for e-business data exchange. OASIS operates
XML.org, a community clearinghouse for XML application schemas,
vocabularies and related documents. OASIS hosts The XML Cover Pages, an
online reference collection for interoperable markup language standards.


For more information:
Carol Geyer
Director of Communications
OASIS www.oasis-open.org
carol.geyer@oasis-open.org
+1.978.667.5115 x209