7 June 2001

DEWRSB

The Tender Box

EOI 2001/10

Ground Floor Reception

12 Mort Street

Canberra City ACT 2600

Dear Sir/Madam,

The ebXML Australian Working Party (ebXML-AWP) wishes to respond to the request (ref: EOI 2001/10). This response is expected to be quite different to other candidates. It offers assistance and advice in the assessment of Expressions of Interest received, with the recommendation for a role to assist preparation of a comprehensive requirements specification and ongoing review to ensure compliance to the specification.

Background & Organisation Involvement

ebXML-AWP is a sub-committee of the Australian CEFACT Management Committee (ACMC) which in turn is a committee of Tradegate ECA.

Tradegate ECA is the trading name of Tradegate Australia Ltd incorporated in 1989 as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. It was established by government and industry to foster and promote the introduction of electronic commerce into the trade, import, export and transport industries.

Major supporters of Tradegate Australia Ltd at its incorporation were Australian Customs Service, QANTAS, Association of Australian Port and Marine Authorities, Austrade and peak bodies representing all modes of transport plus broker, forwarding and shipping associations.

Sine its inception Tradegate Australia Ltd has facilitated the introduction of electronic commerce into its area of interest. In 1997 Tradegate Australia Ltd merged with Electronic Commerce Australia to form Tradegate ECA.

Throughout the 1990’s Tradegate ECA represented Australia at UN/EDIFACT Standards development meetings under UN/ECE/Working Party 4/Trade Facilitation. Tradegate ECA provided the Chairman for the Transport Working Group at these meetings for 5 years and the Chairman of the UN/EDIFACT Working Group for 2 years (1998-2000). When the UN/ECE trade facilitation activities were reorganised in 1997 and the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business was established (known as UN/CEFACT), Tradegate ECA was asked by the Federal Government to provide the Head of Delegation to UN/CEFACT and continues to do so to this date.

The ebXML Initiative

In 1999 UN/CEFACT in collaboration with the US-based Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), formed a joint working initiative to develop an infrastructure for the adaptation of Extensible Mark-Up Language (XML) to enable its use as a business tool for the Internet. The initiative, which was launched at an international meeting of the UN/EDIFACT working group in Canberra in September 1999, was titled ebXML Initiative and was to complete its work in an 18 month timeframe ending in May 2001. This aim has been achieved in so far as the technical architecture is concerned and work is continuing within UN/CEFACT on data content and core data components.

Following the beginning of the ebXML Initiative internationally, Tradegate ECA through its Australian CEFACT Management Committee decided that it was necessary to have a special interest group to monitor the Initiatives’ progress, ensure Australian input to the decisions made and communication of local adoption. A number of Australian organisations have funded representation at the ebXML meetings - there have been 7 at various locations throughout the world. The final meeting was held in Vienna from 7-11 May 2001.

The ebXML-AWP is convinced that the specifications approved by the ebXML Initiative will provide an infrastructure which will ensure interoperability between business software developed for the Internet. This will in turn ensure that SME’s will enjoy the efficiencies and benefits currently only available to larger organisations through conventional EDI. Many Australian programmes have already commenced progressive adoption of these specifications.

The ebXML initiative has been universally supported and endorsed as being global best-practice in collaborative EC and registry specification.

ebXML-AWP Proposal

At its meeting on Friday 1 June, the ebXML-AWP discussed the future direction and strategies for ebXML (as the business tool and language of the Internet), reaching the conclusion that Australia needed a registry and repository for companies wishing to trade electronically, and in particular using the ebXML specifications as the basis.

The ebXML-AWP being aware of the EOI 2001/10 issued by DEWRSB, saw a high level of synergy between the requirements of the EOI and the scope of the ebXML Initiative, now detailed as the published and approved specification (the specifications are available without cost from www.ebxml.org).

The ebXML-AWP decided to respond to the EOI 2001/10, not with a product or service as a solution, but with a strong and urgent request that DEWRSB insist that any final contending submissions ensure compliance with ebXML specifications.

Further ebXML-AWP, through its parent bodies Australian CEFACT Management Committee and Tradegate ECA, offers to assist DEWRSB in the evaluation process of the tenders/submissions received as they concern ebXML compliance. Representation could be provided to the Evaluation Panel if required.

The ebXML-AWP also considers that a comprehensive DEWRSB registry requirements specification is needed, as well as an ongoing review to ensure compliance to the DEWRSB registry requirements and the ebXML specifications.

Appended to this letter is a listing (a) of those local industry organisations which regularly have representation at ebXML-AWP meetings and (b) a press release showing information concerning the Initiative and the approved specifications plus a listing of members of OASIS which are supportive of the ebXML Initiative.

The members of ebXML-AWP, ACMC and Tradegate ECA recommend that DEWRSB consider the outcomes of the ebXML Initiative and to incorporate this internationally agreed specification into the requirements of EOI 2001/10.

For further information in relation to this response please contact Barry Keogh, Manager Melbourne, Tradegate ECA on email bjkeogh@tradegate.org.au or by telephone on (03) 9645 9566.

Yours faithfully

Not completed – due to the special nature of the proposal.

Can be provided on request.

APRA

Australian Customs

Bass Software

BHP Computer Systems

BT Financial Group

C & W Optus

Chase Manhattan Bank

Chep Australia

Coles Myer

Colonial First State

Dakin Technology

Data Logistics

Deakin University

Diskray Pty Ltd

DSTC Pty Ltd

eCentric Innovations

eCommerce Network

EAN

ebXML Initiative chair

Electronic Trading Concepts

eMCSaatchi

FH Faulding & Co

GEIS

Health Insurance Commission

InfoSys

Insurance Council of Australia

IFSA

OnLine Advantage

Open Interchange Consortium

Orica Pty Ltd

Paul Kimberley & Associates

Philma Enterprises

Standards Australia

TEDIS

Telstra

Tower Life Australia

SA Ports Corporation

SuperConnect

Super Reality

SuperTorque

SystemSmiths

Tradegate ECA

VISY

Vodafone Australia

Xlon Pty Ltd

ebXML Approved

Geneva, Switzerland and Boston, MA, USA; 14 May 2001 -- UN/CEFACT and OASIS today announced that participants from around the world approved ebXML specifications at a meeting in Vienna, Austria on 11 May 2001. ebXML, which began as an 18-month initiative sponsored by UN/CEFACT and OASIS, is a modular suite of specifications that enables enterprises of any size and in any geographical location to conduct business over the Internet. Using ebXML, companies now have a standard method to exchange business messages, conduct trading relationships, communicate data in common terms and define and register business processes.

"The level of involvement and cooperation between industry groups, vendors and users that has been demonstrated in the ebXML initiative is unprecedented," said Klaus-Dieter Naujok of IONA, chair of ebXML and member of the UN/CEFACT Steering Committee. "We applaud the work of all the organizations around the world who have collaborated on the development of ebXML."

ebXML specifications and technical reports are available at no charge on http://www.ebxml.org. Approved specifications include ebXML Technical Architecture, Business Process Specification Schema, Registry Information Model, Registry Services, ebXML Requirements, Message Service and Collaboration-Protocol Profile and Agreement. Accepted ebXML Technical Reports include: Business Process and Business Information Analysis Overview, Business Process Analysis Worksheets & Guidelines, E-Commerce Patterns, Catalog of Common Business Processes, Core Component Overview, Core Component Discovery and Analysis, Context and Re-Usability of Core Components, Guide to the Core Components Dictionary, Naming Convention for Core Components, Document Assembly and Context Rules, Catalogue of Context Drivers, Core Component Dictionary, Core Component Structure and Technical Architecture Risk Assessment.

"ebXML implementations are already being announced, and we expect the rate of deployment to accelerate quickly," said Patrick Gannon, chair of the OASIS Board of Directors. Mr. Gannon pointed to recent announcements of ebXML integration and support from industry groups that represent a significant variety of user communities. RosettaNet, a consortium of more than 400 companies in information technology, electronic components and semiconductor manufacturing, plans to integrate support for the ebXML Messaging Services Specification in future releases of RosettaNet's Implementation Framework (RNIF). The Global Commerce Initiative, which represents manufacturers and retailers of consumer goods, chose to base their new Internet protocol standard for trading exchanges and B2B communications on ebXML. Other industry organizations, such as the Automotive Industry Action Group, Health Level Seven, Open Applications Group, Open Travel Alliance, SWIFT and formal international and North American EDI standards bodies, have also been active participants in the ebXML initiative.

Adoption, implementation and maintenance of the ebXML specifications will be conducted by UN/CEFACT and OASIS under the auspices of a Memorandum of Understanding, which was signed by the two organizations in Vienna. Coordination of this work will be achieved through a joint UN/CEFACT and OASIS management committee.

ebXML (www.ebXML.org) is an International Initiative established by UN/CEFACT and OASIS in late 1999 with a mandate to undertake an 18-month program of work to research and identify the technical basis upon which the global implementation of XML (Extensible Markup Language) can be standardized. The goal of ebXML is to facilitate open trade between organizations regardless of size by enabling XML to be used in a consistent manner to exchange electronic business data.

UN/CEFACT (www.uncefact.org) is the United Nations body whose mandate covers worldwide policy and technical development in the area of trade facilitation and electronic business. Headquartered in Geneva, it has developed and promoted many tools for the facilitation of global business processes including UN/EDIFACT, the international EDI standard. Its current work programme includes such topics as Simpl-edi and Object Oriented EDI and it strongly supports the development and implementation of open, interoperable global standards and specifications for electronic business.

OASIS (http://www.oasis-open.org) is the international, not-for-profit consortium that advances electronic business by promoting open, collaborative development of interoperability specifications. OASIS sponsors include Accenture, Access360, Adobe Systems, AND Data Solutions, Arbortext, Auto-trol, Aventail, Baltimore Technologies, B-Bop Associates, BEA Systems, Bentley Systems, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Bowstreet, Business Logic Corporation, Chrystal Software, Cincom Systems, Cohesia, Commerce One, Critical Path, CrossLogix, DataChannel, Dataloom, Deutsche Post AG, Documentum, EADS Airbus, election.com, empolis, Engage, Enigma, Excelergy, eXcelon, Extricity Software, First Call Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Informix, Infoteria, Innodata, Intel, Interwoven, IPNet Solutions, ITEDO Software, Ivis Group, Jamcracker, Logistics Management Institute, Mediaplex, Mercator Software, Microsoft, Netegrity, NetFish Technologies, Netscape/AOL, NextPage, NII Enterprise Promotion Association, Nimble Technology, NIST, Novell, ObjectSpace, Oblix, OpenNetwork Technologies, Pearson Education, Planet 7 Technologies, Popkin Software, Reuters Limited, SAA Consultants, Sabre, SAP, SeeBeyond, Sequoia Software, Silverstream Software, SoftQuad Software, Software AG, Sterling Commerce, StreamServe, Sun Microsystems, Synth-Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, The Tamalpais Group, Thomas Technology Solution, Tibco, US Defense Information Systems Agency, Virtual Access Networks, Visa International, Wavo, webMethods, Whitehill Technologies, Xerox, XML Global, XMLSolutions and Xyvision Enterprise Solutions.

Carol Geyer

Director of Communications

OASIS

carol.geyer@oasis-open.org

+1.941.284.0403