"SUBMISSION TO MINISTER TO CORRECT AND PROMOTE AS4590 AS ECOMMERCE STANDARD"
08:53 Sun 14 Jan 2007 REF:611AESS1 Y/R: Efficient eBusiness TO: Senator the Hon Helen COONAN cc Steve BRACKS Premier Vic Minister for Communications Federal and State MPs Information Technology and the Arts Barry KEOGH - Australian THE PARLIAMENT OF AUSTRALIA Delegate to UN/CEFACT CANBERRA 2600 Philip ARGY - President Australian Computer Confirmed receipt:Mon, 15 Jan 2007 08:48:23 +1100 Ref Number: HC20070100550 Dear Minister CORRECTING AS 4590 FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES This submission is to: A provide Evidence for changes to Australian eCommerce Standard These are the recommendations for changes to the Australian eCommerce Standards AS4590 by an eCommerce eCommittee formed, in the absence of any other Australian eCommerce Group of Experts, after an OASIS XML Conference in Sydney 25-27 Oct 2006 B provide Evidence for changes Local Government eTopology This is the Evidence why the proposed Architecture for a Local Government Electronic Hub for a 32 Council Consortium in Victoria will not work. This submission includes a prototype eTopology developed for the Federal Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business [DEWRSB] that will assist Small and Medium-size Councils as well as their SME Rate-payers achieve their Economic Development Objectives C seek DCITA support to develop generic SMO Council eAdministration Small and Medium-size Organisations [SMO] like Councils and their attendant regional networks may not have the technical or financial resources to develop eCommerce applications using AS4590 hence this submission to develop a generic eAdministration system for Small and Medium-size Councils D Support requested A EVIDENCE AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SINGLE XML ADDRESS IN AS4590 This email is to inform you of proposed changes to the Australian eCommerce Standard AS4590 and recommendations by an eCommittee formed after the OASIS XML Conference in Sydney in Oct 2006. The eCommittee was formed when delegates at the Conference agreed that the two XML Address Standards in AS4590 would: 1 severely retard the adoption of eCommerce by Australian Business (There is already evidence of this including: a The Nov 2003 Submission by the Sydney Ports eCommerce consultant to the Treasury "Building Consumer Confidence in eCommerce:A Best Practice Model" b The Dec 2006 Response by the Victorian Dep of Industry to questions on eCommerce Standards for the Port of Melbourne Smart Freight EOI) 2 add unnecessary cost and time to the eCommerce process to check which of the two XML Address format was being used for each EDI message 3 damage the reputation of the Australian Information Industry 4 greatly affect two major current Australian eCommerce Tenders The eCommittee was formed when it was discovered all the appropriate eCommerce Committees in Australia had been retired or disbanded 1 Standards Australia eCommerce Committee IS/11 has not reconvened Standards Australia IS 11 Committee 1988 2 Tradegate ebXML Committee was disbanded in 2004 due to lack of funds ebXML Australia 2002 3 Federal Treasury retired its Group of Ecommerce Experts in 2005 Treasury Ecommerce Panel Retired Sun 14 Jan 2007 - if the Treasury site has "lost" the link please try here It transpires that the OIC AS4590 Review eCommittee also found that the UN/CEFACT eCommerce Standard also has two address formats hence if AS4590 is changed as recommended it could also become the core address module for the UN/CEFACT eCommerce Standard EDIFACT RECOMMENDATIONS The three recommendations by the eCommittee for the changes to AS 4590 are: 1 The two XML formats in the Address Data Segment are reduced to the single Complex Address XML format only 2 The four (4) XML Data Elements A Line1 B Line2 C Line3 D Line4 are replaced by the eleven (11) XML Data Elements in AS 4590 Complex, A LevelNumber B LevelType C LotNumber D Name E StreetName F StreetNumber1 G StreetNumber2 H StreetSuffix I StreetType J UnitNumber K UnitType 3 The Data Elements are renamed to comply with UN/CEFACT international eCommerce code conventions for Simplified International Trade An example is A LevelNumber has the electronic XML code ABA B LevelType has the electronic XML code ABB C LotNumber has the electronic XML code ABC D Name has the electronic XML code ABD E StreetName has the electronic XML code ABE F StreetNumber1 has the electronic XML code ABF G StreetNumber2 has the electronic XML code ABG H StreetSuffix has the electronic XML code ABH I StreetType has the electronic XML code ABI J UnitNumber has the electronic XML code ABJ K UnitType has the electronic XML code ABK An example of an electronic coded XML template is the OTMG tender for the first Tender published by the Consortium of 32 Victorian Councils on 19 Aug 2006 for a Web Services Hub B EVIDENCE WHY CURRENT HUB ARCHITECTURE WILL NOT WORK There have been a number of Government tenders requesting a Hub Topology (Pyramid Network Architecture) for eCommerce Applications. This Architecture requires a Value Added Network Service [VANS] to act as an Information Aggregator. Currently one of the "Services" that VANS provide is to check which of the two conflicting Address formats in AS4590 has been used. The major problem is that the Information Aggregator [VANS] has to provide a unique reference number for each transaction. The problem is caused because the organisation that creates the initial eCommerce Transaction has one set of reference numbers and the Information Aggregator [VANS] has a totally different set of rules for their reference numbers. In the example of the proposed Australian Wheat Board's Bizdex 32 Victorian Council eCommerce Application, the Permit would be allocated a Reference Number by BizDex which would identify which Council should receive the application. The Council will have its own Reference numbers for permits. However the Bizdex Hub system will have to give a follow-up reference number to the person applying for the permit which will be completely different to the reference number that the Council normally allocates This is because the system has been designed as a batch system with overnight updates of each Council information base The EasyBiz Bizdex application of registering permit applications and complaints is a very simple application. It is when the Councils want to move to eTendering and Contract Management Systems that the Hub Architecture will really breakdown. An example is the Local Government Tenders that appear on the South Australia State Government Tender Service provided by EDS Australia as the Value Added Network Service [VANS] An example is the 5-year Bicycle Plan Consultancy required by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. The Council Reference is "TN 704" The EDS State Government Reference is "CPAE013973" As you can see each of the State Government tenders has a Reference Number that is totally different to the Local Government Reference Number. This is just publishing the tender ! When it moves into the Contract Management Stage with the interchange of emails for clarification and regular weekly and monthly reports to Stake-holders the variety of reference numbers will render the VANS Topology as inoperable. This has been the major problem for the Tradegate Hub with Customs Import and Export documentation In addition the performance and end-user response issues will require Hubs to be continually upgraded and the costs will have to be passed onto the Councils This issue of the problem with Electronic Reference numbers was drawn to the attention of the EDI Council of Australia [EDICA] in 1992 by an EDI Information Interchange network Unfortunately it illustrates that at the time the people in EDICA did not understand the problem. This may be why the Tradegate and the Port Community EDI Systems have failed to provide the Port Communities with effective eCommerce Topologies Reference: The Nov 2003 Submission by the Sydney Ports eCommerce consultant to the Treasury "Building Consumer Confidence in eCommerce: A Best Practice Model" The only topology that can work, because of the problems with Electronic reference numbers, is the Topology researched and submitted to the Federal Department of Employment Workplace Relations and Small Business [DEWRSB] by OIC members in 2001. This topology was developed as part of a Joint Venture with DEWRSB to conduct three electronic surveys with 172 NSW Local Government Agencies It is exceedingly relevant now in the light of the tender issued by 32 Local Government Agencies in Victoria which are in the process of implementing the Australian Wheat Board's BizDex Hub which will not be able to perform for the Local Councils. The EasyBiz Consultants involved with developing the application have, like the EDICA and Tradegate eCommerce Management, not understood the the technical issues at the heart of the problem. On 29 Nov 2006 the EasyBiz Consultants emailed to say that they were not interested in knowing about the problem with AS 4590 and "The EasyBiz Project will use whatever Standards produce the best result for our Stakeholders" The current VANS Topology will not produce the best results for the easyBiz Project Stakeholders (including DCITA, AWB, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Intel and the Australian Information Industry Association [AIIA]) because it cannot work efficiently. The only Topology that can provide "the best results" as when the Value Added Network Service acts as an Electronic Notary not as a Value Added "Store and Forward" Information Aggregator The Electronic Notary role for VANS was put forward by the European Commission EDI Legal Committee in 1989. Unfortunately the US Computer Industry developed its eCommerce Standard [ANSI-X12] and Strategies from the perspective of reducing costs for the major companies not from the perspective of efficient and secure Electronic Information Interchange [EII] principles This has led to many of the major US eCommerce projects being completely re-designed in recent years as the Evidence mounts that eCommerce projects based on VANS Hub Topologies can never work. C SEEK YOUR SUPPORT TO RAISE AWARENESS OF AS4590 Many Medium and Small Local Government Agencies have developed long-term strategies as part of the new Local Government Act that will greatly benefit from the use of a single Address AS 4590 These Strategies include A Tourism Management - events and heritage B Volunteering Management - resources C Recreation Management - health, Well-being and Youth Development D Waste Management - health and resources E Economic Development - water, sewerage, electricity, tourism Effective eCommerce will assist with the objectives of the Federal and State Electronic Transaction Acts and the budgets of the Future Fund The OIC members have developed a 12 month program to raise awareness of AS 4590 with Australian software developers to assist Standard Australia in promoting effective eCommerce Standards In addition it has been proposed to develop a generic Local Government Information Administration system for small Australian Local Government Agencies. There have been a number of recent tenders published by Local Councils which could be used to develop generic applications based on the single Address AS 4590. Examples include: 1 The EasyBiz tender for 25 Permit Applications for 32 Councils 2 The Contract Management System by Boroondara Council 3 The requirement for an Electronic Document and Records Management System by Upper Lachlan Shire Council D NEXT STEPS The OIC has prepared a draft programme for 2007 to assist raise awareness of AS 4590 and the issue of a single XML Address format for effective eCommerce. Would your Department support: 1 A single XML Address within AS 4590 ? 2 a proposal to UN/CEFACT to include a single XML Address in UN/CEFACT ? 3 the OIC 2007 education/awareness programme to promote effective eCommerce ? 4 the development of a generic Local Government Information Administration System using AS 4590 for Medium and Small Local Government Agencies ? 5 other eInitiatives to assist councils achieve their objectives with their Tourism, Waste Management, Recreation and Economic Development Strategies ? Yours sincerely Stephen GOULD Chair XML & eCommerce Special Interest Group OPEN INTERCHANGE CONSORTIUM 11:32 U 2007/01/14 Syd 2065 E: sggould@oic.org M: 0416-009-468 W: OIC eEvents Programme 2000-2006 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephen GOULD was the former national sales manager Financial Industry Burroughs UK and the former Director of Office Automation Burroughs Australia From 1984-1987 he was the head of a research group exploring the potential of a coding methodology developed by his father Leonard GOULD in 1963 for the first International Airlines Association Technical Committee ATA 100. In 1972 all aircraft manufacturers and airlines adopted the Gould code for all technical manuals In 1987 the Yankee Group recorded in their report "EDI in Australia" that the electronic version of the code called RUBAC - Rational Universal Business Automation Code - was "way beyond EDI" Between 1987-1993 he has advised a number of Small Business Associations in Europe and Australia on eCommerce Strategies to assist their members appreciate the potential benefits of Electronic Information Interchange [EII] In 1994 Fujitsu Australia conducted a 3-day review of RUBAC concluding that the need for Electronic Information Management was paramount and the RUBAC EII Methodology appeared to fulfil that objective In 1997 the Open Interchange Consortium [OIC] received sponsorship from the Commonwealth Bank and AIDC to develop an Electronic Association Information Management [EAIM] system based on RUBAC EII proceeses In 1998 OIC Members developed a SME Y2K Remediation process called OICY2KRAMP based on the RUBAC EII methodology In 1999 OICY2KRAMP won 1st prize in the "IT for SME" category of the prestigious Global Stockholm Challenge. The trophy was presented by the King of Sweden to 3 OIC members In 2000 OIC Members developed the electronic Tender Information Management System [TIMS] based on the RUBAC EII methodology In Jun 2004 Stephen GOULD was the only person invited to give Expert Evidence on Chapter 15: Government Procurement and Chapter 16: Electronic Commerce to the Senate Inquiry into the Australia-USA Free Trade Agreement In Sep 2004 Stephen GOULD was invited to review and comment on the draft UN/CEFACT Strategy for eCommerce within the Asia-Pacific Region PRH EMAIL CIRCULATED TUE 19 DEC 2006 WITH BACKGROUND ON AS 4590 AND TENDERS A MAJOR TENDERS NOMINATING EDI STANDARDS During this quarter we have also seen the publication of two large scale tenders that involve eCommerce Standards Those tenders are: 1 The second 32 Victorian Local Government Consortium Tender published 22 Sep 2006 which stipulated the use of the Australian eCommerce Standard AS 4590 for integrating into each Council Member's IT Systems 2 Port of Melbourne eCommerce Pilot which stipulated the use of the UN/EDIFACT eCommerce Standard However it transpires that both Standards have two confusing address formats for eCommerce ! As the Australian Government is leading the way with the Information Economy there are likely to be many more eCommerce tenders in 2007 B OIC ECOMMERCE COMMUNITY FILLS VOID The delegates at OASIS XML Conference in Oct 2006 agreed that there should only be one XML Address standard. However it transpires that: 1 Standards Australia eCommerce Committee IS/11 has not reconvened Standards Australia IS 11 Committee 1988 2 Tradegate ebXML Committee was disbanded in 2004 due to lack of funds ebXML Australia 2002 3 Federal Treasury retired its Group of Ecommerce Experts in 2005 Ecommerce Panel Retired Hence the OIC approached the Australian Computer Society with a timetable to review AS 4590 These are the organisations invited to participate on that AS 4590 Review Committee for the 32 Victorian Council Consortium tender An eCommittee was formed and the initial recommendation is that the Complex version of AS 4590 could replace the simplex version Does anyone see a problem with that recommendation ? Please contact Stephen GOULD Chair AS 4590 Review Committee if you have any comments about that recommendation being forwarded to the Hon Helen COONAN MP Australian Minister of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts E: sggould@oic.org M: 0416-009-468 In addition the UN/EDIFACT was reviewed for its name and address format and that also has two confusing Address formats. The proposed changes to AS 4590 could also assist with clarifying the UN EDIFACT "Name and Address [NAD]" format