[announce] OASIS Member News: Modulant Forms Industry Solutions Centerto Solve Data Standards Entanglement Problem

[Andrea Bruno <abruno@modulant.com>]

MODULANT FORMS INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS CENTER TO SOLVE DATA STANDARDS
ENTANGLEMENT PROBLEM

Leverages Advanced Model-Based Mapping Technology to Bridge Chasm Among
Popular Standard Data Vocabularies

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., September 16, 2002 - Modulant, the leading
provider of semantics-based interoperability solutions, today announced
the formation of an Industry Solutions Center - a strategic group
dedicated to establishing interoperability among leading standard data
vocabularies.

Modulant has created the Industry Solutions Center to address a
long-standing challenge in the IT community: how to reconcile the use of
disparate, competitive data standards for business exchanges. The
group's charter is to create cross-platform mappings that bridge diverse
data vocabularies among a wide range of standards. 

Initially, Modulant will leverage its deep expertise in the area of
collaborative commerce and product lifecycle data management to unite
standard formats such as ebXML, STEP, OAG, EDIFACT, X12, and RosettaNet
into a common framework for data-level interoperability. Product data
standards, in particular, have evolved into a bewildering assortment of
non-interoperable formats and data definitions due to the high degree of
fragmentation, constantly evolving baseline, lack of widespread
agreement on a common vocabulary, and ensuing proliferation of
'standard' hybrids to accommodate local vocabulary variations.

"Modulant is ushering in a new age of enterprise interoperability in
which companies no longer have to make a lot of the business tradeoffs
they've had to make in the past in order to support collaboration," said
Gene Eubanks, Modulant's chief executive officer. "Our new Industry
Solutions Center makes it possible for companies to leverage standards
work without being held hostage by rigid restrictions."

Modulant's Industry Solutions Center is committed to breaking down the
barriers to collaborative commerce caused by incompatible data
vocabularies. Modulant's model-based mappings leverage advanced
semantics technology and methodology to solve persistent data
compatibility problems. The results of this approach are consistent,
open, and computable maps for bridging the chasm among popular standard
data vocabularies.

"The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) requires formalized techniques,
tools, and methodologies in order to understand and manage the vast and
complex nature of their enterprise-wide information systems, and begin
to realize the ultimate goal of interoperability," said Robert S.
Kidwell, vice president and senior technical director of the Enterprise
Integration Center at ManTech - a leading integration service provider
for the U.S. DoD. "Modulant's formation of the Industry Solutions Center
demonstrates a continuing commitment to untangling the persistent
problems of interoperability within highly complex environments."

About Modulant 
Modulant is the leading provider of semantics-based interoperability
solutions that improve the speed, success rate, and ROI of integration
efforts along the product value chain. Fundamentally different from
traditional integration approaches, Modulant's semantic mapping,
modeling, and mediation capabilities enable product lifecycle management
(PLM) applications to exchange information with other applications
across the extended enterprise - without requiring agreement on standard
data vocabularies or custom coding of data transformations. Modulant's
unique semantic mediation approach creates a loosely-coupled, scalable,
and highly-adaptable interoperability framework that enables companies
to significantly improve efficiency, agility, and collaboration
capabilities throughout the product lifecycle - from development through
sourcing, production, and distribution. For more information, please
visit www.modulant.com.

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Modulant, the Modulant logo, and Contextia are trademarks of Modulant
Solutions, Inc. 

Media Contact:
Andrea Bruno
Modulant Solutions, Inc.
415-281-4551
abruno@modulant.com