Dial-in info for: Thursday, 06/8/2000, 11:00 AM (PT)

[mweiner@us.ibm.com]

Hi All,

It's been suggested that we have a checkpoint call to discuss decisions
made, scheduling and any critical activities that need to take place
between now and launch date.  The dial-in info is below.  It looks like
Brad Shewmake of InfoWorld decided to scoop everyone and ran his piece
already.  Speak to you Thursday at 11:00am Pacific.

Toll Free - 888-469-1053

Passcode: 45519


http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/00/06/06/000606hnoasis.xml

XML INTEROPERABILITY CONSORTIUM

 Oasis is slated to announce next Tuesday public access to the first phase
of XML.org Registry,
an open registry and repository for XML specifications and vocabularies,
according to group officials.
The registry will allow companies from numerous industries to submit their
XML schemas online in a
secure environment that will foster collaboration and communication within
industries, said Laura Walker,
executive director at Oasis. She added that this ability addresses a core
problem in today's
business-to-business marketplace. "Oasis is good at bringing competitors
together and getting them
 to cooperate," Walker said. "There is a need for agreement, and we have to
get together
 and figure this stuff out. It is a crucial part of the e-business
framework."

Sun Microsystems and Documentum have both co-sponsored the initiative,
contributing
more than $500,000 to the registry. "This addresses a big part of the
problem today,
this sort of 'Tower of Babylon,' " said Howard Shao, CTO of Documentum.
"How can we make the market more efficient? It's a community where people
can come to and share information, a necessary booster to b-to-b."

Sun officials gave the common example of how a shoe business might use
 XML.org Registry to help it deal with suppliers and partners in different
countries.
 Whereas a shoe may be a size 9 in the United States, it would be a size 8
in the
United Kingdom and a size 42 in other countries. If a foreign business
partner
went to the registry and knew which schema the shoemaker was using, he
could figure out the corresponding sizes and make the appropriate order.
XML will allow the shoe supplier to transcend many linguistic and cultural
obstacles, said Bill Smith, an engineering manager at Sun.
"Translation is not enough, you also need to let it be know what type of
information
 I need to know as a business partner," Smith said.
Smith also predicted that XML will not be a passing fad but rather a
necessary
business language that will adjust to meet business and technology needs
for years to come.

This is not for the next six months or five years; this is for the next
century," Smith said.

The registry will be available on June 13 at www.xml.org.


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IBM Corporation - mweiner@us.ibm.com
www.ibm.com/xml
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