OASIS MEMBER NEWS: Lexica Releases iLingo? XML Schemas for Industry Review

[Laura Walker <laurawalker@earthlink.net>]

From: Stephen Maita <samaita@maita-saviano.com>
Subject: Lexica news release
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FOR MORE INFORMATION			FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tara Herberth					December 7, 1999
Lexica LLC
1 (415) 477-3601
therberth@lexica.net

Stephen Maita
Maita/Saviano Public Relations
1 (510) 739-0620
samaita@maita-saviano.com					      


Lexica Releases iLingo? XML Schemas for Industry Review, Posts it to
Microsoft's BizTalk.org Web site

XML Schema Set Designed To Revolutionize Insurance Industry e-business 


SAN FRANCISCO - December 7, 1999 - Paving the way for insurance carriers
and distributors to more easily meet the exploding consumer demand for
online services, Lexica LLC, a leading developer of end-to-end
e-business supply chain management software for the insurance industry,
today announced that it has published a preview set of Extensible Markup
Language (XML) schemas on Microsoft's BizTalk.org and Lexica's
iLingo.org Web sites.  This is the industry's first comprehensive set of
XML schemas posted to BizTalk.org that is specifically designed to
empower the supply chain participants in the end-to-end automation of
insurance selling and transaction processing. 
	The new set of schemas, collectively called iLingo?, provides the
essential structural framework for deploying portable, robust
transactional applications that enable business-to-business and
business-to-consumer e-commerce. Once 
Version 1.0 is released in early 2000, iLingo will be freely available
to any insurance or related financial services provider. Updates will be
posted at
-more-
Page 2 - Lexica Previews XML Schema Set

www.ilingo.org, and to BizTalk.org. 
"Lexica is offering iLingo to the industry as critical 'head-start'
technology, and we're leveraging it in our own product, Lexica Online?,"
said Peter Henry, Lexica's president and chief technology officer.  "We
want it to be the preferred basis of insurance e-business transaction
systems. Users will get several immediate benefits by using iLingo XML
schemas, including the ability to easily exchange data with vendors,
customers and other e-commerce partners; the ability to introduce new
products online faster; and the ability to reduce their overall systems
maintenance costs." 
Lexica Online is an integrated, XML-based platform that enables
companies to operate and participate in an efficient electronic
marketplace with other trading partners as part of an automated supply
chain. By using iLingo in its own software, Lexica will take the lead in
building real-world solutions that break the logjam of inefficient
inter-company transactions that has hampered insurance industry business
processes and escalated costs. The company will also incorporate iLingo
into its consumer Internet insurance site InsureZone.com
(www.insurezone.com).
	Developing an XML schema set targeted to the insurance industry is
particularly significant due to the enormous potential for online
insurance and the equally enormous technological challenges faced by
this market segment when trying to establish an online presence. The
industry's nearly $800 billion a year in premiums dwarfs other emerging
e-commerce industries such as travel, book sales, music and video
combined. Still the industry has long struggled to seamlessly and
effortlessly automate the information exchange and workflow that occurs
within its supply chain. The complexity of business processes, and the
need to gather and generate data from many sources have served as near 
-more-
Page 3 - Lexica Previews XML Schema Set

impenetrable barriers. 
"Lexica plans to be both a thought leader and an implementation
pioneer," said Henry.  "Our iLingo XML schema set - what we call the
language of insurance e-business - is only the beginning." 
	XML is the next generation of markup language and provides a
structured, dynamic way to represent the collection, delivery, storage
and processing of information and insurance transactions. By using XML
as a tool, companies are able to adapt quickly to changes in the
insurance business supply chain. In data representation, XML offers
maximum interoperability with participants in the supply chain. XML also
provides a single point of integration that is implementation
independent. 
	Henry said the company will continue to refine the iLingo XML schemas
in the coming months, with actual real-world examples from
InsureZone.com and the Lexica Online software platform. Lexica will also
continue to work closely with the appropriate standards bodies to
further define its XML schema set. 
Lexica is a participating member of several technology initiatives and
standards bodies including the Organization for the Advancement of
Structured Information Standards (OASIS), ACORD and the Worldwide Web
Consortium (WC3). 

About the BizTalk Framework
	Introduced by Microsoft in March, the BizTalk Framework makes it easy
for businesses to exchange information between software applications and
conduct business over the Internet with trading partners and customers.
The BizTalk Framework includes a design framework for implementing an
XML 
-more-
Page 4  - Lexica Previews XML Schema Set

schema and a set of XML tags used in messages sent between applications. 
Microsoft, other software companies and industry standards bodies will
use the 
BizTalk framework to produce XML schemas in a consistent manner to
enable integration across industries and between business systems,
regardless of platform, operating system or underlying technology. More
information about 
the BizTalk Framework is available at www.biztalk.org.


About Lexica LLC
	Headquartered in San Francisco, Lexica LLC is developing the first
integrated platform for the end-to-end automation of the insurance
selling and processing supply chain. As an end-to-end Applications
Services Provider (ASP), Lexica will market its technology platform as
Lexica Online software, which enables carriers and other companies to
operate and participate in an efficient electronic marketplace with
other trading partners as part of an automated supply chain. In
addition, Lexica plans to provide a complete multi-channel Business
Process Outsource (BPO) sales and service capability to carriers and
other major marketers, such as banks, brokers and affinity groups. It
will also provide insurance directly to consumers from its
InsureZone.com Web site. Insurezone.com will offer two important
benefits to insurance buyers: instant comparison shopping and the
ability to buy a policy - not just get a quote - online, within a single
visit taking about 15 minutes. For more information, visit
www.lexica.net or call 415-477-3600.
###

-- 
Stephen Maita
Maita/Saviano Public Relations
39210 State Street, Suite 213
Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 739-0620