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Subject: [ubl-cefact] UBL response to the UN/CEFACT proposal
UN/CEFACT proposes "that the OASIS UBL TC and UN/CEFACT core component and related syntax activities be incorporated into the work plan of the UN/CEFACT Applied Technologies Group (ATG)." In its larger outlines, this is not unlike the proposal made by UBL proponents immediately following the Vienna ebXML meeting in May 2001. But after more than a year of development, UBL is far beyond the startup phase, and this has to be recognized in any discussion of how the work is to be continued. We should begin by observing some basic points of agreement. - We support the adoption of ebXML and we agree that the delivery of a single internationally recognized ebXML payload format will greatly accelerate that adoption. The UBL effort began with the desire to provide this standard ebXML format. - We support the definition of a standard semantic registry for electronic commerce, and we agree that UN/CEFACT is the appropriate owner of that registry. - We consider UN/CEFACT to be an appropriate international standards body for the maintenance of UBL. - We favor the transfer of UBL to UN/CEFACT ATG if such a transfer can be accomplished in a way that does not slow down the creation of the first set of UBL deliverables and that endorses the UBL work products as UN/CEFACT technical specifications. After much discussion, the team appointed by the OASIS UBL TC to negotiate with UN/CEFACT representatives has formulated the following plan to effect the transfer of UBL to UN/CEFACT with what we hope is a minimum of disruption to our delivery schedule. - Work on UBL Naming and Design Rules and Library Content will continue in the current OASIS organizational structure until completion and OASIS standardization of version 1.0 of the following items of work: the UBL Naming and Design Rules, the UBL component library, and an initial set of UBL document schemas. We are currently estimating completion of these work items in 2Q2003 and OASIS standardization in 3Q2003. It is our intention to complete these items in time to become ATG items of work at the meeting of the UN/CEFACT Forum in September 2003. - To maximize the utility of UBL 1.0 and minimize changes wrought by subsequent harmonization efforts in UN/CEFACT, UN/CEFACT will commit to a formal review of the UBL component library and the initial set of UBL schemas during the review cycle currently planned to begin in January 2003 and end in March 2003. In furtherance of this goal, all relevant TBG domain groups will be requested to appoint liaisons to the UBL Liaison Subcommittee in order to coordinate the organized review of UBL draft deliverables. - To promote alignment with common design principles, UN/CEFACT will commit to a formal review of the UBL Naming and Design Rules during the review period from January through March of 2003, conveying input through the already existing liaison from ATG to UBL. We expect the UBL NDR to achieve the status of Committee Specification in early 2Q2003, making it available for use in UN/CEFACT at that time. - To promote UN/CEFACT input to the initial set of UBL schemas, the UBL TC will request a temporary fee-waived individual OASIS membership for any voting member of UN/CEFACT ATG or TBG who requests direct participation in the UBL work. - Work on UBL Context Methodology and Context Drivers will continue for the duration of the schema work in order to provide guidance for certain detailed design decisions with a dependency on the later development of a completed Context Methodology. - Upon completion of the initial set of deliverables and their publication as OASIS standards, OASIS will grant UN/CEFACT an unlimited, perpetual, royalty-free license to continue development of the standards and to publish works derived from those standards as UN/CEFACT specifications. - Ownership of the UBL name and logo as applied to version 1.0 will remain with OASIS; ownership of the UBL name and logo as applied to later versions of the work will vest in UN/CEFACT. - UBL will be formally recognized by both OASIS and UN/CEFACT as the preferred XML payload syntax for ebXML. - The plan outlined above will become effective when approved by UN/CEFACT, OASIS, and the OASIS UBL Technical Committee. This plan has what we believe to be the following advantages: - It fulfills all obligations to current UBL stakeholders, including the organizations that have contributed resources to UBL, the organizations that have appointed liaisons to the UBL effort, and OASIS itself. - It delivers on promises made to the world business community over the last year and a half, including companies and organizations that have begun building products based on the expectation of UBL delivery within the stated timeframe. - It maintains momentum for the concept of an internationally standardized XML business payload format, a concept that has been established through numerous presentations and media exposure, thus greatly facilitating both the adoption of ebXML and the future maintenance of a single XML payload standard by UN/CEFACT. - It maintains the participation of experts currently engaged in the work under the terms and conditions they originally agreed to and preserves the buy-in that UBL has gained from major industry data exchange organizations, while at the same time establishing, through immediate joint agreement, a clear direction for future development calculated to secure the participation of additional resources from the international business community and general acceptance of UBL as the format that will be progressed in UN/CEFACT. - It avoids near-term logistical problems that would be created by requiring CC and UBL participants to engage in both efforts on the same meeting schedule. - It sets aside difficult and time-consuming process revision issues that would have to be resolved if the work were transferred to UN/CEFACT in mid-cycle. - It avoids the legal complications that would attend the transferral of the intellectual property represented by UBL in mid-cycle. - It allows OASIS to realize a concrete return on its considerable investment in UBL. - It preserves the extensive subcommittee structure and leadership that the UBL TC has developed to carry out its objectives for long enough to complete the initial work on schedule, while leaving to UN/CEFACT the choice of organization and leadership appropriate to the further evolution of the standard. - It maintains, for the time being, OASIS infrastructure services (mailing lists, archives, web sites, publicity, process administration, and conference organization) that UN/CEFACT does not currently appear to be in a position to provide. - It maintains commitments by current participants to provide meeting and phone conference facilities. - It rapidly establishes an initial standard XML payload syntax to "prime the pump" for ebXML adoption without restricting UN/CEFACT's ability to evolve the standard in whatever direction shall seem to it most advisable. - It rapidly provides a comprehensive set of XML Naming and Design rules optimized for UN/CEFACT Core Components. These design rules have been created by a combination of XML and Core Component Technical experts and provide UN/CEFACT with a unique opportunity to both jumpstart its XML development efforts and ensure that future XML schema development is consistent with UBL schemas. By ensuring the timely delivery of an initial set of standard ebXML schemas within a framework that clearly gives UN/CEFACT authority over the long-term direction of the work, we believe that this plan captures the intent of both groups in a way that will best advance the cause of a single global marketplace based on international standards. Jon Bosak Chair, OASIS UBL TC For the UBL negotiating team: Karl Best Jon Bosak Mark Crawford Arofan Gregory Stig Korsgaard Lisa Seaburg Gunther Stuhec
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