Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) Agrees to Participate with the Members of the Not-for-Profit Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA) to Implement Open Technical Dictionaries (eOTDs) Designed to Aid the Exchange of Product In

In a letter dated August 1st 2002 signed by Rick Maison, the Deputy Director of DLIS in Battle Creek Michigan, and John Svendsen, the Chairman of ECCMA in Oslo Norway, the two parties agree to work together to ensure that the eOTDs are developed as free open standards and to ensure that the eOTDs include effective logical mapping to the NATO Classification System (NCS).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Yvette Thomas
ECCMA
Telephone: +1.610.861.5990
Fax: +1.610.861.5992
Email: Yvette.Thomas@Eccma.org
Web site address: www.eccma.org

Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) Agrees to Participate with the Members of the Not-for-Profit Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA) to Implement Open Technical
Dictionaries (eOTDs) Designed to Aid the Exchange of Product Information

Bethlehem, PA September 26, 2002 - In a letter dated August 1st 2002 signed by Rick Maison, the Deputy Director of DLIS in Battle Creek Michigan, and John Svendsen, the Chairman of ECCMA in Oslo Norway, the two parties agree to work together to ensure that the eOTDs are developed as free open standards and to ensure that the eOTDs include effective logical mapping to the NATO Classification System (NCS).

The existence of the eOTD linked to the Federal Cataloging System and the NATO codification system will provide a unique opportunity for suppliers to specify their goods and services using a common standard descriptive language that can be searched over the Internet and imported into sourcing, procurement and ERP systems with minimal data transformation costs. While there have been many prior attempts at standardizing product descriptions, none has had the benefit of such a comprehensive and detailed Open Technical Dictionary developed and proven by the worlds largest and most rigorous cataloging system.

Peter Benson the Chief Technical Officer of ECCMA said, The Federal Cataloging System is at the heart of the National Stock Numbers (NSN) the worlds largest inventory management system that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The expertise of the

DLIS staff in developing and managing a central cataloging system is truly unique and a shining light of success in a dark chapter of electronic commerce where the lack of content standardization has been the cause of so many implementation failures."

Chris Yoder the International Director of DLIS said Just as the government sponsored ARPANET project made a significant contribution in changing the perception of computers from being simply arithmetic engines to vital components in the exchange of information we hope that our contribution to the development of open standards for content will benefit both public and private sectors by making it easier and more efficient for computers to be used to search for relevant product information."

Deborah Roobol the DLIS E-Business manager said: The eOTDs will make it easier for us to obtain and maintain the information we collect for the Department of Defense (DoD) EMALL. The DoD EMALL is a site where DoD buyers can find and acquire off-the-shelf, finished goods items from the commercial marketplace. Vendors wishing to market their products to the DoD create an online store" in this electronic mall for government buyers to browse."

Editors Notes:
The Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS) is a field activity of the Defense Logistic Agency (DLA) that manages or operates the Federal/NATO Cataloging system, the Central Contractor Register and the DoD EMALL. DLIS is headquartered in Battle Creek Michigan and is committed to improving access to logistic and procurement information. http://www.dlis.dla.mil

The Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA) is a not for profit membership association with over 1,200 members from 49 countries that coordinates the development, maintenance and distribution of open standards for content. To satisfy the growing needs of increasingly sophisticated procurement and electronic commerce applications, the members of ECCMA, have been working towards the release of the first draft version of the ECCMA Open Technical Dictionary (eOTD). This incredible work creates for the first time a central dictionary of names and definitions of trading concepts, essentially goods and services that are bought, sold or exchanged. The eOTD is specifically designed to support the work of industry groups by providing a classification neutral dictionary of names and attributes (also referred to as characteristics or properties) of items: Basically if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it is a duck but could be classified as poultry or game depending on the industry. http://www.eccma.org
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