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| Sunday, 10 February 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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ISO 9735 Version 4 adopted as Sri Lanka standard ISO 9735 Version 4 - Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport (EDIFACT) - Application Level Syntax Rules (Syntax Version Number 4) has been adopted as a Sri Lanka standard. The National EDI/E-Commerce Committee of Sri Lanka, which is extended support by the Council for Information Technology (CINTEC) functioning under the Ministry of Higher Education and Information Technology Development, undertook in-depth studies on adopting ISO 9735 Version 4 as a Sri Lanka standard. The Committee sought the views of organisations represented in the Committee, entities and users such as the Sri Lanka Banks' Association, (Banking Technical Advisory Committee), which could have an impact. CINTEC, thereafter, in January 2001, recommended to the Sri Lanka Standards Institution the adoption of ISO 9735 Version 4 as a Sri Lanka standard. The Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) has accepted the recommendation and has adopted ISO 9735 Version 4 as a voluntary Sri Lanka Standard. Sri Lanka Standard for Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport (EDIFACT) - Application Level Syntax Rules (Syntax Version Number 4). The National EDI/EC Committee, formed in 1995, received the recognition of the Cabinet of Ministers in 1996, as the national body and focal point on this sphere, with CINTEC serving as the support agency in respect of administrative, technical and financial matters. The Committee comprises representatives from CINTEC, the Sri Lanka Export Development Board, the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Sri Lanka Customs, Sri Lanka Telecom, SriLankan Airlines, the banking sector, the legal profession, Sri Lanka Freight Forwarders Association, the Ceylon Association of Ships' Agents, SLSI, and EAN-Sri Lanka. The National EDI/EC Committee is also the focal point in Sri Lanka in respect of the Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business. The National EDI/EC Committee Secretariat functions are carried out by CINTEC. The need for a standard When data is interchanged between trading partners by means other than paper documents (eg. direct exchange between computer systems), a common standard should be used with an agreed mode of expressing it, eg. common protocols, message identification, agreed abbreviations or codes for data representation, message and data element separators. If a universally accepted standard is not used, the standard has to be agreed bilaterally between each pair of interchange partners. Taking into account the large number of parties exchanging data for an international trade transaction and the ever increasing number of potential users of transmission techniques, it is obvious that such a bilateral approach is not viable. History Message formats were first developed by individual companies, but companies involved in cross-industry commerce faced many barriers. Therefore ,industry standards were developed to meet wider requirements. One of the first industries to develop standards was the transportation industry in the US. In Europe too, the Organisation for Data Exchange by Tele Transmission in Europe for the automobile industry, the Data Interchange for Shipping and Trade Data Interchange for Warehousing were developed. By 1985 two standards had gained widespread acceptance - ANSI ASC X12 (American National Standards Institute Accredited Standards Committee X12) in the US, and the GTDI (Guidelines for Trade Data Interchange) in Europe. The existence of two different standards created difficulties for international trade and in 1986 the UN Economic Commission for Europe approved the acronym 'UN/EDIFACT' - UN/Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport. The concept was a single international standard flexible enough to meet the needs of governments and private industries. UN/EDIFACT - a definition UN/EDIFACT may be defined as the United Nations rules for Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport and comprises a set of internationally agreed standards, directories and guidelines for the electronic interchange of structured data, and in particular, that related to trade in goods and services between independent, computerised information systems. UN/EDIFACT syntax (ISO 9735) Version 4 The earlier versions of the syntax were intended for batch transfer of data. In Version 4 of the syntax, eg. ISO 9735 Version 4 - capabilities for interactive data transfer have been added. Version 4 may be used where an interactive interchange of information is needed, such as reservation of transport where a confirmation message is needed directly and where the communication is typically bi-directional, with small data volumes and short response time requirements. Airlines had been the first to develop and implement EDIFACT messages within an interactive environment. Interactive EDI (I-EDI) involves an automatic exchange of pre-defined and structured data, between pairs of cooperating processes in a timely manner - in other words it requires the ability to use I-EDI standards to engage in a business conversation. A set of comprehensive security mechanisms - comprising two procedures - have also been added to ISO 9735 Version 4. ebXML was an international initiative established by UN/CEFACT and OASIS in late 1999 with a mandate to undertake an 18-month programme of work to research and identify the technical basis upon which the global implementation of XML could be standardised. The goal of ebXML was to facilitate open trade between organisations regardless of size by enabling XML to be used in a consistent manner to exchange electronic business data. ebXML is a modular suite of specifications that enables enterprises of any size and in any geographical location to conduct business over the Internet. References (1)UN/EDIFACT, A Short Introduction - United Nations (2)EFTA Trader's ABC - Vol. 5: Guide to the Use of EDI based on UN/EDIFACT (3)EDIFACT - Application level syntax rules (Syntax version number: 4) Part 6: Secure authentication and acknowledgement message (message type-AUTACK) (4)EDIFACT - Application level syntax rules (Syntax version number: 4) Part 9: Security key and certificate management message (message type-KEYMAN) (5)ebXML Initiative - Kenji Itoh, e-info magazine, published by the National EDI/EC Committee, March 2001 (6)Progressing the UN/CEFACT - e-Business Standards Development Strategy |
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