Page 43 - GAO-02-327 Electronic Government: Challenges to Effective Adoption of the Extensible Markup Language

Chapter 2: A Comprehensive Set of Standards
Web Services
for Implementing XML Is Only Partially in
Place
data previously collected or using ebXML or other open standards to
receive transmissions.” 3
Although many of ebXML’s specifications have been approved,
specifications for “core components”—basic data elements and structures
that are to serve as common building blocks for use across industries and
business processes—are still incomplete. Because different industries
often use different terms to refer to the same thing, exchanging
information among them can be difficult. Using agreed-upon core
components as basic elements for building electronic business messages
could reduce the burden involved in getting these divergent systems to
interoperate. Software designed to interpret business messages composed
of standardized core components would then be able to operate more
broadly across industries, thus increasing economies of scale and
potentially lowering the cost for small businesses to conduct business
electronically.
For example, one component would be an XML data tag structure for
“bank account,” which might consist of an account holder’s name and an
account number. Such a component would find many uses across a wide
range of business activities and industries. Currently, ebXML has
published technical reports on the core component methodology and
framework, but complete specifications have not yet been defined.
Several IT companies are supporting the use of a set of standards for
implementing “Web services.” The concept of Web services is to allow
businesses with on-line offerings to connect to other businesses to
enhance their offerings with functions provided by those other businesses.
For example, a company selling merchandise through a Web site could
connect to a shipping company to automatically make shipping
arrangements and calculate costs for customers. To form these
connections, a set of four basic standards has been proposed: XML for
representing data, UDDI for locating potential business partners on the
Web and identifying services of interest, SOAP for allowing software
programs to access and communicate with each other over a network
such as the Internet, and Web Services Description Language (WSDL) for
3
Office of Management and Budget, Memorandum M-02-02, Implementation of the
President’s Management Agenda and Presentation of the FY 2003 Budget Request
(October 30, 2001).
Page 39 GAO-02-327 Electronic Government