Page 6 - GAO-02-327 Electronic Government: Challenges to Effective Adoption of the Extensible Markup Language

Executive Summary
Executive Summary

Purpose The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a flexible, nonproprietary set
of standards for annotating or “tagging” information so that it can be
transmitted over a network such as the Internet and readily interpreted by
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disparate computer systems. It is increasingly being promoted by
information technology (IT) developers as the basis for making
computerized data much more broadly accessible and usable than has
previously been possible. As a result, many organizations, including both
private businesses and federal government agencies, are building
applications that try to take advantage of XML’s unique features. Given the
widespread interest in adopting this new technology, the chairman of the
Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs asked GAO to assess (1) the
overall development status of XML standards to determine whether they
are ready for governmentwide use and (2) challenges faced by the federal
government in optimizing its adoption of XML technology to promote
broad information sharing and systems interoperability. 2

Background Advances in the use of IT—especially the rise of the Internet—are
changing the way private sector businesses, government agencies, and
other organizations communicate, exchange information, and conduct
business among themselves and with the public. The Internet offers the
opportunity for a much broader and more immediate exchange of
information than was previously possible, because it provides a virtually
universal communications link to a multitude of disparate systems.
However, although the Internet can facilitate the exchange of information,
much of the information displayed to users is delivered only as a stream of
computer code to be visually displayed by Web browsers, such as Internet
Explorer or Netscape Communicator. For example, an economist might
visit a Web page that displayed statistical information about the
production of various agricultural commodities over a number of years.
Typically, such a Web page would only display this information to the
economist to examine visually on his or her computer screen. Without
special translation software, it would likely be difficult for the economist

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Tagging is accomplished by labeling each element of a data set to clarify what kind of
information is being provided. For example, “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” could be tagged
to show that it refers to an address. In XML, the result would be <Address>1600
Pennsylvania Avenue</Address>.
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Interoperability is the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange
information and to use the information that has been exchanged.

Page 2 GAO-02-327 Electronic Government