Thu 11 Jan 2007 - LETTER TO THE MINISTER TO CORRECT AS 4590
The UN/CEFACT Mission Statement

1. 	The United Nations, through its Centre for Trade Facilitation and 
	Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), supports activities dedicated to 
	improving the ability of business, trade and administrative 
	organizations, from developed, developing and transitional economies, 
	to exchange products and relevant services effectively. 

Please submit your comments by 17:00 Wed 10 Jan 2007 to Stephen GOULD

08:00 Thu 11 Jan 2007				REF:611AESN1

TO:	Senator the Hon Helen COONAN		cc	Federal and State MPs
	Minister for Communications			Barry KEOGH - Australian
	Information Technology and the Arts		Delegate to the UN/CEFACT
							Philip ARGY - President
							Australian Computer Society
Dear Minister


	CORRECTING TWO XML ADDRESS FORMATS IN AS 4590

This email is to inform you of proposed changes to the Australian eCommerce
Standard AS 4590 and recommendations by an eCommittee formed after the 
OASIS XML Conference in Sydney in Oct 2006.

The eCommittee was formed when delegates at the Conference agreed 
that the two XML Address Standards in AS 4590 would:

1	severely retard the adoption of eCommerce by Australian Business

	(There is already evidence of this including:

	a	The Nov 2003 Submission by the Sydney Ports eCommerce 
		consultant to the Treasury "Building Consumer Confidence
		in eCommerce:A Best Practice Model"

	b	The Dec 2006 Response by the Victorian Dep of Industry
		to questions on eCommerce Standards for the Port of Melbourne
		Smart Freight EOI)		 

2	add unnecessary cost and time to the eCommerce process to
	check which of the two XML Address format was being used for
	each EDI message

3	damage the reputation of the Australian Information Industry

4	greatly affect two major current Australian eCommerce Tenders

5	there was not an appropriate eCommerce Committee in Australia

It transpires that the eCommittee also found that the UN/CEFACT eCommerce
Standard also has two address formats hence if AS 4590 is changed
as recommended it could also become the core address module for the
UN/CEFACT eCommerce Standard EDIFACT

RECOMMENDATIONS

The three recommendations by the eCommittee for the changes to 
AS 4590 are:

1	The two XML formats in the Address Data Segment are reduced
	to the single Complex Address XML format only
	
2	The four (4) XML Data Elements 

	A	Line1 
	B	Line2 
	C	Line3 
	D	Line4 

	are replaced by the eleven (11) XML Data Elements in AS 4590 Complex, 

	A	LevelNumber
	B	LevelType
	C	LotNumber
	D	Name
	E	StreetName
	F	StreetNumber1
	G	StreetNumber2
	H	StreetSuffix
	I	StreetType
	J	UnitNumber
	K	UnitType

3	The Data Elements are renamed to comply with UN/CEFACT 
	international eCommerce code conventions for Simplified
	International Trade

	An example is 

	A	LevelNumber	has the electronic XML code	ABA
	B	LevelType	has the electronic XML code	ABB
	C	LotNumber	has the electronic XML code	ABC
	D	Name		has the electronic XML code	ABD
	E	StreetName	has the electronic XML code	ABE
	F	StreetNumber1	has the electronic XML code	ABF
	G	StreetNumber2	has the electronic XML code	ABG
	H	StreetSuffix	has the electronic XML code	ABH
	I	StreetType	has the electronic XML code	ABI
	J	UnitNumber	has the electronic XML code	ABJ						
	K	UnitType	has the electronic XML code	ABK

An example of an electronic coded XML template is the OTMG tender for 
the first Tender published by the Consortium of 32 Victorian Councils 
on 19 Aug 2006 for a Web Services Hub

NEXT STEPS

The OIC has prepared a draft programme for 2007 to assist raise
awareness of AS 4590 and the issue of a single XML Address format
for effective eCommerce.

Support and advice from your Department for this initiative by OIC Members to promote 
effective eCommerce would be appreciated.

Yours sincerely  


Stephen GOULD
Chair
XML & eCommerce Special Interest Group
OPEN INTERCHANGE CONSORTIUM
09:25	H	2006/12/21	Syd	2065

E:	sggould@oic.org
M:	0416-009-468

	PRH EMAIL CIRCULATED TUE 19 DEC WITH BACKGROUND ON AS 4590 AND TENDERS

A	MAJOR TENDERS NOMINATING EDI STANDARDS

During this quarter we have also seen the publication of two large scale 
tenders that involve eCommerce Standards

Those tenders are:

1	The second 32 Victorian Local Government Consortium Tender published
	22 Sep 2006 which stipulated the use of the Australian eCommerce Standard 
	AS 4590 for integrating into each Council Member's IT Systems

2	Port of Melbourne eCommerce Pilot which stipulated the use of
	the UN/EDIFACT eCommerce Standard

However it transpires that both Standards have two confusing address
formats for eCommerce !

As the Australian Government is leading the way with the Information 
Economy there are likely to be many more eCommerce tenders in 2007

B	 OIC ECOMMERCE COMMUNITY FILLS VOID

The delegates at OASIS XML Conference in Oct 2006 agreed that there 
should only be one XML Address standard.

However it transpires that:

1	Standards Australia eCommerce Committee IS/11 has not reconvened
	Standards Australia IS 11 Committee 1988

2	Tradegate ebXML Committee was disbanded in 2004 due to lack of funds
	ebXML Australia 2002

3	Federal Treasury retired its Group of Ecommerce Experts in 2005 
	Ecommerce Panel Retired

Hence the OIC approached the Australian Computer Society with a timetable
to review AS 4590

These are the organisations invited to participate on that AS 4590 Review 
Committee for the 32 Victorian Council Consortium tender

An eCommittee was formed and the initial recommendation is that the 
Complex version of AS 4590 could replace the simplex version

Does anyone see a problem with that recommendation ?

Please contact Stephen GOULD Chair AS 4590 Review Committee if you
have any comments about that recommendation being forwarded to the 
Hon Helen COONAN MP Australian Minister of Communications, 
Information Technology and the Arts

E:	sggould@oic.org
M:	0416-009-468

In addition the UN/EDIFACT was reviewed for its name and address format
and that also has two confusing Address formats.

The proposed changes to AS 4590 could also assist with clarifying the UN 
EDIFACT "Name and Address [NAD]" format