Francis Parr

IBM recently submitted a specification for defining and implementing electronic contracts to the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), a vendor-neutral standards body. The specification, called tpaML (Trading Partner Agreement Markup Language), uses XML and was submitted to OASIS for standardization within its XML.org initiative. This article describes why and how electronic trading partner agreement documents in tpaML can be used for business-to-business integration. The new economy is here and trade is being transmogrified in fundamental ways. In particular, we're no longer dependent on the physical production of goods as the primary engine of wealth and jobs. Increasingly, employment and wealth now derives from the new electronically connected world - where what we produce and consume are ideas, information and services. ... (more)