Presentations given at the launch of DIAMOND
Click on the PDF icon to download the PDF. Please note that some of the documents are very large.- Tom McGuffog
UKP.eb have launched a major new publication "D.I.A.M.O.N.D." which provides a new integrated approach to the definition and management of all value chain data. DIAMOND analyses are equally valuable in both the public and private sectors. The following presentations introduce
DIAMOND and also explain some of the latest developments in global value chain management standards and best practice on which the UKP.eb Partners are working.
- Howard Mason
e-Business in its broadest context is becoming a cornerstone for the global economy, and standards play a fundamental role in enabling the consistent and interoperable services required to extract the maximum benefit for consumers, industry and government. Standards can be applied across the entire supply chain, throughout the full life of a product or service.
The principal international standards organisations have recognised the problems that can arise for multiple conflicting standards, and the negative impact on the value chain. The MoU Management Group has been set up as a forum where all key international organizations can cooperate and contribute to the delivery and promotion of the evolving set of e-Business standards, and maximize their contribution to global commerce.
This presentation highlights the key successes already achieved by the group, and the current areas where it is working to ensure a single consistent set of standards. These include a single "big picture" of e-Business standardisation, with clearly defined components which can deployed to create solutions, developments of common information definitions and standard component catalogues, and many other opportunities that are emerging as standards and synergies between them evolve.
UKP.eb offers a national mirror of the MoU/MG organisation, supporting UK delegates in delivering a strong and consistent position in international standards groups, and providing informative feedback to UK industry. This presents a major opportunity to influence glabal e-Business standards.
- Roger Till
There is nothing new about using unique identifiers to track and trace goods and services throughout supply chains.. We are all familiar with the use of bar codes and scanners in retail supply chains. Indeed, it is already over thirty years since the first bar code for a commercial transaction was scanned on a 10-pack of Wrigleys Juicy Fruit chewing gum in a supermarket in Troy, Ohio. As supply chain automation and the use of the EAN.UCC system has become ubiquitous, the use of bar coding has spread from the retailers to their supplier, and ultimately to their suppliers supplier. Recent developments have defined other varieties of printed bar code, within the EAN.UCC system, to carry additional information (e.g. sell by dates, weight) and to deal with different environments (pallets, locations, returnable assets). Of late specialist formats have also been employed (the datamatrix standard for small items, such as surgical instruments). New services, such as global data synchronisation, developed to ensure accurate and up to date master data is available, have been introduced. The most recent interest in radio frequency identification (RFID) and the use of electronic product codes (through the EPCglobal system) in supply chain activities is merely an extension of the use of unique identifiers to another (not even a very new) technology which has the potential for improving speed and efficiency. New standards are currently being put in place, with ETSI defining the areas of radio frequency spectrum available for RFID use, and EPCglobal defining data structures for embedding the EAN.UCC identifiers in Electronic Product Codes.
- Tony Davis
This presentation explains the importance of international standards to international trade and transport. The UN/CEFACT organization, under the auspices of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, is responsible for delivering a range of data standards to facilitate international trade
and electronic transfer of data for cross border trade. The production of a syntax independent standards based toolkit incorporating current and developing standards forms the basis of a new project, UNeDocs, which is described, together with details of a UK version, UNeDocs-UK,
being developed by SITPRO. - Richard Taylor
e-Business Standardization @ BSI
This presentation serves as a summary of the key e-Business standardization activity that is being supported by BSi (the British Standards Institution) and its lead partners.
In responding to customers needs BSi is offering an expanding range of formal and informal standardization solutions helping organisations to facilitate market creation, capture and disseminate best practice and mitigate risks in the delivery of their e-business solutions.
BSi currently supports over 30 formal technical committees within the ICT and e-business arena, focused on the development of technical and management standards at the national and international level. A number of these activities support the key theme of this UKP.eb seminar and publication, effective data management across value chains. Activity is diverse and wide ranging from multimedia and hypermedia (MPEG, JPEG), Automatic Identification (RFID) and Biometrics to key management standards in the area of Information Security and IT Service Management.
Along with the delivery of formal, international standards BSi offers an expanding range of informal standardisation solutions through it’s Professional Standards Service (PSS), helping organisations with their standards strategy and providing a fast track standards development service in the delivery of both private standards and publicly available specifications. Work in this area has recently included support for the development of a standards repository for the Local e-Government Standards Body and the recent initiation of a Publicly Available Specification and Kite Mark scheme focused on internet filtering products and services.
Lastly a wide range of information solutions are offered by BSi and its partners, helping organisations to take up and implement standards in this area, along with guidance to the emerging legal and regulatory environment.
BSi and its partners are currently engaged in a significant standardization work programme, however a number of key challenges and opportunities exist. Such challenges include the provision of clear business level information to facilitate standards adoption, the effective use of formal and informal standardization solutions available, including the appropriate adoption of consortia driven standards and the more effective co-ordination of standards activity at a national and international level. In response BSi is keen to work with current and future partners to deliver customer focused standardisation solutions.
- Maewyn Cumming
"The new e-Government Unit of the Cabinet Office is responsible for ensuring that IT supports the business transformation of government itself, enabling us to provide better, more efficient public services.
We are taking on many new tasks, as well as continuing to build on and
develop some of our existing policies and products.
This includes the e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF), which sets out the policies and standards needed to ensure that data can be transferred meaningfully across and beyond the public sector. In addition to being a cornerstone policy of e-government, the e-GIF will be central to the transformation of back office systems."
- Colin Whittaker
The protection of an enterprise's critical information is an essential task as we come ever more to rely upon information technology and the power and speed of the internet to conduct business. In spite of the vast benefits that can be accrued from modern technology and communications, it does introduce vulnerabilities and threats that need to be managed and controlled if businesses are to survive and prosper. There are many sources of information available for businesses to develop and implement their own solutions for this need. It is important, however, to recognise the value of pooling experience from peer organisations, and the benefits of common and consistent approaches down through the enterprise value chain from customers to suppliers. These value chains can be most beneficial in developing common understanding as to what information should be protected to protect that value chain, the consequences of compromise, the potential threats to the chain and how such threats may manifesto themselves. Information security should be a consideration in any DIAMOND analysis through any supply value chain.