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Standards Review and Recommendation Publication
SRRPUB15
PESO Working Group Draft
eXtensible Markup Language (XML) Guidelines
Revised August 28, 2002 Version 0.02
The Department of Information Resources (DIR) issues Standards Review and Recommendations
Publications (SRRPUB) as guidelines for Texas state agencies and institutions
of higher education. This guideline addresses issues that all government
entities should consider when implementing new data exchanges, reporting
formats, content management systems, including tagging Web based information
for (mobile) m~Government applications.
Introduction
For the last several years the State Strategic Plan for Information Resources
Management and the Texas Legislature have addressed the growing importance
of the Internet in the delivery of information and accessing services by
the citizens of Texas, or e(electronic)~Government. In support of these initiatives,
this publication addresses the use of the eXtensible Markup Language (XML)
as a basis for facilitating public access to government information, services
and the associated communications and data exchanges necessary to enable
a seemless e~Government.
Executive Summary
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has published the eXtensible Markup Language
(XML) suite of protocol standards for intersystem communications and data
exchange. In December 2000, The National Electronic Commerce Coordinating
Council (NECCC) published "An Introduction to XML's Potential Use Within
Government," and the National Association of Chief Information Officers published
a report in 1999: "Toward National Sharing of Governmental Information," that
pointed to XML as a promising open standard for sharing dynamic structured
information (i.e., dynamic documents) as a part of inter-agency or intergovernmental
transactions. The Texas Legislature has identified a number issues (e.g.,
elimination of redundant reporting, and improving citizen access to information
and services) where the use of XML could facilitate agencies implementation
of these programs. A partial list of the Legislative initiatives, enacted
in 2001, is available at http://www.dir.state.tx.us/standards/Legislation_2001.htm The
rapid growth of XML technologies is showing promise in addressing three critical
areas: Data Exchange between organizations; Content and Presentation Management
of an organizations information; and authenticating signed electronic records.
Data Exchange
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) has for years provided benefits of reduced
paperwork, fewer transcription errors, faster response time for procurement
and customer needs, reduced inventory requirements and more timely payment
of vendors. Electronic exchange of data using EDI is governed according to
established rules and formats.
Implementation of EDI requires a family of interrelated standards.
The family includes types of messages (also called transaction
sets), transmission envelopes, data elements, and short sequences
of data elements called data segments. The families of standards
known as X12 and Electronic Data Interchange for Administration,
Commerce and Transportation (EDIFACT). Additional information
and resources are in the EDI standards section of this publication.
(Under Development).
While EDI did, and still does, provide a number of benefits,
it also has some legacy issues. EDI was based on machine readable
coding of the transaction sets, XML on the other hand is human
readable code, and most EDI translators being mainframe based.
In the early years EDI relied on dedicated "value added networks" (VANs)
and is now being used on the Internet, for a good background
paper on this read RFC1865
EDI Meets the Internet - Frequently Asked Questions about Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI) on the Internet. Additional information
and resources are in the XML Technology section.(Under Development).
Content and Presentation Management
Publishing web pages has evolved from the primary function of a "Webmaster" to
a distributed model where functional staff that are directly responsible for
the content are expected to post information. In some cases this has caused
problems in inconsistent page design, usability and accessibility problems.
Content Management Systems (CMS) have helped resolve this problem by adding
a formal structure to the web publishing process and required agencies to adopt
enterprise-wide web design standards. The majority of CMS products do a good
job managing the presentation of information, providing the display is a standard
web browser. However, as demonstrated at the two "Wireless Forums" for state
agencies, not all wireless devices use a standard browser, nor is there a single
standard for all wireless devices. Wireless devices also have different display
capabilities that are limited by display size, support for color and graphics.
XML may offer the solution to both content and presentation management problems.
Additional information and resources are in the content and presentation management
section (Under Development).
Authenticating Signed Electronic Records
The ''Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act' (ESIGN) and
the Texas Legislation on the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA),
both address the need to preserve Electronic Records and electronically-signed
Records over time, whether for a defined period or permanently. This presents
special challenges to state agencies, and currently the Department and the
Texas State Library and Archives Commission have established a Task Force
to make recommendations for state agencies. The Organization for the Advancement
of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) is an international consortium
that creates interoperable industry specifications based on public standards
related to structured information processing. Work by the LegalXML group
is addressing the binding of cryptographically processed information to an
XML document or its fragments, and self-proving and self-authenticating of
e-signed documents. Additional information and resources are in the authenticating
signed electronic records section (Under Development).
Core Element Standards
While the power and flexability of XML can solve a number of operational requirements,
the same flexability can create new interoperability problems. The General
Accounting Office (GAO) report to the Chairman on Governmental Affairs, U.S.
Senate - Electronic Government - "Challenges to Effective Adoption of the
Extensible Markup Language." The key findings identified were:
· No explicit governmentwide strategy for XML adoption has been defined
and agencies risk building and buying systems that will not work with each other
in the future.
- The government has not consolidated XML requirements for
the various standards bodies.
- The government has not yet established a registry of government-unique
XML data structures.
- Additional work is required to ensure that agencies address
XML implementation through enterprise architectures.
- The GAO recommended that the director of the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) enhance federal planning for adoption of XML.
Note: The Federal Government is currently conducting a study to assess the
need for a central registry/repository, that should be published in late
Summer or Fall 2002.
The PESO Working Group will be the initial forum to identify
core data elements (e.g., name, address) that a majority of agencies
need to conduct transactions with the public. The next level
of standard elements would be between agencies with a common
focus (e.g., Justice & Courts). The initial selections of
the core elements is available at http://www.dir.state.tx.us/standards/srrpub15-core.htm
Issues and/or other topic areas?
Recommendations
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Other Resources
The Public Electronic Services On-the-Internet (PESO) Working
Group was established to provide a forum for addressing policy
and technology issues related to improving access to government
information and services via the Internet/Intranet or Extranet.
Membership is open to all government entities and TASSCC members.
A list server is also available to post questions and discuss
issues. The PESO Working Group meets the second Wednesday of
the month from 10:00 a.m. to noon. Additional information is
available at at: http://www.dir.state.tx.us/peso/index.htm
Address questions about the Texas Information Technology
Standards Web pages to:
DIR Standards and Architecture
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