OASIS Members to Develop Web Services Standard for Translation; DataPower, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, and Others Collaborate on Localization Specification.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 2002

Members of the OASIS standards consortium have formed a technical committee to develop standards to automate the translation and localization process as a Web service. The effort brings together DataPower, IBM, the Localisation Research Centre, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, and others in a collaboration that will use Web services as the backbone to a workflow linking the tasks that comprise a complex software localization project.

"Any publisher of content requiring translation should be able to automatically connect to and use the services of any translation vendor over the Internet without previous direct communication," said Peter Reynolds of Bowne Global Solutions, chair of the OASIS Translation Web Services Technical Committee. "Web services hold enormous potential for improving the way localization business is conducted, but first the industry must come together to agree on standards. With the support of many of the largest software vendors and localization experts worldwide, we are confident that we can build the consensus that's needed at OASIS."

The new OASIS Technical Committee will concentrate first on defining service types that are relevant to the software/content localization and translation industry. Their specification will drive the development of Web Services Definition Language (WSDL) documents that will ultimately be published in a Universal Description and Discover Integration (UDDI) registry and potentially also in an ebXML registry.

"The core of a localization Web service is the ability for publishers to submit content that requires translation, request quotes or other services from vendors, and for each party to understand what the other needs. To accomplish this, metadata must be used that is standardized and publicly available," explained Reinhard Schaler, director of the Localisation Research Centre (LRC) at Ireland's University of Limerick. "A key objective of the OASIS Translation Web Services Technical Committee will be to build the intelligence into the infrastructure by establishing a set of business process terminology that the software/content localization and translation industries will find comprehensive and complete."

The OASIS Translation Web Services Technical Committee joins another localization effort at OASIS -- one that works to develop an XML Localization Interchange File Format (XLIFF). The two groups plan to coordinate their efforts. Tony Jewtushenko of Oracle, chair of the OASIS XLIFF Technical Committee explained the relationship, "The OASIS Translation Web Services Technical Committee will define standard interfaces between the disparate actors that work together in a distributed software localization process. As localizable data moves through the localization actors, XLIFF-aware tools can be used with minimal implementation cost. We expect our experience with XML-based localization technology will result in close relations and shared membership with the OASIS Translation Web Services Technical Committee."

"The OASIS Translation Web Services Technical Committee is a clear example of how industry players can come together to jointly develop Web services standards for their critical business interactions," stated Patrick Gannon, president and CEO of OASIS. "Industries that conduct their Web services standards development within OASIS have the opportunity to interface directly with developers of key foundational Web services efforts, such as UDDI, WS-Security, SAML, and more than 45 others."

Industry Support for Translation Web Services

"The need for localization and translation services is readily apparent in today's global economy. As a member of OASIS, DataPower fully supports the work of the new OASIS Translation Web Services Technical Committee to spearhead standards that make automated localization and translations via XML and Web services a reality," says Eugene Kuznetsov, founder, President and CTO at DataPower Technology Inc.

"IBM is committed to advancing the Web services architecture and is pleased to participate in the OASIS Translation Web Services Technical Committee," said Steve Holbrook, Program Director, IBM emerging e-business standards. "The ability to describe, publish and find localization and translation services using open standards will benefit our customers and help accelerate Web services adoption worldwide."

"SAP's globalization, internationalization, localization and translation GILT) activities are key factors to SAP's success in the marketplace. We have always acknowledged the benefits gained through the use and implementation of industry standards. Accordingly, we have actively promoted GILT-related standards such as Translation Memory eXchange (TMX), Open Lexicon Interchange Format (OLIF), and XML Localization Interchange Format (XLIFF). Web services will have a major impact on the way GILT will be organized in the future. We are ready to provide substantial input to the new OASIS Technical Committee. This input will be based on our expertise related to the management of outsourced translation by SAP Language Services, and SAP's GILT infrastructure developed by our MultiLingual Technology Group," said Willi Therre, Senior Vice President, Application Infrastructure for SAP.

About OASIS (http://www.oasis-open.org)

OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) is a not-for-profit, global consortium that drives the development, convergence, and adoption of e-business standards. Members themselves set the OASIS technical agenda, using a lightweight, open process expressly designed to promote industry consensus and unite disparate efforts. OASIS produces worldwide standards for security, Web services, XML conformance, business transactions, electronic publishing, topic maps and interoperability within and between marketplaces. OASIS has more than 600 corporate and individual members in 100 countries around the world.