X12's 25th Birthday - Moving from EDI Revolution to XML Evolution; XML Architecture Training, Jan. 31 - Feb. 1, Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

FALLS CHURCH, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 2004

The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12, celebrating in 2004 its 25th birthday, is pleased to announce the renowned workshop on X12's new Extensible Markup Language (XML) architecture, called Context Inspired Component Architecture (CICA). The two-day event, hosted by the Data Interchange Standards Association (DISA), the secretariat for ASC X12, and scheduled to take place Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers, will equip attendees with the knowledge to build components for the next generation of the ASC X12 standard.

ASC X12 boasts more than 315 electronic data interchange (EDI) transaction sets, developed, integrated and tested over the last 25 years. X12 EDI revolutionized business-to-business electronic commerce in the 1970s and 1980s, long before anyone knew to call it B2B e-commerce. X12 EDI today continues to provide a sound and secure solution for high volume messaging. As technology evolves and conflicting XML messages proliferate, ASC X12 is using its open, consensus-based standards process to create a new generation of e-business messaging, providing a foundation for tomorrow's technology environments. ASC X12 members embrace Dr. Alan Kay's famous words: "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

Attendees from the first CICA workshop held December 2003 hailed the sold-out event as highly informative, interactive and relevant to their business needs. Based on this promising start, DISA is holding the second workshop on the front end of the Feb. 1-6 ASC X12 meeting in Seattle.

CICA workshop attendees will be trained in the basic elements of CICA and will learn how to:

-- Build a CICA template from start to finish

-- Map new and existing business processes into CICA

-- Create Modules for CICA templates

The CICA instructors are well versed in the new CICA architecture and bring years of ASC X12 experience to the table. Among the instructors are ASC X12 Vice Chair Peter D. Pruyne, ASC X12 Convergence and Outreach Task Group (COTG) Chair Lisa Miller, ASC X12 Communications and Controls Subcommittee Chair Mike Rawlins, ASC X12 Architecture Task Group Co-Chair Lisa Shreve, ASC X12C Syntax Task Group Chair Chris Miller, and DISA Director of Technical Operations Marcel Jemio.

The CICA workshop is an educational event open to ASC X12 members only. To learn more about ASC X12 or to join, visit www.X12.org or www.DISA.org. Individuals may register for this CICA workshop by calling DISA's Andrea Hitchcock at 703-970-4480. The registration fee is $125, which covers CICA training and course educational materials.

About the Accredited Standards Committee X12

The Accredited Standards Committee X12, accredited by the American National Standards Institute and comprised of cross-industry representation, develops robust e-business exchange standards in X12 electronic data interchange (EDI) and XML formats that interact with a multitude of e-business technologies and serve as a premier tool for integrating electronic applications. Through standards-setting and active participation in emerging and technically relevant initiatives, ASC X12 facilitates the effective exchange of electronic information. Propelling global e-business, ASC X12 is an active contributor to the United Nations/Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport (UN/EDIFACT), an international standard relating to the exchange of good and services. To learn more about ASC X12, visit www.X12.org or call 703-970-4480.