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ECCMA introduces domain expert program to recognize contributions to open technical dictionary

ECCMA's Domain Expert Program recognizes the contributions of volunteers who review requests to add or change entries in the dictionary and who ensure that it continues to improve the quality and reduce the cost of cataloging.

BETHLEHEM, PA February 21, 2004-–The Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA), a leading publisher of open standards for cataloging, today announced that it is introducing a program to recognize the individual domain experts that contribute to the ECCMA Open Technical Dictionary (eOTD). This open standard technical dictionary is based on the Federal/NATO cataloging system and includes tens of thousands of standard commercial terms and definitions in multiple languages along with a coding system designed to deliver language independent harmonized and standardized cataloges for electronic commerce. With this new, open technical dictionary, procurement, sales, marketing, finance and supply chain management business roles will benefit from more efficient and effective item descriptions.

The Domain Expert Program recognizes the unique contribution made by gifted individuals who volunteer to review requests to add or change entries in the dictionary and who ensure that it continues to fulfill its mission to improve the quality and reduce the cost of cataloging. ECCMA is inviting the designers, engineers, buyers, store keepers, marketing and sales executives who, through their familiarity and knowledge of their particular trade or industry, are uniquely suited to define the terms unique to their industry to become volunteer contributors to the world’s leading open technical dictionary.

“We have long been committed to helping our members advance their competitive position and improve the quality of their data,” said Peter Benson, Executive Director and Chief Technical officer of ECCMA. “Delivering standards, like the ECCMA Open Technical Dictionary, in a form that our members can integrate into their cataloging applications is a vital part of extending that commitment.”

Over the past two years, ECCMA has worked extensively with the Domain Experts of the Defense Logistics Information Service, a field activity of the Defense Logistic Agency (DLA) that manages the Federal/NATO Cataloging system to create the first version of the eOTD and it is now seeking to enlarge the program to include direct input from industry. There is no fee to join the Domain Expert Program and the commitment, as a volunteer, is limited to reviewing change requests sent by the eOTD technical secretariat.

“Volunteer participation in standards development is fundamental to the ECCMA process and the role of the ECCMA technical staff is to ensure that the request for input is carefully prepared so as to maximize our ability to leverage the knowledge of a Domain Expert while minimizing any disturbance we cause to their daily work routines,” said Professor Donald Hillman the director of the ECCMA Labs at Lehigh University “we also welcome Universities and Colleges to join the Domain Experts Program”

“We look forward to being able to allow the true industry experts to define their own descriptive language and that by publishing it in an open standard dictionary we will all reap the benefits of more accurate descriptions” said Don Brown CEO of PartNet and a member of the ECCMA board of Directors. “Better descriptions are one of the keys to improving search engine performance and the visibility of a suppliers products and services in an ever more crowded electronic marketplace”.

“Key to ensuring the success of a BuySide or SellSide catalog is to provide accurate, detailed information on line items, allowing them to be searched and compared. Yet cataloging has traditionally been an incredibly time consuming, inefficient and costly process,” said Jeff Leech, director of project services at iGate Global Solutions. “ECCMA has revolutionized this process by publishing its open technical dictionary.”