Indecs sets seven goals for 1999
The Interoperability of Data in E-commerce Systems (indecs) project has established a website, claiming to deliver seven different results by the end of 1999. Supported by the European Commission's Info 2000 programme, indecs is an international initiative of owners of intellectual property rights, that seeks to develop a framework of metadata standards to support network commerce based on intellectual property. The following results are due to be presented by the end of this year: - A complete generic data model for intellectual property trading in a network environment; - Mapping of other metadata initiatives to this common model; - A specification for the development of a "metadata registry" which will make it possible for applications to make use of this mapping to make different metadata schemes interoperable; - Specification for the linking of "person identifiers", an essential part of the infrastructure; - A Resource Description Framework (RDF) model of generic data model; - Implementation guides (managerial and technical) for those who need to work with the model; - Proposals to appropriate standards bodies for formal standardization. There is also a free monthly online newsletter, detailing new areas and updates. This newsletter is aimed at policy-makers, librarians, the creative industries and anyone interested in developing standards to support the trade in intellectual property. Indecs can be found at the following address: URL: http://www.indecs.org and the newsletter is available at: URL: http://www.indecs.org/news/newsletter/htm