UDDI

Internet-based Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration specification  (UDDI) is a specification for distributed Web-based information registries of Web services. The term "Web service" describes specific business functionality exposed by a company, usually through an Internet connection, for the purpose of providing a way for another company or software program to use the service.

Web services are becoming the programmatic backbone for electronic commerce. An example of a Web service is when one company calls another’s service to send a purchase order directly via an Internet connection. Another example is a service that calculates the cost of shipping a package of a certain size or weight, so many miles via a specific carrier. Web services allow programmable elements to be placed on Web sites where other can access distributed behaviors. UDDI registries are designed to help users discover these distributed Web services. 

You can find out more about UDDI by going to www.uddi.org.