XML is often described as the lingua franca of e-commerce. The implication is that by standardizing on XML, enterprises will be able to trade with anyone, any time, without the need for the costly custom integration work that has been necessary in the past. But this vision of XML-based "plug-and-play" commerce is overly simplistic. Of course XML can be used to create electronic catalogs, purchase orders, invoices, shipping notices, and the other documents needed to conduct business. But XML by itself doesn't guarantee that these documents can be understood by any business other than the one that creates them. XML is only the foundation on which additional standards can be defined to achieve the goal of true interoperability. The Universal Business Language (UBL) initiative is the next step in achieving this goal.

The task of creating a universal XML business language is a challenging one. Most large enterprises have already invested significant time and money in an e-business infrastructure and are reluctant to change the way they conduct electronic business. Furthermore, every company has different requirements for the information exchanged in a specific business process, such as procurement or supply-chain optimization. A standard business language must strike a difficult balance, adapting to the specific needs of a given company while remaining general enough to let different companies in different industries communicate with each other.

The UBL effort addresses this problem by building on the work of the ebXML initiative. ebXML is a joint project of UN/CEFACT, the world body responsible for international Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), and the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), a nonprofit consortium dedicated to the open development of XML

languages. UBL is organized as an OASIS Technical Committee to guarantee a rigorous, open process for the standardization of the XML business language. The development of UBL within OASIS also helps ensure a fit with other essential ebXML specifications. UBL will be promoted to the level of international standard.

By the time of the conference, UBL will have delivered version 1.0 as an OASIS Committee specification. This presentation will explore the UBL comprehensive XSD based schema design rules for business transactions and its developing library of standard business messages. This paper will also report on early implementations of UBL and provide guidance on how organizations interested in UBL can best implement it.