OII Promotion Leaflet

A User-friendly Reference Guide to Standards and Specifications for Open Information Interchange

Are you confused by sentences such as "IETF uses the SGML-based HTML protocol for HTTP transfer of ISO 10646 data over the WWW", "PNG and JPEG fight it out as replacement for GIF" and "ISO supports OSI X.400 for EDI, ALD2 and INTERLIS"? If so, help is at hand.

As part of the European Commission DG XIII's Open Information Interchange (OII) initiative, a detailed listing of standards and specifications relevant to the exchange of information in electronic form has been developed to provide reference material for standards developers, product and service providers, as well as the end users of these products and services.

For each standard covered in the extensive list, information is provided on its area of relevance, sponsoring bodies, characteristics, usage, as well as a contact point for further details.

The OII Standards and Specifications List currently includes details of:

Colour information interchange standards
Raster graphic interchange standards
Vector graphic interchange standards
Audio interchange standards
Multimedia/hypermedia interchange standards
Document interchange standards
Character set standards
OSI data transfer standards
Internet communication protocols
Product description standards
Electronic data interchange standards
Electronic payment support mechanisms
Library information interchange standards
Geographic information interchange standards
Scientific data exchange standards
Miscellaneous OII standards.

The list is updated on a regular basis, with new chapters added to meet user demand. The list forms part of the European Commission's I*M Europe Web site on EU activities in the information market. A printed version of the list, which is produced bi-annually, is available on request.

At the OII URL shown above, additional information includes:

The OII Standards and Specifications Fora List, which provides information on the organizations responsible for developing the standards referenced in the OII Standards and Specifications List
Conference Reports on activities related to standards development in the OII domain
Monthly Reports on the latest multimedia/hypermedia standards activities
Information on workshops organised under the OII initiative.

Users the OII Web pages to keep abreast of developments in one of the most dynamic and strategic areas of the information market today.

For more information:

Gerhard Heine, European Commission DG XIII/E
Tel: +352 4301 33620
Fax: +352 4301 33190
Email: gerhard.heine@lux.dg13.cec.be