IFX Forum PRESIDENT Richard urban promotes
"Service-Oriented Standards Development" at ANSI MEETING
WAKEFIELD, Mass. –Aug. 5, 2008 – The President of the Interactive Financial eXchange (IFX; http://www.ifxforum.org) Forum, Richard P. Urban, was invited to lead off a panel on the subject of "Coop-etition" at ANSI's Open Forum for Standards Developers, held June 24-25 in Washington, DC. His presentation was entitled "Service-Oriented Standards Development."
The IFX Forum is an international not-for-profit industry association whose mission is to develop IFX and promote its adoption as an open, interoperable standard for financial data exchange.
ANSI (American National Standards Institute; http://www.ansi.org/) hosts the annual gatherings to foster open exchange between and among standards developing organizations (SDOs) and other stakeholders. More than 80 people attended this year's event, representing 65 SDOs, consortia and other groups, industry, government and consumers.
In his remarks, Urban emphasized the strong parallels between product development and standards development. He noted that there is thus a natural tendency towards competition – especially for members’ time, money and commitment -- and that all are proud of their products and organizations. He stressed that of necessity SDOs must form alliances to properly service all the needs of those who might adopt their standards.
A constructive way to approach the market is to agree on where different organizations serve “islands of needs” and concentrate on building bridges between those islands. In other words, organizations should adopt a service-oriented approach to "coop-etition." Urban pointed out that the IFX Forum has always employed a service-oriented approach, and that the Forum has actively pursued cooperative arrangements with others in the standard-setting marketplace.
"I'm grateful to the ANSI leaders for their welcome and support," said Urban. "I am also gratified that they and others referred back to my remarks throughout the two-day event to reinforce their own perspectives. I'm pleased to think that my ideas struck a chord, and could influence future collaborations."
Links to Urban's presentation and others delivered at the event can be found at http://www.ansi.org/meetings_events/events/OpenForum08_proceedings.aspx?menuid=8.
About the IFX Forum
Founded in 1997, the Interactive Financial eXchange (IFX) Forum is an international not-for-profit industry association whose mission is to develop IFX and promote its adoption as an open, interoperable standard for financial data exchange, suitable for use by all sectors of the financial services industry. The IFX Forum also promotes interoperability of industry standards by working cooperatively with other standards organizations and consortia.
Forum membership is open to organizations interested in contributing to the development of open financial standards. Forum members include financial institutions, hardware, software and service firms, and related non-profit groups. The IFX Forum is currently organized into the following Working Groups: ATM/POS; Branch Banking Services; Business Banking; Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment; and Web Services. IFX Forum Working Groups, in concert with an Architecture Committee to coordinate their efforts, develop open Internet-compatible messages for all sectors of the financial services industry. To learn more about IFX Forum standards or the benefits of IFX Forum membership, please visit http://www.IFXForum.org.
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