Category: Content technology news (Page 585 of 638)

i-mind education systems, inc., announced the release of the underlying architecture that drives the i-mind education hub, code named “Otto.” The “Otto” engine is an educational framework or “backplane” that is compliant with leading educational standards and based on Internet technologies. i-mind will deploy this Enterprise JavaBeans-based system into select Florida and California schools this fall; it will be broadly available early 2000. Capable of running on any modern operating system, the framework provides interoperability among legacy administrative systems, Internet-based content delivery technologies, and instructional productivity tools. i-mind uses Citrix Systems, Inc. application server software as its cornerstone. i-mind education systems is a charter member of the SchoolTone Alliance (formerly WebTone), an organization devoted to improving the educational futures of children. Tracking the work of the Schools Interoperability Framework, the IMS Project, and the AICC’s recommendations for Computer-Managed Instruction, i-mind’s first product, code-named “Otto” (named after Nicolaus Adam Otto, the inventor of the four-stroke engine), is an interoperability framework that runs on school and district servers. It links existing teacher management systems (such as attendance, scheduling, and resource management systems) with new systems, especially those that provide “line-of-business” information to teachers, parents, and students. Otto leverages Internet-enabling technologies such as XML, LDAP, and the Internet Mail Consortium’s iCalendar specifications, to make systems available on any browser-enabled device with scalability and security. www.i-mind.com

Thomas Register Online and Inforonics, announced expanded product access through a “trading network” program. Thomas Register is providing line item detail with pricing information for more than 250,000 products that are available for online purchasing via secure credit card transactions. Using technology developed in cooperation with Inforonics, Inc., Thomas Register Online is creating a trading protocol that enables requests for catalog data, product information, orders and payment through the use of XML. Inforonics is implementing the new TR-XML for Thomas Register, which will enable companies to link to and access its website’s line item product content. www.inforonics.com, www.thomasregister.com

Efinity Inc. announced their entry as an application service provider for real-time management of supply chain and business systems transactions for manufacturing companies and their trading partners. Customers are provided a secure connection to Efinity’s Internet hosted application, streamlining day-to-day business operations including order entry, change orders, shipment status and forecasting, as well as inventory control. Utilizing the Internet and emerging standards technologies such as XML, Efinity provides a marketplace where buyers and suppliers of manufactured goods and services exchange vital, real-time business transaction data. Efinity’s hosted applications allow companies with dissimilar business systems to communicate through a common medium. Efinity provides the service of “translating” the data so the companies can utilize the transacted information in a secure environment. Another feature of the system provides every user with the means of personalizing their view of the software, to better improve their work efficiency. www.efinity.com.

c-call.com, Inc. announced its support for the Microsoft BizTalk Framework by publishing a schema for the seamless electronic exchange of earnings-related corporate events of interest to securities analysts, institutional investors and individual investors. Data described with this schema can be used for scheduling, planning and researching, while serving as a host of other investment-oriented functions. One of its uses is in populating a corporate earnings calendar targeted at analysts, institutional investors and individual investors. This corporate earnings calendar can aggregate and organize detailed information about current, future and historical earnings-related events that affect a list of companies of interest to an investor. www.ccall.com

Technomation Systems Inc. announced plans to support Microsoft’s BizTalk Framework by incorporating it into Technomation’s BizOffice Portal for eProposals (electronic proposals). Technomation’s eProposal XML schema will initially be offered as a schema for the exchange of eProposals and quotations along the integrated E-value chain of proposal creation, quote generation, order entry, inventory control, invoicing, and post-sales customer support. The eProposal XML schema will provide the means for transferring data and descriptions of products or services, including specifications, capabilities, and costs, which can be communicated to potential customers, vendors, or trading partners. www.technomation.com

Navision Software announced its plans to support the BizTalk Framework by developing BizTalk-compatible schemas for electronic exchange of business documents and messages expressed in XML. www.navision.com.

Computer Sciences Corporation announced a new XML tagging convention that allows information to be shared over the Web between disparate workflow applications to achieve end-to-end process interoperability. The new capability is the result of a cooperative effort launched by the DoD’s Program Manager for the Joint Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support (JCALS) Office and CSC. The JCALS workflow manager is a key component of the JCALS system that CSC has developed and implemented for the DoD. JCALS is a joint service information technology program that improves the processes to acquire, develop and maintain U.S. military systems. It is deployed among all the armed services at 60 locations throughout the United States. The new XML-based specification, developed by JCALS program management and CSC, has been enthusiastically endorsed and accepted by the Technical Committee of the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC). The coalition is a non-profit, international organization that promotes and develops the use of workflow through the establishment of standards for software technology, interoperability and connectivity between workflow products. www.csc.com

InsWeb Corp. has implemented an XML interface designed to streamline the exchange of data among insurance carriers and other online partners connected to the Internet’s leading insurance marketplace. InsWeb has direct connections to 40 participating insurance companies, including State Farm, Nationwide, Progressive, AIG, CNA, Metropolitan Life, and Mutual of Omaha. Offering auto, term life, homeowners, renters and health insurance products, InsWeb also enables consumers to access its shopping services through the industry’s most extensive network of Internet partners. Today, InsWeb has relationships with more than 110 leading Web aggregators, including Yahoo!, GO Network, Snap.com, ZDNet, LookSmart, E*TRADE, Wingspan, and enfoTrust.com. www.insaweb.com