ABSTRACT

INFORMATION EXCHANGE

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the process of electronic communication of formatted, structured data (documents, invoices, etc.). Through EDI, document and information exchange can be more secure and easy to monitor. Use of EDI can thus help combat crime such as fraud, tax evasion etc. Furthermore, there is an increased need for interoperable EDI that is certified to handle classified or sensitive material, often needed for information between law enforcement agencies, government, etc.

Although there is a multitude of Electronic Data Interchange solutions available in the market, they are based on a variety of different standards leading to a lot of fragmentation and thus creating barriers in the adoption of this technology. A multitude of businesses or organisations that require paper document handling fail to adopt EDI or are unwilling to change business processes. Furthermore, the cost of the initial setup of EDI solutions, the multitude of different standards and the cost of training employees to a new process also hinder the adoption of EDI. Thus, there is a pressing need for interoperable, easy to use and easy to deploy EDI solutions, for a variety of different stakeholders ranging from small business owners to government to military etc.