RE: Internet EDI Meeting March 1, 1999



Jim,
Count me in for the March 1st EDI meeting...
Bill

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William Dale, P.E.
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: tariff-request@dradmin.cpuc.ca.gov
> [mailto:tariff-request@dradmin.cpuc.ca.gov]On Behalf Of Price, Jim
> Sent: Saturday, February 20, 1999 9:01 PM
> To: tariff@ora.ca.gov; tariffweb@ora.ca.gov
> Subject: Internet EDI Meeting March 1, 1999
>
>
> As scheduled at the OCC and Rule 22 meetings at the beginning of February,
> and announced in their meeting notes, a meeting will be held on Monday
> March 1, to discuss strategies for Internet transport of EDI.
> The location
> is PG&E, 123 Mission St., San Francisco, Room 671, and the hours are 10:00
> AM to 4 PM.  In order to get by the guard desk, please RSVP to me
> by Friday
> morning, February 26 -- so these RSVPs don't get lost in other email,
> please send your RSVPs, for this purpose only, to me at
> jep@primeu.cpuc.ca.gov.
>
> Along with being a topic of general interest, this will at least start to
> address directions given in CPUC Resolution E-3582 (p. 13), dated 1/20/99:
> "31.  EDI work is being done in several subgroups of the Direct Access
> Tariff Working Group.  We direct parties to this process to expedite
> implementation of migration to the Internet due to its long-term
> cost-effectiveness.  In order to insure that ESPs offering consolidated
> billing have the opportunity to avail themselves of the least cost
> alternative, we will adopt a sunset date for mandatory VAN charges.  The
> UDCs are ordered to offer Internet transmission with service fees that do
> not include VAN charges within six months from today.  Service fee
> adjustments to reflect the use of the Internet for EDI may be filed by
> Advice Letter if the timing of the 1999 RAP proceedings cannot accomodate
> this sunset date for mandatory VAN charges."
>
> My proposed agenda is:
>
> 1.  Introduction and Overview of Internet EDI - alternative strategies and
> status of technical standards.  A very knowledgable speaker is in the
> works, and if that doesn't work out I will cover what I'm able to.  If
> others would be interested in contributing to this presentation, please
> contact me.
>
> 2.  Experiences in Developing and Implementing Internet EDI in the Gas
> Industry - PG&E.
>
> 3.  Status of Implementation Planning in California UDCs.  SCE has made
> considerable progress in defining how Internet EDI can both integrate with
> their business systems and provide options to its trading partners, and
> PG&E will also discuss its results to date.
>
> 4.  General Discussion of Goals, Concerns, and Options.  The goals of
> implementing Internet EDI can be multifaceted, for example, they may
> include:  (a) ensure consistency in implementation of Resolution E-3582,
> (b) ensure that the resolution's motivation of reducing cost does minimize
> the cost to market participants, (c) maximize interoperability with
> existing systems, (d) facilitate market participants' ability to enter the
> world of EDI, and (e) anticipate future directions in electronic commerce.
> Among these illustrative goals, some may be synergistic with each other,
> while some may conflict with others.
>
> 5.  Determination of Next Steps.
>
> For those who may wish to do some homework before the March 1 meeting,
> recommended references are:
>
> *  Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF, the standards body for the
> Internet) EDI-Internet Integration Working Group,
> http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/ediint-charter.html.  Note the draft
> Internet standards listed at the end of this web page.
>
> *  Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB) Future Technology Task Force,
> http://www.gisb.org/fttf.htm.  Again, links at the end of the web page are
> among the most pertinent.
>
> *  CommerceNet, http://www.commerce.net.  CommerceNet is an industry
> consortium that is involved in a wide variety of projects, including
> general promotion of IETF standards.
>
> A subject that is likely to arise in discussions is Extensible Markup
> Language, or XML.  Two good starting points for reading are
> http://www.commerce.net/projects/X12-XML and http://www.xmledi.com.  (The
> XMLEDI site includes a thought-provoking link, "Boo!!! Are We All
> History???" at http://www.geocities.com/WallStreet/Floor/5815/dw01.htm.
> While this paper argues two contrary points and I don't necessarily agree
> 100% with either, we would be missing some pertinent long-run
> context if we
> discussed Internet EDI without being aware of the issues that it raises.)
>
> Finally, I note that this effort in California parallels efforts in other
> forums, including a newly-formed UIG Internet EDI Workgroup, led by Dave
> Darnell.  One difference between our effort and UIG's is that the UIG
> workgroup plans to produce a white paper evaluating options but not
> recommending a particular solution, while we need to implement a CPUC
> resolution.  The issues being addressed by UIG's workgroup are illustrated
> by the following minutes of a session during last week's UIG meeting in
> Dallas:
>
> >Date: Thu, 11 Feb 1999 09:10:38 -0700
> >To: [UIG Internet EDI Workgroup]
> >From: Dave Darnell <dave@systrends.com>
> >Subject: UIG Internet EDI Workgroup Meeting February 10, 1999
> >
> >UIG Internet EDI Workgroup
> >February 10, 1999
> >
> >A meeting was held to formulate objectives of our initial fact finding
> efforts.
> >
> >Points of interest are delineated below:
> >
> >*** Why change from VAN based EDI? What is wrong now with VANs?  What is
> >"right" with VANs?  What are the benefits and drawbacks of the
> alternatives
> >to VAN EDI?
> >
> >*** We should look at all methods of EDI transport, focusing on
> advantages,
> >disadvantages, costs, etc.
> >
> >1. VAN
> >
> >2. Web EDI
> >
> >3. Extranets
> >	3.1 via Private Network
> >	3.2 via VPN (Virtual Private Network) over the Internet
> >
> >4. GISB standard for Internet EDI (custom CGI HTTP server setup with PGP
> >encryption)
> >
> >5. Direct connection to trading partners via modem (asynch,
> bisynch, etc.)
> >
> >6. EDIINT standard software (from IETF - Internet Engineering Task Force)
> >	6.1 Harbinger Templar
> >	6.2 Netscape ECXpert
> >	6.3 Cyclone Interchange Server
> >	6.4 IPNet
> >	6.5 GE Enterprise
> >	6.6 Sterling
> >
> >7. EDIINT hybrid with web/HTTP
> >
> >8. Outsourcing
> >
> >9. FTP with and without encryption
> >
> >10. HTTP/SSL without encryption
> >
> >11. SMTP/MIME
> >
> >12. Proprietary TCP protocols (e.g. Templar TCP and IPNET ECP)
> >
> >Concerns and issues to be addressed:
> >
> >1. Security
> >	PAIN:
> >	1.1 Privacy
> >	1.2 Authentication
> >	1.3 Integrity
> >	1.4 Non-repudiation : sender and receiver
> >
> >2. Reliability
> >
> >3. Availability
> >
> >4. Costs
> >
> >5. Implementation complexity and support issues
> >
> >6. Technology obsolescence
> >
> >7. Interoperability
> >
> >8. Audit trails
> >
> >9. Time stamping
> >
> >10. Disaster recovery and historical archives
> >
> >11. Key management for archival management. Certificate Authority issues.
> >
> >12. XML/EDI vs. X12/XML
> >
> >13. Throughput and bandwidth issues
> >
> >14. "Who do you call" / help desk issues with Internet EDI
> >
> >15. Data volume concerns
> >
> >16. Transaction turnaround requirments
> >
> >17. Firewall issues with Internet EDI solutions and protocols
> >
> >* No. 17 of concerns added after meeting
> >
> >====================
> >
> >We can start fleshing these out in our conference call schedule next week
> >(Thursday, Feb.18, 1999 at 9:00 AM PST, 10:00 AM MST, 11:00 AM CST, 12:00
> >PM EST)
> >
> >I have an action item to contact GISB (Rae McQuade) and get official
> >approval to distribute the GISB standard to our membership.  When this is
> >done, I will send out the document (pdf).
> >
> >ref. 	Rae McQuade
> >	GISB Exec. Dir.
> >	713.356.0060
> >	gisb1@aol.com
> >	www.gisb.org
> >
> >
> >
> >Regards,
> >Dave Darnell
> >
> >===================================================
> >|   Dave Darnell
> >|   SysTrends, Inc. &  Arizona EC/EDI Roundtable
> >|   1343 N. Alma School Rd. #155      Home: 1850 E. Carver Road
> >|   Chandler, AZ 85224
> Tempe, AZ 85284
> >|   Tel:(602)899-4787		                  Tel:(602)838-5316
> >|   Fax:(602)899-2813
> Fax:(602)897-8032
> >|   mailto://dave_d@systrends.com     http://www.systrends.com
> >===================================================
> >
> >
>
>

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