GSA # 9539

December 3, 1998
Contact: Eleni Martin
(202) 501-1231

WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), three government agencies, CommerceNet and a number of leading technology companies will demonstrate a pilot project promoting broad, easy Internet access to electronic product catalogs.

A special live demonstration of the electronic Catalog Interoperability Pilot initiative will be Tuesday, December 8 from 8:30 am to 12:00 noon, in the GSA Auditorium, 1800 F Street, NW, Washington, DC.

The Electronic Catalog Interoperability Pilot uses XML (Extensible Mark-Up Language) and the CommerceNet "eCo architecture" to potentially give Federal buyers a powerful tool for electronically searching thousands of products now located in separate Federal and business online catalogs. When fully operational, the pilot system will allow Federal shoppers to quickly compare products, find the best price, and make secure purchases with a smart card. the pilot will also make use of digital signatures to assure buyer authentication. Catalog interoperability will be a key element in expanding electronic catalog ordering in the Federal Government.

Currently the pilot system is being tested by GSA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Department of Defense (DoD). Additional Federal agencies will begin testing over the next several days. The pilot is sponsored by GSA's Office of Electronic Commerce and CommerceNet, a global consortium promoting and building Internet-based electronic commerce solutions.

The demonstrations will feature comments from the participants (GSA, DoD's Joint Electronic Commerce Program Office, NASA, and NIST), reactions from an industry panel, and a forecast of the next phase of the program.

For more information, contact John Thomas, 202-208-4552.