Vertical Industry Information Technology Standards and Standardization

Rolf T. Wigand, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, M. Lynne Markus, Bentley College, and Charles W. Steinfield, Michigan State University

5/15/2008
(Original Publish Date: 6/1/2005)

Standardized business documents, data definitions, item description and identification, and business processes have been seen as key to effective interorganizational commerce since the 1980s, when electronic data interchange (EDI) became the technology of choice for business-to-business coordination. Vertical information systems (VIS) standards are designed to promote communication and coordination among the organizations comprising a particular industry sector. Unfortunately, despite much promotion, EDI standards achieved only limited adoption; an estimated 2% of the world’s businesses, including just 300,000 US companies have adopted EDI. Low penetration of electronic interconnection standards, particularly around business semantics, is believed to hinder electronic business and supply-chain integration.