1. Things I found interesting Malcolm Graham, S958
Seybold Conference 1999 San Francisco, Aug 30-Sept 3 To view conference transcripts: Name: sfalumni; Password: insf99
Things I found interesting
Malcolm Graham, S958

2. Nortel people I met at Seybold
Nortel at Seybold
Nortel people I met at Seybold
From left to right
Alan Proffitt, Malcolm Graham, Dustin Taylor, Derek Cadzow, Tim Chandler, Bob Mutter, Kerri-Ann Belanger, Kris Lizuck

3. Topic list XML (extensible markup language)
Summary of things I found of interest
XML (extensible markup language)
ICE (information & content exchange)
SVG (scalable vector graphics)
E-commerce

4. XML (extensible mark-up language)
What is it?
Why is it important?
XML is a method for tagging structured data in a text file (based on SGML); is designed to meet the challenges of large-scale electronic publishing and will be widely used in the future for the exchange of data across Web
XML 1.0 specification defines context-interpretable tags & attributes for developing applications that work with each other; growing set of optional modules; e.g., Xlink, XSL, DOM, RDF, DTD; see and see tutorial
Makes it easy to automatically process data using inexpensive software
Enables the display of information as required
Provides metadata, data about information, to ease the task of finding the right information
Enables definition of platform-independent protocols for data exchange (e.g., ICE) especially for E-commerce

5. ICE (information & content exchange)
What is it?
Why is it important?
ICE is an XML-based protocol designed primarily for business-to-business network-based interactions; for example, syndicated publishing networks, Web superstores, and online reseller channels by establishing Web-site-to-Web-site information networks. See
The ICE specification provides a common language & architecture to facilitate the process of automatically exchanging, updating, supplying & controlling assets in a trusted fashion without manual intervention or knowledge of remote Web site structures
ICE will be widely used for E-commerce
Example: National Semiconductor site, see

6. SVG (scalable vector graphics)
What is it?
Why is it important?
SVG is a language for describing two-dimensional graphics in XML. SVG can be dynamic and interactive. SVG can be animated via scripting. See
SVG, which is XML-based, may replace GIF, JPEG, Flash & QuickTime on the web and is independent of the display platform (monitor, TV, LED, or print)
SVG features: small size, high-resolution, zooming & panning inside graphics without reloading, animation, filter, kerning, masking, scripting, & linking
Users can obtain dynamic information from an SVG object; since SVG is XML-based, it's entirely text-based which allows search engines to index SVG objects and users to search for text within them (for example, button text or a street name on a map)

7. E-commerce
What is it?
Why is it important?
E-commerce will dominate web development thrusts over the next few years
Business-to-consumer: 8 to 108 billion by 2003
Business-to-business: 131 billion to 1.5 trillion by 2003
Business-to-business (web-server-to-web-server) will be the dominant focus with secondary focus on consumer
XML, ICE, SVG, and dynamic information delivery will be the dominant technologies employed
Enabling digital content for E-commerce: Adobe announced WebBuy plugin for Acrobat Reader and PDF Merchant (server-based technology)
Examples: Microsoft BizTalk; Open Buying on the Internet (OBI); RosettaNet, CommerceNet
Web trends & metrics, see