2.8.1 EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)

After mastering the communication between computer systems in the very early days of computing the interchange of business data becomes important. EDI was initiated in the 1960's to address the foundation of interchanging business data between computer systems. EDI exchanges structured business data in an agreed standard format by the trading partners. EDI established two major standards: ANSI X.12 and UN/EDIFACT (published as an International Standard, ISO 9735). The ANSI X.12 standard is used in North America and UN/EDIFACT globally. Industry specific EDI standards exist and SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions) is a well known EDI standard in the banking industry. There are standards for all major industries available today ([1], [2], [17]).