(August 5, 2002) - The Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) project, whose specification provides one of the building blocks for Web services applications and services, and OASIS, an industry standards body, have announced that OASIS will serve as the steward for the UDDI project and activities and will continue development of the UDDI technical work.

This transition delivers on the goals laid out in the UDDI project's original charter. OASIS, a global consortium that drives the development, convergence, and adoption of e-business standards, will manage the future development of the UDDI specification and related activities. Existing business registries will continue to be made available by registry operators.

Under OASIS, the UDDI specification will continue to advance as a standard, and interested companies can continue to incorporate the specification into future business and software plans. UDDI also will benefit from additional expertise in shaping, developing, and coordinating the fundamentals for open standards based business interoperability.

Along with the transition, UDDI.org also announced the release of the version 3 specification. The new specification will be the basis for future development under OASIS.

"Version 3 provides the opportunity to make and mold UDDI registries for different purposes in different contexts, while maintaining a standard interoperable foundation," said Chris Kurt, General Program Manager, UDDI.org. "Additional features and enhancements such as those in the areas of security and internationalization are now included per requirements of implementers and end users, including the entire UDDI community."

The new version 3 specification offers a strong foundation for a diverse set of Web services architectures and delivers key enhancements, including: Increased security features: Support for XML-based digital signatures, and XML-based policies are now managed in UDDI operations. Improved Web Services Description Language (WSDL) support: Changes were made in the UDDI schema so WSDL-based Web services can be found and run more easily. Multi-registry topologies: Provides the ability to take Web services registrations from a local registry and promote them to a private or public registry. New subscription API and core information model advances: Allows UDDI users to receive proactive notifications on services and changes to the UDDI registry.

For more information, see the UDDI Version 3.0 Features List at http://uddi.org/pubs/uddi_v3_features.htm