In an effort to streamline its online trading process andstrengthen energy trading efficiency, HoustonStreet Exchange hasjoined the independent and not-for-profit Organizaton for theAdvancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). Theexchange says its decision to join marks the industry’s firstmaneuver to bring open standards to wholesale energy trading.

HoustonStreet hopes to increase energy trading efficiencythrough its use of extensible markup language (XML). OASIS is afirm supporter of XML with a focus on product interoperability tosimplify how businesses exchange information. Extensible markuplanguage will give users an open format for the B2B exchange ofdata over the web.

“By joining the consortium, HoustonStreet is demonstrating itscommitment to product-independent standards for e-businessapplications,” said Laura Walker, executive director of OASIS.”Their focus on Internet energy trading will be a valuable asset toour technical work on XML and other structured languages.”

In signing on with OASIS, HoustonStreet will swap informationwith the association and use it to form and support open standardsfor the industry. Ultimately, the use of XML will produceinformation sharing between traders and their offices, as well asbetween trading organizations.

HoustonStreet says it created its trading platform with theutilization of XML in mind. Through this technology it intends tosave its industry customers time and money.

“OASIS is comprised of leading technology companies whounderstand the challenges that industry-wide standardizationpresents,” said Brad Guth, vice president of energy services forHoustonStreet. “We will tap that knowledge, use it as a guidelinefor enhancing our XML protocol, and share the firsthand industryknowledge we’ve gained to bring efficiency to the wholesale energytrading process.” Alex Steis

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