The Diffuse Project-Single Sourcing IT Standards Information

The European Commission's Information Society Technologies (IST) programme created the Diffuse project to provide a single value-added entry point to up-to-date reference and guidance information on available and emerging standards and specifications. This neutral reporting on standards and specifications aims to facilitate the electronic exchange of information. Diffuse supports the IST's Key Action II (New Methods of Work and Electronic Commerce) and Key Action III (Multimedia Content and Tools), which are two of the European Commission's main work areas for its IST programme. While emphasizing the needs of research and technology development communities, the project has a broader perspective of serving the information requirements of the whole of industry, and of the public sector in general. Diffuse builds on the accomplishments of the European Commission's Open Information Interchange initiative, which concluded in December 1999. The Finnish Information Technology Development Centre (TIEKE) leads the project. The other partners, IC Focus (electronic commerce specialists) and The SGML Centre (structured information management specialists), are both based in the UK.