Government agencies have the need to exchange information with other agencies, with private sector companies, and with citizens. In the past, both the available communications infrastructure and the required information processing tools were cumbersome and often custom-generated. The Internet now provides a near-ubiquitous communications infrastructure. Most internet-based information exchange, however, can be classified as semi-automated. The information is primarily formatted for, presented to, and used by a human either requesting or being automatically sent information. Protocols for automating information exchange, such as Electronic Document Interchange (EDI) standards, were developed, but they are relatively rigid and expensive to implement. XML, or eXtensible Markup Language, holds the promise of marrying flexible, low cost fully-automated information exchange to the Internet. XML, a simplified subset of Standardized General Markup Language (SGML), is poised to become the foundation for fully automated web-based transactions, as well as the new basis for electronic documentation. One potential application is to enhance available traveler information services by processing currently available weather, construction, road condition and traffic information into "TravelCasts" tailored to the individual user's planned route and time of travel. These would be analogous to the Aviation Route Forecast produced for pilots based on their flight plans. (A*)
Abstract