The Open Buying on the Internet (OBI) standards consortium has moved home from SupplyWorks to the CommerceNet consortium. From its inception in April 1997 until now, OBI has been managed and directed by Lexington, Massachusetts-based SupplyWorks. CommerceNet said OBI remains independent, but will simultaneously benefit from CommerceNet’s management experience. The job of the OBI is to produce a prospective set of standards for combining web technologies with legacy systems for the procurement of things like office supplies, maintenance materials and laboratory supplies that apparently account for about 80% of all company’s purchasing activities. Version 1.0 came out in May last year and next version is due by June 1 this year. CommerceNet counts about 500 vendors and organizations as its members and its goal is promote the spread of e-commerce and the enabling technology.
