%0 Journal Article
%@ 1438-8871
%I Gunther Eysenbach
%V 2
%N 2
%P e12
%T The SGML Standardization Framework and the Introduction of XML
%A Fierz,Walter
%A Grütter,Rolf
%+ Institute for Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Frohbergstrasse 3, CH-9001 St. Gallen, Switzerland, +41 71 494 37 40, walter.fierz@gd-ikmi.sg.ch
%K Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML)
%K Extensible Markup Language (XML)
%K standardization framework
%K healthcare
%K patient record
%K Architectural Forms
%K Health Level 7
%K Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS)
%K clinical study
%D 2000
%7 30.6.2000
%9 Original Paper
%J J Med Internet Res
%G English
%X Extensible Markup Language (XML) is on its way to becoming a global standard for the representation, exchange, and presentation of information on the World Wide Web (WWW). More than that, XML is creating a standardization framework, in terms of an open network of meta-standards and mediators that allows for the definition of further conventions and agreements in specific business domains. Such an approach is particularly needed in the healthcare domain; XML promises to especially suit the particularities of patient records and their lifelong storage, retrieval, and exchange. At a time when change rather than steadiness is becoming the faithful feature of our society, standardization frameworks which support a diversified growth of specifications that are appropriate to the actual needs of the users are becoming more and more important; and efforts should be made to encourage this new attempt at standardization to grow in a fruitful direction. Thus, the introduction of XML reflects a standardization process which is neither exclusively based on an acknowledged standardization authority, nor a pure market standard. Instead, a consortium of companies, academic institutions, and public bodies has agreed on a common recommendation based on an existing standardization framework. The consortium's process of agreeing to a standardization framework will doubtlessly be successful in the case of XML, and it is suggested that it should be considered as a generic model for standardization processes in the future.
%M 11720931
%R 10.2196/jmir.2.2.e12
%U http://www.jmir.org/2000/2/e12/
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2.2.e12
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11720931