Electronic data interchange

Abstract

Electronic data interchange (EDI) consists of highly automated, highly standardized computer-based exchanges of data between IT applications in different business enterprises. By reducing expensive paperwork between such exchanges, EDI obviously offers numerous advantages. For the railway industry, in particular, realizing EDI's benefits requires an organization of different sectors into communities with specific standard messages to simplify data interchange. As a general rule, the first purpose of these messages is to cover data interchanges typical of the particular sector of activity and community. Given the trend towards worldwide economic exchanges, these communities are gradually spreading across the world's individual continents.