So far, the DATEX II work has very much focussed on the aspect of data modelling and data formats for exchanging data. The aspect of the exchange protocol itself - although always part of the DATEX story since its beginning in the early 1990ies - has somehow faced significantly less attention. Even when this new website had been designed, a dedicated forum on exchange was placed in this very spot. So my big question is: how important is exchange for the users of DATEX II?

Would a standard be desperately needed, or does a standardised data model and exchange format provide sufficient interoperability on application level, and the technical details of exchange can be left to project specific or regional specifications? Is there a commercial or societal benefit expected, if a European (CEN) or international (ISO) standard for exchange of DATEX II payload existed?

These are important questions and they are constantly discussed inside the DATEX II Technical Group (TG), which I am honoured to chair. The TG has recently decided to launch a work item on this issue and the issue is also in the pipeline of CEN TC278 WG8 on their roadmap for DATEX II standardisation. But what do other stakeholders and/or DATEX II users think about this? Could we use this forum for an open exchange of thoughts on this topic? The forums in general don't seem to be used yet, although this may very well be due to the fact that the new website had been launched exactly on time for the summer break ;-). Maybe we can turn it into a real, living electronic forum during this autumn, also bearing in mind that a new release candidate (RC2) of DATEX II is expected by the end of this year. Whatever we can clarify here or in any of the other forums is most likely to find its way into the final release of DATEX II v2.0 and the corresponding CEN Technical Specifications.

Josef Kaltwasser
Chairman of the EasyWay ES5 DATEX Technical Group