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The Australian Government Information Management Office Archive

Doing Business Online with Government

Appendix 2 - Glossary

ABN
Australian Business Number (ABN)-a unique Australian business identifier allocated by the Australian Taxation Office, see www.abr.business.gov.au/.

APCC
Australian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC)-the peak council of departments responsible for procurement and construction policy for Australian Commonwealth, State and Territory governments,  see www.apcc.gov.au.

Authentication
Authentication is the solution to the need for certainty in the identity of the other party to a transaction.

CETS
Commonwealth Electronic Tender System (CETS)-enables suppliers to access selected Commonwealth Government bidding opportunities and submit electronic tenders in response, see www.tenders.gov.au.

Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines
Commonwealth Procurement Guidelines and Best Practice Guidance (February 2002) clarify what is required and expected in Commonwealth procurement activity. The Guidelines allow agencies to decide how best to handle their affairs, taking account of their own circumstances and the nature of the markets in which they are operating, see http://www.finance.gov.au/ctc/index.html

Confidentiality
Confidentiality refers to the need to protect information because of its value or sensitivity.

DUNS
Data Universal Numbering System-Internationally recognised business numbering system provided by Dun & Bradstreet, see www.dnb.com/duns_update/.

EAN/UCC
European Article Number/Uniform Code Council-a system for numbering products, see www.ean.com.au.

EbXML
Electronic Business Extensible Markup Language (EbXML)-a standard XML-based framework for e-business transactions, see www.ebxml.org and entry for 'XML below.

EDI
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)-computer-to-computer communication of business messages in standard codes and formats. EDI is a long-established, relatively costly business process used mainly by larger companies, but it is increasingly being integrated with lower-cost Internet-based technology.

E-business
Electronic business (e-business)-encompasses all of what has been called e-commerce, and includes every aspect of the firm's strategy and operations. In its narrowest sense, e-business means the use of information and Internet technologies to conduct business among buyers, sellers and other trading partners.

E-commerce
Electronic commerce (e-commerce)-use of electronic communication, particularly via the Internet, to facilitate the purchase/sale of goods and services. E-commerce includes all forms of electronic trading including electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic banking, electronic mail and other online services.

Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (ETA)
This Act provides a regulatory framework to facilitate the use of electronic transactions under Commonwealth laws, see http://scaleplus.law.gov.au/html/pasteact/3/3328/top.htm. Other jurisdictions have enacted or will enact complementary legislation in order to establish a uniform legal framework for electronic transactions across Australia.

E-marketplace
An electronic marketplace (e-marketplace) allows buyers and suppliers to carry out transactions via the Internet. E-marketplaces typically contain online catalogues from a number of suppliers, as well as ordering facilities, while some also include the capability to seek quotes from suppliers in the marketplace.

ESA
Endorsed Supplier Arrangement (ESA)-a system for pre-qualifying suppliers in the Information Technology, Major Office Machine, Commercial Office Furniture and Auctioneering industries that wish to sell to Commonwealth Government agencies, see www.esa.finance.gov.au

Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act)
This Act provides a framework for the proper management by Commonwealth agencies of public money and public property, see www.finance.gov.au/finframework/fma_legislation.html.

GaPS
Gazette Publishing System (GaPS)-agency agreements, Commonwealth contracts and standing offers with an estimated liability of $2000 or more must be reported in the Purchasing and Disposals Gazette, within six weeks of entering into the agreement. This information is available on the GaPS site at www.contracts.gov.au.

Gatekeeper
Gatekeeper is the Commonwealth strategy for the use of public key infrastructure to secure electronic transactions with government, see http://www.noie.gov.au/trust/securing/gatekeeper.

Non-repudiation
Outcome achieved when the sender of a document is not able to deny sending it.

OBI
Open Buying on the Internet-a protocol specifying procedures for Internet-based purchasing of commodities, see www.openbuy.org.

Privacy
Privacy includes procedures for the proper collection, management and use of information about a natural person. Commonwealth privacy legislation determines how government agencies and business handle the private information provided to them.

Procurement
' Simple procurement' is the acquisition, through simple purchase processes (for example, ordering from a catalogue), of goods and services that are commodities or otherwise easily described. 'Complex procurement' is the acquisition, through multi-stage, managed selection and evaluation processes, of non-commodity goods and services. 'Strategic procurement' is the acquisition of goods and services that are critical to an organisation's viability, and may involve selection of a small group of suppliers through which a business's strategic needs are acquired.

Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)
PKI involves the use of a pair of keys for encryption and decryption: a 'public' key, which is publicly available, and a 'private' key, which must be kept secret. There is an inverse relationship between the two keys: what is encrypted with the one key, can only be decrypted by the other.

Security
Security refers to measures to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, access and availability of data during its transmission and its storage in all formats.

SME
Small-to-medium sized enterprise (SME)-The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS catalogue 8141) defines:

• a micro business, as one employing fewer than five people;
• other small businesses, as employing five or more, but fewer than 20 people;
• a medium business as one employing 20 or more people but fewer than 200; and
• a large business, as one employing 200 or more people.

A separate definition exists for SMEs in the information technology sector, with the recently released 'ICT procurement arrangements to assist SMEs', see www.dcita.gov.au/Article/0,,0_1-2_15-4_106947,00.html

SOLX
Solutions Exchange (SOLX)-an online listing of commercial products and services able to help Commonwealth Government agencies meet their electronic service delivery and other online needs.

SSL
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)-a technology for encrypting a communications link.

UBL
Universal Business Language (UBL)-an initiative to develop a standard library of XML business documents for example, purchase orders, invoices; see http://oasis-open.org/committees/ubl/.

UDDI
Universal Description, Discovery and Integration-a cross-industry standard for describing services, discovering businesses, and integrating business services using the Internet, see www.uddi.org.

UNSPSC
Universal Standard Products and Services Code - an international classification system for goods and services. (Copyright in this code is currently (June 2002) the subject of legal determination in the USA. The APCC is keeping this issue under review and will adjust the Framework as required. As at June 2002, the APCC supports Version 5.01 of the code).

XML
Extensible Markup Language-a standard for creating common data formats for the web environment, see www.xml.org.