Bright Ideas

The Digital Distribution of Advertising for Publications (DDAP) Association announced collaboration with IDEAlliance, formerly known as Graphic Communications Association (GCA). These two membership organizations are working together to identify common goals and synergize on the development, rationalization and adoption of standards and practices for the industry.

DDAP and IDEAlliance identified five areas in which to focus their collaboration:

-Specifications for Agency Publisher Communications Exchange (SPACE) XML, which includes one of the first public standards built to the W3C's XML Schema recommendation and covers many essential business transactions, such as advertising space reservations, insert orders, change orders and material handling instructions for print forms of advertising.

-The adoption of UNADI, a universal data identifier standard and system. UNADI provides a public method of identifying and tracking ads and ad materials across enterprises, using a standard numbering and identification system.

-The publication of the second edition of IDEAlliance's The Business of Digital Production, providing best practices for Internet-enabled print buying, doing business online and process automation in the printing and publishing industries to include guidelines for roles, responsibilities and liabilities for each player in the print production chain.

-The development of DDAP's "Digital Delivers," an interactive CD-ROM training tool providing a how-to approach for synchronizing digital workflow among agencies, publishers, prepress providers and printers.

-The growth of the Advertising Business Network, a public implementation of SPACE XML and UNADI that provides an open environmment for the exchange of electronic advertising business transactions.

DDAP Chair Alan Darling explains, "There is a great synergy between DDAP and IDEAlliance. While each organization has its own unique mission, we are both committed to the creation and adoption of internationally recognized standards for information exchange. There are certain identifiable areas where the specific expertise of one group can benefit the other as our industry grows into the new arena of computer integrated manufacturing. I look forward to establishing a strong working relationship with the leadership of IDEAlliance."