Databases tailored for the storage of XML data represent an exciting new opportunity for improvement in the storage and manipulation of data and metadata. For a large set of applications an XML database will often far surpass traditional data storage mechanisms in convenience, ease of development and performance. The following list contains a number of applications that are ideally suited for XML databases.

• Corporate information portals
• Membership databases
• Product catalogs
• Parts databases
• Patient information tracking
• Business to business document exchange

Since XML databases represent a new technology there has been up to this point no concerted effort to develop specifications specifically for the market. This lack of specifications inevitably increases the learning curve for employees, prevents product interoperability and ultimately slows the adoption of the products in the market place. To address these issues a decision was made to start the XML:DB initiative. It is our hope that through the efforts of XML:DB that standards can be brought to the XML database industry and that XML databases can make it into the standard toolset used by IT departments worldwide.

The XML:DB Initiative's long term goals can be summarized as:

• Development of technology specifications for managing the data in XML Databases
• Contribution of reference implementations of those specifications under an Open Source License
• Formation of a community where XML database vendors and users can ask questions and exchange information to learn more about XML database technology and applications.
• Evangelism of XML database products and technologies to raise the visibility of XML databases in the marketplace

XML:DB is an industry initiative formed by SMB GmbH, the dbXML Group L.L.C and the OpenHealth Care Group. XML:DB is also supported by a growing list of organizations with interest in XML and XML databases. XML:DB provides a community for collaborative development of specifications for XML databases and data manipulation technologies. Along with each specification an open source reference implementation will be developed to validate the ideas put forth in the specification and to more rapidly drive acceptance of the specification in real products.

The traditional steward for XML standards has been the World Wide Web Consortium and they have done an outstanding job of getting XML to the point of broad acceptance in the technology industry. XML databases however, have much greater applicability then just the World Wide Web and it is for this reason that we felt it was the appropriate time to form a new organization chartered with the development of XML database specific specifications. XML:DB does not at this time consider itself a standards body. Therefore, as it makes sense to do so we will submit our specifications to an appropriate standards body for international standardization.

Membership in XML:DB is free and all interested parties are invited and encouraged to participate. This participation can come in the form of discussion on one of our mailing lists or as a supporter of the XML:DB organization it self. As always, we welcome and appreciate your feedback so that we might serve you better.