StepStone ASA Announces its Support for the Launch of HR-XML Consortium Europe

StepStone today announced its support for the formation of the HR-XML Consortium Europe, which is chartered with driving the development and adoption of HR-XML standards by employers, HR services companies, software developers and government agencies across Europe. John Spiers, CIO of StepStone has contributed to the preparation leading up to this announcement and is one of the initial Founder Directors and supporters of the organisation.

The HR-XML Consortium is dedicated to the development and promotion of a standard suite of XML specifications to enable e-business and the automation of human resources-related data exchanges. Its new affiliate organisation, HR-XML Consortium Europe, is chartered with ensuring that standards fully meet the needs of organizations in Europe and promoting them across all areas of the HR industry. HR-XML Europe will continue to work closely with HR-XML and its other international initiatives to ensure a consistent approach to HR standardization worldwide.

According to John Spiers, Chief Information Officer at StepStone, ìStandards benefit all sectors of the HR industry by creating more efficient markets for people, jobs and technology. Removing the artificial barriers created by incompatible information formats will help both users and suppliers of HR technology.î

HR-XML (www.hr-xml.org) is an independent, non-profit consortium dedicated to enabling e-commerce and inter-company exchange of human resources data worldwide. The work of the Consortium centres on the development and promotion of standardized XML vocabularies for HR. HR-XMLís current efforts are focused on standards for staffing and recruiting, compensation and benefits, training and work force management. HR-XML is represented by its membership in 22 countries, and in Europe through its affiliate organization, HR-XML Consortium Europe.