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Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) has been around for about 30 years as a means of computer-to-computer communication, primarily in purchasing, shipping, and billing applications. However, the way business is transacted via EDI has limited its growth. Today, only an estimated 30,000 U.S. businesses use EDI: less than one half of one percent of the 6.2 million businesses in the U.S. (according to the Dept. of Labor and IRS). But that could change: advantages of both electronic commerce (EC) and the Internet have added new value to EDI.
What's the difference between EDI and Electronic Commerce (EC)? EDI is defined as the computer-tocomputer communication of business information, such as purchase orders, invoices, and bills of lading in a standard electronic format, between trading partners. EC includes EDI, but further recognizes the need for inter-personal communication, transfer of monies, and sharing common databases as additional activities. Most EDI use has been driven by large organizations, such as the Department of Defense, the federal government, and...