James R. Peters
, president and chief technology officer for Datalex
plc (ISE: DLE; OTC: DLEXY), has been elected to the position of vice-president on the board of the OpenTravel Alliance (OTA), a technology standards organization working to create and implement industry-wide, open e-business specifications for the efficient and effective exchange of travel-industry information via the Internet.

Peters, who has been a member of the OTA since its inception in 1999, joins the executive staff dedicated to helping the travel industry develop a commonly accepted communications process using eXtensible Markup Language (XML). XML is an open standard that is platform independent and provides a specification approach for describing, capturing, processing, and publishing information. This well-defined set of common data elements, or vocabulary, supports communication across multiple channels and expedites the flow of information while meeting travel industry and customer needs.

“We are proud of Jim`s appointment and role in the OTA,” said Neil Beck
, chief executive officer for Datalex, “which positions Datalex at the heart of the exciting and evolving Web services sector that has so much to offer the worldwide travel community.”

The OTA is a self-funded, non-profit organization comprised of more than 150 members, including major airlines, hoteliers, car rental companies, leisure suppliers, travel agencies, global distribution systems (GDS), technology providers and other interested parties. With influential names in all sectors of the travel industry, the OTA is comprised of representatives from the airlines, car rental providers, hotels, leisure suppliers, service providers, tour operators, travel agencies and trade associations.

“My election to the OTA Board and the office of Vice President is both an honor and a responsibility. We have a strong board and alliance representative of the diversity of the travel sector,” Peters said. “I look forward to playing my part to encourage the development of technology standards that take full advantage of the near universal access to the Internet and related technologies.” For more information about Web Services technology in development at Datalex, see the development brief Web Services and Datalex.

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