Distributed Electronic Trade Scenarios: Representation, Design, Prototyping

This paper introduces the concept of the electronic trade scenario as a potential solution to "open" electronic commerce-trade among parties that have no prior trading relationship. The basic idea is that trade scenarios would be stored in a publicly accessible electronic library (perhaps a "global repository" maintained by an independent international organization), and downloaded by trading parties as needed for a particular trade. The documentary Petri net (DPN) is presented as a possible representation for such trade scenarios. The InterProcs system is described as a prototyping environment to support the design and execution of such trading systems using the DPN representation. Given the assumption that the parties are trading at "arm's length," a key concern will be the development of trustworthy trade scenarios with sufficient controls and evidentiary documentation. Directions for further work to improve the quality and flexibility of trade scenario designs are described.