NEWSWATCH: RETAILERS, MANUFACTURERS PREPARE FOR NEW GLOBAL ITEM REGISTRY 2004-05-31 (2)

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- As the Uniform Code Council held its U Connect conference at the Hilton Anaheim Resort here last week, it marked the last conference at which its UCCnet subsidiary will serve as an item registry for data synchronization. That service will be assumed on Aug. 1 by a new Global Registry under the auspices of EAN International and UCC, though it will be operated by UCCnet. Unlike UCCnet, the new Global Registry will serve as a standard item registry worldwide. UCCnet will continue to offer data pool and synchronization services. All retailers and manufacturers who joined UCCnet since August of last year automatically move to the new registry, said Sean Lockhead, director, product architecture, UCCnet, Lawrenceville, N.J. Other UCCnet companies are still transitioning to the registry, he said. The question now, he noted, was whether a "truly standards-based, independent global registry" will remove the "barrier" to participating in global data synchronization raised by international companies in the past.