STAR (Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail), the IT standards body for the North American retail automotive industry, and AutoDESA (Automotive Data Exchange Standards Australia), the IT standards body for the Australian retail automotive industry have agreed to cooperate together on joint standards development projects. STAR and AutoDESA have signed a Memo of Understanding (MOU) that enables both organizations to exchange memberships, participate in standards development projects, and share technical documentation and specifications.
While STAR has primarily focused its standards development activity in the United States, this partnership helps spread STAR standards around the globe to the Asia Pacific region. The only other non-US member is Renault, based in France. "Joining forces with AutoDESA is an excellent idea," says Tom Campisi, STAR communications chair. "Our organizations can collaborate together on standards development and reuse each other's intellectual capital."
The focus of AutoDESA is to promote the use of global data interchange standards within the Australian automotive retail value chain. Wherever possible, AutoDESA will utilize existing STAR standards. Any unique Australian requirements will be communicated back to the STAR organization for consideration in future releases. "At a time of rapid change in the use of technology, it is essential to use every technique available to reduce development time," says Bob Ivey, Secretary of AutoDESA. "Working closely with STAR will no doubt assist AutoDESA achieve its goals in a more timely and cost effective manner. "In addition, Australian automotive manufacturers have affiliated operations in the USA. Forthcoming Trade Agreements between our countries will see greater use of shared technology. It makes sense to synchronize our efforts. Ultimately achieving global standards in automotive retail is a win/win outcome for both organizations." STAR is a non-profit, auto industry-wide initiative to create voluntary IT standards for the data elements and transmission format used by manufacturers, dealers, and retail system providers to communicate with each other.