ebCore Party ID specifications

In an eDelivery network, participants must be identified in a clear and consistent way before any technical interaction can take place. The ebCore Party ID specifications define how organisations are identified across eDelivery, independently of the messaging protocol or infrastructure component used.

Current versions

Two generations of the ebCore Party ID profile are currently relevant in eDelivery:

• ebCore Party ID 1.x, which has been widely adopted and used in production for several years. Many production eDelivery networks continue to rely on this version today. It remains a stable and well-understood basis for participant identification.
• ebCore Party ID 2.0, adopted in December 2024. This version builds on the long-established ebCore Party ID model and provides updated profiling aligned with the latest eDelivery specifications. It is expected to be adopted progressively by eDelivery ecosystems in the years following its adoption, as software products and infrastructures evolve.

Both profiles are based on the same underlying principles and standards, and serve the same functional role within the eDelivery framework.

For previous versions, see Archive eDelivery ebCore Party ID.

What is the eDelivery ebCore Party ID profile

The eDelivery ebCore Party ID profile is an eDelivery-specific profiling of the OASIS ebCore Party Id Type specification and aligns with internationally recognised identifier schemes, including those registered under ISO 6523.

By relying on these standards, eDelivery ensures compatibility with existing national and sector-specific identification systems.

The profile defines how party identifiers must be expressed and used within eDelivery.

In practice, ebCore Party IDs are used to identify participants in:

• AS4 message headers (sender, receiver, original sender, final recipient)
• Service Metadata Publishers (SMPs), to associate metadata with a participant
• The Service Metadata Locator (SML) mechanism, where identifiers are used in DNS records

The profile ensures that the same identifier is used consistently across all these contexts.

Why ebCore Party ID matters

ebCore Party ID provides the common language for identifying participants, on top of which all other eDelivery interactions depend.

Organisations use many different identification schemes worldwide: national business registers, GS1 identifiers, DUNS numbers and others. Without a shared format, the same organisation could be represented differently across systems, making interoperability fragile or impossible.

The ebCore Party ID specifications address this by defining:

• A standard syntax for expressing participant identifiers
• A clear separation between identifier scheme and identifier value
• A globally interoperable representation, based on recognised international registries

How ebCore Party ID fits into the eDelivery framework

ebCore Party ID specifications form the foundation of identification in eDelivery.

They work together with the other eDelivery profiles as follows:

• ebCore Party ID defines how a participant is uniquely identified
• BDXL (used by the SML mechanism) uses that identifier to locate the correct SMP
• SMP publishes service metadata for the identified participant
• AS4 (Access Points) uses that metadata to exchange messages securely