The full form of UDDI is Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration.

The Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) specifications define a registry service for Web services and for other electronic and non-electronic services. A UDDI registry service is a Web service that manages information about service providers, service implementations, and service metadata. Service providers can use UDDI to advertise the services they offer. Service consumers can use UDDI to discover services that suit their requirements and to obtain the service metadata needed to consume those services.

UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration) is an XML-based registry for businesses worldwide to list themselves on the Internet. Its ultimate goal is to streamline online transactions by enabling companies to find one another on the Web and make their systems interoperable for e-commerce. UDDI is often compared to a telephone book’s white, yellow, and green pages. The project allows businesses to list themselves by name, product, location, or the Web services they offer.

Microsoft, IBM, and Ariba spearheaded UDDI. The project now includes 130 companies, including some of the biggest names in the corporate world. Compaq, American Express, SAP AG, and Ford Motor Company are all committed to UDDI, as is Hewlett-Packard, whose own XML-based directory approach, called e-speak, is now being integrated with UDDI.

The UDDI specifications define:

1. SOAP APIs that applications use to query and to publish information to a UDDI registry

2. XML Schema schemata of the registry data model and the SOAP message formats

3. WSDL definitions of the SOAP APIs

4. UDDI registry definitions (technical models – tModels) of various identifier and category systems that may be used to identify and categorize UDDI registrations

The OASIS UDDI Spec TC also develops technical notes and best practice documents that aid users in deploying and using UDDI registries effectively.