ALL go for… browser launch

The Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., BAE Systems, and Raytheon Co. follow in the footsteps of the Big Three automakers in seeking to establish a single Internet portal for conducting business-to-business e-commerce.

Call it the “Big One”: Covisint, a B2B integrated supplier exchange through a single global Internet portal created Feb. 25 by the Big Three - Ford, General Motors, and DaimlerChrysler.

Temporarily titled NewCo, the joint venture was formally christened Covisint on May 16. The name Covisint (pronounced KO-vis-int) is a combination of the primary concepts of why the exchange is being formed, the principals said in a press release: “Co” represents connectivity, collaboration, and communication; “Vis” represents the visibility that the Internet provides and the vision of the future of supply chain management; “Int” represents the integrated solutions the venture will provide as well as the international scope of the exchange.