Workshop on International Collaboration for Standards-Based ModernisationGeneva, May 2015

SDMX GLOSSARY

New Central Reference Pointfor SDMX Terminology

David.BARRACLOUGH@oecd.orgDanny.DELCAMBRE@ec.europa.eu

• The SDMX Metadata Common Vocabulary (MCV) was published in January 2009 as Annex 4 to the SDMX Content-Oriented Guidelines

• Basic philosophy: • Set of concepts and related definitions used in structural and reference metadata• To recommend a common terminology for improving communication and

understanding.

• Main problem faced when developed: • Not much practical experience in terms of use and implementation• Governance and ownership not very well defined

• In 2014, based on experience and use cases gained, the uptick in SDMX adoption, and the newly-defined SDMX working groups, it was decided to change the MCV

Background

Why change ?

SDMX Glossary 2015

• SDMX Glossary should be restricted to SDMX-specific terminology and concepts

• The SDMX glossary should be the sole repository for SDMX terminology

• A separate glossary should deal with non-SDMX terms

• New SDMX methodological material has been made available since 2009 -> revision needed

• Clarifications, corrections, improvements, harmonisation, etc. needed

• Relevant governance and ownership in place for future revisions

• Relevant SDMX SWG ownership• Possible governance and revision charter

Why do we need an SDMX Glossary ?

• Common and harmonised language for building and understanding SDMX data exchange arrangements of statistical organisations

• A reference tool for using and mapping terminology found in SDMX Data Structure Definitions (DSDs), Code Lists and other SDMX artefacts

• Single entry point to a common SDMX terminology to facilitate communication and understanding

• A tool and standard for modernising the statistical industry, and relevant to the strategy of the UNECE Modernisation Committee on Standards

In short

1. if a term is used in SDMX exchange, then its precise meaning should correspond to the SDMX Glossary definition;

2. any reference to a particular phenomenon described in the SDMX Glossary should use the appropriate term

What do we mean with the word "Glossary" ?

DESIGNATION

Neutral:• scientific name

(Felis silvestris catus)• mathematical formula• picture• etc.

Linguistic:• cat• котка• γάτα• etc.

Vocabulary

Concept

Glossary (technical)

Dictionary (general)

DESCRIPTION

SOURCE

A cat is a small four -legged furry animal with claws and whiskers, kept as a pet.

Harrap's Essential English Dictionary, 1995

Encyclopedia

DETAIL

SOURCE

Wikipedia

The "terminology layers"

Thesaurus

Semantic relationships with other conceptsBroad Term (BT) : AnimalNarrow Term (NT) : Angora, Chartreux, etc.Related Term (RT)-: Wildcat (Simplified model)

How is the Glossary organised ?

* = Mandatory information

**

*

Methodological principles for the revision ?

• A concept should be included in the glossary only if it is used in the general context of SDMX

• Concepts used in the SDMX information model should be included in the Glossary

• Concepts used in the reference metadata frameworks of the SDMX sponsor organisations (e.g. "Institutional mandate", "Sector coverage") should be covered by the glossary

• All definitions to be accompanied with explanatory information (field called Context)

• No technicalities in the "Definition" and "Context" fields. Implementers are referred to the SDMX technical documentation

How was the revision exercise conducted ?

• In March 2014 an ad hoc Task Force made of members of the SDMX Statistical Working Group (SWG), SDMX Technical Working Group (TWG), and other metadata/SDMX experts was set up.

• The input documents were:• The 2009 (current) MCV• An initial proposal for discussion to remove and add relevant terms from

the 2009 MCV -> the SDMX Glossary v0.1• A glossary of SDMX technical terms provided by the TWG• A 2009 mapping of IMF, Eurostat, OECD and SDMX ref. metadata terms

Working and Review Procedure

• Working practice: 2-3 hour web-based « sprint » sessions. Milestones:

1. Start first pass through the SDMX Glossary v0.1 term-by-term

2. A second pass started through the SDMX Glossary term-by-term

3. Pass the document to the editor -> SDMX Glossary (edited)

4. Step through the SDMX Glossary (edited), only the parked terms and

outstanding actions

Parallel work to resolve actions on parked terms -> direct to the editor for incorporation before next sprint session

• Review procedure:

• Public consultation through SDMX.org

• Written procedure to SDMX Secretariat and sponsors.

How to publish ?

The SDMX Glossary will be made publicly available in various forms:

• As a SDMX Concept Scheme stored in the SDMX Global Registry

• As a download document from http://sdmx.org and/or UNECE web pages dedicated to the Modernisation Committee on Standards

• As a subset of the CODED (COncepts and DEfinitions Database) database maintained by Eurostat

• Other channels ?

Lessons learnt from the exercise

• Review procedure took far longer than expected:• 19 sprints so far = Ironman triathlon?

• Intensive on-line editing sessions for the sprint master (me!)

• Word docs have nice comments, tracked changes, and are ubiquitous, although far from the best tool for this

• No individual term editing history• Can’t link directly to glossary terms• Can’t do collaborative editing – each person blocks the entire document• Tried to manage collaboration on the doc through the UNECE wiki, though

some people still send it by email -> nightmare to merge the individual word documents

• It’s 2015 – is there a good, accessible tool would allow:• Task force to easily collaborate and advance outside of sprints• Less manual editing required by the project/sprint leader• Links to the glossary terms for easy sharing• Term edit history, comparison, comments• UNECE wiki? Google Docs?

Some questions

• How to ensure that the SDMX Glossary is used and well-referenced, especially in place of the 2009 MCV?

• How to revise the SDMX Glossary in the future? This seemed to be a problem with the MCV - should we create some form of a revision charter with rules? Look to the ownership group example for version revision frequency?

• How can the SDMX Glossary and forthcoming Metadata Glossary reinforce each other and drive standards modernisation in the future?

• How can the SDMX Glossary drive metadata-driven or machine-oriented processes? For example, could a glossary revision create a trigger event leading to automatic refresh of metadata and processes?

THANK YOU !