UNECE METIS work session on statistical metadata Luxembourg, 9 to 11 April 2008 1 SDMX as a source of standardised terminology: MCV and cross-domain concepts

METIS work session on statistical metadataLuxembourg, 9 to 11 April 2008 1

UNECE

SDMX as a source of standardised terminology:MCV and cross-domain concepts

Marco Pellegrino, [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

2Joint UNECE/Eurostat/OECD work session on statistical metadata (METIS) Luxembourg, 9 to 11 April 2008

Please pass on my regards

to former colleagues in

SDMX and METIS.

Good luck with your

meetings.

Best regards

Denis Ward


Starting point for the MCV: the Tower of Babel

Metadata concepts used for identifying/describing statistics Tower of Babel: same name for a different concept or different

name for the same concept. Code lists jungle. Different metadata and quality frameworks Metadata more and more demanded to assist data

interpretation, but… Metadata still hard to exchange in an automated way

From the Tower of Babel to “lingua franca”? • Syntax Technical standards, SDMX-ML• Semantics Cross-domain concepts, located in the MCV


The SDMX Content-Oriented Guidelines

Set of recommended practices - applicable across several statistical subject-matter domains - for creating data and metadata sets using the SDMX standards

Version 1 of the COG is available at www.sdmx.org for public comments up to 31 May 2008

Send comments to: [email protected]

Cc: [email protected]

http://www.sdmx.org/




The SDMX Content-Oriented Guidelines package

Content-Oriented Guidelines

The Guidelines are supplemented by five annexes: Annex 1 - Cross-Domain Concepts Annex 2 - Cross-Domain Code Lists Annex 3 - Statistical Subject-Matter Domains Annex 4 - Metadata Common Vocabulary Annex 5 - SDMX-ML for Content-Oriented Guidelines (zi

p file)

http://sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/sdmx_content-oriented-guidelines_draft_february_2008.pdf

http://sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/sdmx_annex2_code_lists__draft_february_2008.pdf

http://sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/sdmx_annex2_code_lists__draft_february_2008.pdf

http://sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/sdmx_annex3_subject-matter-domains_draft_february_2008.pdf

http://sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/sdmx_annex3_subject-matter-domains_draft_february_2008.pdf

http://sdmx.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/draft_annex_5_sdmx-ml_for_content-oriented-guidelines.zip




The UNSC Commission…

1. Welcomed the SDMX initiative and recognized with appreciation the sponsors’ leadership in heading an important initiative for more efficient data communication at national and international levels

2. Recognized and supported SDMX as the preferred standard for the exchange and sharing of data and metadata

3. Requested that the sponsors continue their work on this initiative and encouraged further SDMX implementations

4. Emphasized the need to further involve national and international agencies by enabling opportunities for collaboration with the sponsoring organisations in order to influence decision-making and its governance to address their needs, especially in the area of developing cross-domain concepts.


Organising cross domain concepts

Collect CDCs that are used across SDMX organisations and their constituencies (an evolving list)

Provide definition and context explanations (linked to Metadata Common vocabulary)

Document usage for data and/or metadata structures

Link to code lists for coded concepts

Map to existing frameworks (e.g. IMF DQAF, Eurostat Metadata Structure, OECD Metastore)


Cross-domain concepts (CDC database)

For each concept:– Name and ID– Description and explanation of context– Representation (free text, code list)– Possible role (as a dimension, or attribute, in a DSD or

MSD)– Link to IMF-Eurostat-OECD metadata frameworks

CDCs are not:– a requisite for SDMX technical conformance– an imposition to statistical organisations

CDC are:– a framework to promote reusability of exchanged data and

metadata




Use of cross-domain concepts

13Joint UNECE/Eurostat/OECD work session on statistical metadata (METIS) Luxembourg, 9 to 11 April 2008 13Joint UNECE/Eurostat/OECD work session on statistical metadata (METIS) Luxembourg, 9 to 11 April 2008

MCV: Expected benefits and use

Improved visibility for existing definitions (building on existing sources where feasible to avoid a proliferation of “standard” terminologies)

Improved accessibility to a set of standard definitions of metadata terms through a single web address

Facilitate mapping of different metadata systems, including those at national level, independently from any specific metadata model

Support to standardisation and consistency of metadata compiled

Support to XML structures and web services for searching and comparing statistical data and metadata with minimum need to determine “semantic equivalence”



MCV and general glossaries

MCV(411)

General glossaries(7 000)

SDMX

concepts

(130)

SDMX

concepts

(130)

International

(e.g. Eurostat / OECD)

Terminology

International

(e.g. Eurostat / OECD)

TerminologyNational

terminologyNational

terminology


MCV STRUCTURE (February 2008)

Glossary fields

• Title (mandatory)

• Definition (mandatory)

• Context for the definition (optional, but widely used)

• Definition source (mandatory)

• Links to related terms within the glossary (optional)

• URL to more detailed information (optional)


RAMON http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon

CODED


MCV: Issues for discussion

Link between MCV and cross-domain concepts

Scope of the MCV glossary: interaction with other general and domain-specific glossaries, including those at national level

Extent of usage and relevance of terms currently in the MCV. Suggestions for definitions and additional terms

Use of MCV concepts in connection with national metadata systems and national glossaries (translation, mapping)

MCV “flat” structure (term, definition, context, source, related terms, hyperlinks)


MCV: Issues for discussion (2)

Maintenance and periodic revisions (frequency?)

Use of registry facilities for notifying interest and launching a public review. Notification about amendments to the glossary

Involvement of NSIs and other stakeholders in the MCV revisions

Need for versioning of definitions in MCV – some definitions will evolve / change

Focus on concepts first, and then on translations


Nothing is more practical than a good theory

We are continually faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems

Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves

All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people(George Bernard Shaw)

Documents

UNECE METIS work session on statistical metadata Luxembourg, 9 to 11 April 2008 1 SDMX as a source of standardised terminology: MCV and cross-domain concepts