The SDMX Sponsors are pleased to announce that the two SDMX working groups set up in 2011 (the SDMX Technical Working Group working on SDMX technical and IT standards and the  SDMX Statistical Working Group working on Content-oriented Guidelines and related issues) have provided valuable support to the SDMX initiative.

The aim of the SDMX Sponsors in establishing these working groups has been to involve SDMX users more closely in the maintenance, development and implementation of SDMX. The SDMX Sponsors consider that this continues to be important as more and more statistical organisations throughout the world are implementing the SDMX technical, IT and statistical standards and guidelines.

As stated in the Terms of Reference, membership should normally not exceed two years with new organisations coming in after this period on a revolving basis. In order to ensure continuity of the work, the SDMX Sponsors agreed on starting the gradual replacement of the initial participants.

The SDMX Sponsors would therefore kindly invite you to express your interest if you wish to take part in one or both of the SDMX Working Groups mentioned above. Your participation is subject to the following:

• The two SDMX Working Groups will each have not more than 20 members while ensuring geographical balance among participants.
• Participants will be part of the Working Groups normally for a period of maximum two years; they can be member more than once.
• Participants should expect to attend one or two meetings per year for each of the two Working Groups.
• Participation via audio/videoconference facilities will be possible to minimise costs.
• Participants are expected to take part actively, with regular input to these technical meetings. The estimated workload is around one person-month per year, per group.
• The SDMX Secretariat and the SDMX Sponsors will select members on the basis of the abovementioned rules.

If your institution wants to participate, please express your interest with the names and expertise of the proposed participants in an e-mail to secretariat@smdx.org by 31 May 2013 at the latest.

Global SDMX Implementation: Modernising Official Statistics

The next SDMX Global Conference will be held from 11 to 13 September 2013 at the OECD in Paris, with BIS and Eurostat acting as co-hosts on behalf of the SDMX Sponsors. The theme of this year’s conference is the global SDMX implementation and the role that SDMX can play in modernising official statistics. The conference will respond to the information needs of statistical managers and SDMX users to implement and maximise the value of adopting SDMX in data exchange. National statistical agencies, central banks and international organisations will share their experiences and expertise using SDMX in the collection and dissemination of official statistics.

Topics to be covered in the SDMX Global Conference 2013 include, for example, the application of SDMX in concrete data collection exercises such as national accounts, and the associated benefits of data and metadata integration and streamlining of national and international data exchange. The SDMX Sponsors will report on the progress of the SDMX technical and statistical standards and on the improved SDMX IT infrastructure including the implementation of the SDMX Global Registry. The conference will also provide an opportunity for the participants to explore the relationship between the SDMX business process models for statistics with other related technical standards.

	SDMX Global Conference 2013 – Draft Programme
	SDMX 2013 Registration form

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published SDMX as “International Standard” (IS) 17369 on 8 January 2013. Version 1.0 of SDMX was approved as an ISO Technical Specification (TS) in 2005, which had a limited life and eventually needed to be retired or be advanced to the status of International Standard. Version 2.1 of SDMX was completed and published in May 2011. Since that time, SDMX progressed through ISO review and approval stages that led to a ballot among all members of the ISO Technical Committee 154 around the world and ended in support of its publication as ISO/IS 17369. 

The ISO publication essentially covers the SDMX Framework (Part 1 of the standard) with additional explanatory material and references to the seven parts of the standard which are to be found on the SDMX website in the Standards section.

The achievement of SDMX being published as ISO/IS 17369 is particularly important for institutions in countries that require an International Standard to be used in funding statistical development activities.

SDMX will continue to advance standards work in the years ahead within the community of experts and institutions, with this work appearing on the SDMX website and providing a basis for any proposals to modify ISO/IS 17369 in the future.

Following a request from members of the SDMX community, the SDMX Technical Working Group has prepared an updated version of the SDMX web service guidelines that now offers guidelines on how to address typical security requirements.

The updated version can be downloaded here.

Comments can be sent to the SDMX Secretariat (secretariat@sdmx.org) and are welcome by 1st February 2013. The final version – edited and approved by SDMX – will also be posted on the sdmx.org website.