The 8^th Global Conference on Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange (SDMX) was hosted virtually by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía of Mexico (INEGI) during September 27–30, 2021.

As in past editions, the Global Conference also offered training sessions to build and enhance the technical capacity of organizations using SDMX. The capacity building program took place the week before the conference, during September 20–23, 2021.

The Global Conference is a bi-annual event for the community to share information on recent and upcoming SDMX developments. The target audience included compilers and users of official statistics including national and international agencies, academia, and the private sector.

Given its virtual format, registration to the Global Conference was opened to everyone. Particularly, SDMX Sponsor agencies encouraged participation of:

• Managers of data-producing agencies interested in how SDMX can help raise the efficiency of statistical business processes;
• Hands-on data practitioners who wanted to learn how SDMX could help with day-to-day tasks or looking to improve their knowledge of the standard;
• Researchers who needed to consume and analyze statistical data; and
• Private sector companies interested in development commercial SDMX products.

The theme of the 2021 Global Conference was “Data without Barriers.” It showcased how SDMX can help national and international agencies to simplify, strengthen, and modernize data and metadata exchange. Furthermore, SDMX 3.0 — a new version of the standard — was also officially launched at this conference.

Both the conference and the capacity building program were organized over four half-day sessions. For more information regarding the conference and the training, please consult the following links:

• Training materials can be downloaded here;
• Conference materials can be downloaded here;
• Videos of the presentations can be watched here;
• Summary Report of the Global Conference.