1. Interoperable data formats: SDMX
Building the solution for NRPs: innovative approaches and technologies
Interoperable data formats: SDMX
New York, January 2018
National platforms for SDG reporting

2. National platforms for SDG reporting
Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange
SDMX is an international initiative that aims at standardising and modernising (“industrialising”) the mechanisms and processes for the exchange of statistical data and metadata among international organisations and their member countries.
Launched in 2002, SDMX is governed by a Sponsors Committee and a Secretariat. The Technical and Statistical Working Groups manage the definition and updating of the technical standard and publish statistical guidelines
New York, January 2018
National platforms for SDG reporting

3. National platforms for SDG reporting
Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange
SDMX is an ISO standard (ISO 17369) designed to describe statistical data and metadata, normalise their exchange, and improve their efficient sharing across statistical and similar organisations. It provides an integrated approach to facilitating statistical data and metadata exchange, enabling interoperable implementations within and between systems concerned with the exchange, reporting and dissemination of statistical data and their related meta-information.
1.           What is SDMX?
SDMX, which stands for Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange, is an ISO standard designed to describe statistical data and metadata, normalise their exchange, and improve their efficient sharing across statistical and similar organisations. It provides an integrated approach to facilitating statistical data and metadata exchange, enabling interoperable implementations within and between systems concerned with the exchange, reporting and dissemination of statistical data and their related meta-information.
It consists of:
technical standards (including the Information Model)
statistical guidelines
an IT architecture and tools
But SDMX is not just a format for data exchange. Taken together, the technical standards, the statistical guidelines and the IT architecture and tools can support improved business processes for any statistical organisation as well as the harmonisation and standardisation of statistical metadata.
The first version of the SDMX technical standard (1.0) was finalised in 2004 and approved as ISO (“International Standard”) 17369 in January Version 2.0 was approved in Version 2.1 was completed and published in May The Information Model which forms the core of SDMX has been developed to support statistics as collected and used by governmental and international statistical organisations, and this model is also applicable to other organisational contexts involving statistical data and related metadata.
The statistical guidelines aim at providing general statistical governance as well as common (“cross-domain”) concepts and code lists, a common classification of statistical domains and a common terminology. The first set of guidelines was published in January 2009.
Many IT tools have been developed to support the use and implementation of SDMX. Most of these tools are of an open source nature, so that they can be used as components for building IT systems in statistical organisations. Examples of such tools are the SDMX Registry, the Data Structure Wizard (DSW) and the SDMX Reference Infrastructure (SDMX-RI).
The work processes of SDMX are fully transparent: public consultations are conducted when major revisions are envisaged.
The first global SDMX data exchanges were implemented in 2013 by the seven sponsor organisations and covered National Accounts, Balance of Payments and Foreign Direct Investment. Many additional data exchanges are presently under development, both between international organisations and between international organisations and their constituencies.
New York, January 2018
National platforms for SDG reporting

4. National platforms for SDG reporting
Why SDMX?
ISO standard (ISO 17369)
Number of organizations using SDMX has risen significantly in the last 5 years
Mature technology
According to Gartner’s Hype Cycle chart presented in the Global Conference 2017, SDMX is in the «slope of enlightenment» towards the «plateau of productivity»
SDMX Information Model helps streamlining your data model
Tools available to «use» SDMX with low investment
Global artefacts facilitates data exchange agreements
Several formats: e.g. SDMX-ML, SDMX-json, SDMX-csv
New York, January 2018
National platforms for SDG reporting

5. Technical Specifications
Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange
Technical Specifications
The SDMX
Information Model
Guidelines to
Harmonise Content
Content-oriented Guidelines (COG)
Tools
IT Architectures for data exchange
SDMX compliant tools
SDMX is not just a data transmission format…
New York, January 2018
National platforms for SDG reporting 5 5

6. SDMX Information Model
Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange
Image source: Metadata Technology
New York, January 2018
National platforms for SDG reporting

7. «DOING» SDMX vs. «USING» SDMX
MITH: SDMX is too complex!
SDMX looks complex and intimidating if you try to understand all its detailed documentation, but…
Have you ever read the IEEE documentation?
and so…
Do you have difficulties to use WiFi?
You don’t need to develop an SDMX interface to use SDMX as you are not supposed to build your own wireless Ethernet adapter to use WiFi
New York, January 2018
National platforms for SDG reporting

8. Information Model (“metamodel”)
Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange
Dimensions
(ex: country, variable/topic, year)
Data Structure Definition (DSD)
Code lists
Dataset
Structure
Structural
Metadata
Attributes
(ex: unit of measure)
Metadata about an individual value, a time series or a group of time series
Identify/Describe
Data
Provides a way of modelling data, metadata and exchange processes
New York, January 2018
National platforms for SDG reporting

9. National platforms for SDG reporting
Deriving a Data Structure from a table
VARIABLE
AGE
ATTRIBUTES
OBS_VALUE
COUNTRY
SEX
TIME PERIOD
DIMENSIONS
ATTRIBUTES
MEASURE
New York, January 2018
National platforms for SDG reporting

10. National platforms for SDG reporting
New York, January 2018
National platforms for SDG reporting

11. National platforms for SDG reporting
Conclusions
Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange
The Information Model which forms the core of SDMX has been developed to support statistics as collected and used by statistical organisations
The statistical guidelines aim at providing general statistical governance as well as common (“cross-domain”) concepts and code lists
Many IT tools have been developed to support the use and implementation of SDMX, most of them are of an open source nature and can be used as components for building IT systems in statistical organisations.
Taken together, the technical standards, the statistical guidelines and the IT architecture and tools can support improved business processes for any statistical organisation as well as the harmonisation and standardisation of statistical metadata.
The Information Model which forms the core of SDMX has been developed to support statistics as collected and used by governmental and international statistical organisations, and this model is also applicable to other organisational contexts involving statistical data and related metadata.
The statistical guidelines aim at providing general statistical governance as well as common (“cross-domain”) concepts and code lists, a common classification of statistical domains and a common terminology. The first set of guidelines was published in January 2009.
Many IT tools have been developed to support the use and implementation of SDMX. Most of these tools are of an open source nature, so that they can be used as components for building IT systems in statistical organisations. Examples of such tools are the SDMX Registry, the Data Structure Wizard (DSW) and the SDMX Reference Infrastructure (SDMX-RI).
New York, January 2018
National platforms for SDG reporting

12. National platforms for SDG reporting
Conclusions
Everyday we use different tools and appliances to be more efficient in our activities. We learn how to use them with a quick reading of a guide; or we simply know how to use them, because it is like any other similar tool (standard). But for most of these tools, we don’t have any idea on how they have been designed, or how they work. You can use SDMX-based tools and applications in the same way, and they will certainly make your «work» more efficiently. (especially if your work is data reporting!)
The Information Model which forms the core of SDMX has been developed to support statistics as collected and used by governmental and international statistical organisations, and this model is also applicable to other organisational contexts involving statistical data and related metadata.
The statistical guidelines aim at providing general statistical governance as well as common (“cross-domain”) concepts and code lists, a common classification of statistical domains and a common terminology. The first set of guidelines was published in January 2009.
Many IT tools have been developed to support the use and implementation of SDMX. Most of these tools are of an open source nature, so that they can be used as components for building IT systems in statistical organisations. Examples of such tools are the SDMX Registry, the Data Structure Wizard (DSW) and the SDMX Reference Infrastructure (SDMX-RI).
New York, January 2018
National platforms for SDG reporting

13. Thank you ! Edgardo Greising
Head of Microdata and Knowledge Management Unit
STATISTICS - ILO