MDDL
Steering Committee Formed February
8, 2001 The
inaugural meeting of the new Market Data Definition Language (MDDL) Steering Committee
was held February 5 in NYC. MDDL is being designed as a generic XML-based interchange
format of the fields needed to describe a financial instrument and its price.
The purpose of the meeting was to refine the scope of the standard, establish
the basic operational structure of the activity and determine the next steps associated
with the project. FISD is now actively recruiting participants of the Technical
Committee (responsible for the structure design of the DTD) and the Vocabulary
Committee (responsible for the definition of the data elements, semantics and
terminology). Both are scheduled to meet before the end of February. For more
information, contact Michael Atkin at FISD headquarters. Organizations
Present: Associated
Press, Bloomberg, Bridge, Dow Jones/WSJ, Fidelity, Financial Times/IDC, FISD,
Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Reuters Executive
Summary: This
was the first meeting of the Market Data Definition Language (MDDL) Steering Committee.
The purpose was to refine the scope of MDDL, establish the basic operational structure
of the activity and determine the next steps associated with the project. Here
are the highlights: 1.
The Steering Committee agreed to the primary objective as the development of a
generic XML-based interchange format of the fields needed to describe a financial
instrument and its price. 2.
MDDL decision-making will be managed on a consensus basis wherever practical.
Decisions on the scope and development of the standard will require a 2/3 majority
vote of the Steering Committee. Operational decisions require a simple majority
vote. 3.
FISD is actively recruiting participants for both the Technical Committee (responsible
for the structural design of the DTD architecture) and Vocabulary Committee (responsible
for definition of the data elements, semantics and terminology). Participation
is open to all interested parties. 4.
The goal for release of Version 1.0 (draft) of the MDDL standard is the end of
June 2001. The final version of the specification is scheduled to be released
in conjunction with FISD's 4th World Financial Information Conference in London
(October 30 - November 2).
Next
Meeting: The
Technical and Vocabulary Committees are now being formed. Both are scheduled to
meet before the end of February. The next meeting of the Steering Committee is
tentatively scheduled for the 3rd week in March. Steering
Committee The
MDDL Steering Committee currently consists of the following nine companies --
Bloomberg, Bridge, Dow Jones, Fidelity, Financial Times, Goldman Sachs, Merrill
Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and Reuters. The group left open the possibility of additional
participants. Jeremy Sanders (Merrill) is the Chair of the Steering Committee. The
function of the Steering Committee is oversight of MDDL, operational management
of the process and external relations. The Technical and Vocabulary Working Committees
report to the Steering Committee. The Chair(s) of the Working Committees (if not
already members) will be asked to participate on the Steering Committee. Proposed
Mission Statement (Draft): Market
Data Definition Language (MDDL) The
mission of the activity is to define a publicly available standard that provides
a generic XML-based interchange format on the fields needed to describe a financial
instrument and its price. The goal is to promote product/price data interoperability. -
MDDL will focus on broad field definitions for market data content, applicable
to multiple asset classes.
- The
initial focus of MDDL will be end-of-day and snapshot applications that can be
extended to real-time and interpretative data models if appropriate.
- MDDL
will accept extensions to permit vendor-specific content.
- The
MDDL standard will be ratified by a 2/3-majority vote of the MDDL Steering Committee.
- Intellectual
property rights in MDDL will be retained by the Financial Information Services
Division (FISD), but freely licensed and made available on an "as is"
basis.
Scope
of MDDL: The
objective of the MDDL initiative is an open, practical and realistic market data
interchange language on the fields needed to describe a security and its price.
The goal of the standard is product/price data interoperability for use across
any type of electronic media. The
Steering Committee is charging the Technical and Vocabulary Working Committees
with defining the up-front parameters of MDDL. The initial challenge of the Vocabulary
Committee is to define data set -- i.e. broad domains, types within each domain
and specific data points -- to be included in the data dictionary. The initial
challenge of the Technical Committee will be to identify the technological approach(s)
and to evaluate the benefits/risks of a hierarchical/precise product terminology-based
strategy versus a thesaurus/interchangeable terminology across multiple domains-based
strategy. The
overriding issue on the scope of MDDL is one of practicality and the ability of
the market data industry to develop a useful standard in a reasonable time frame.
The initial focus is for end-of-day and snapshot data applications. [Note: The
full scope of MDDL Version 1.0 content (i.e. whether it will include or exclude
data elements based on time or trading status) will be based on the recommendation
of the Vocabulary Committee and evaluated in terms of what's realistic in the
allotted timeframe.]
Other Issues:
The Steering Committee unanimously agreed that the name Market Data Definition
Language (MDDL) was descriptive of the objective of the standard and appropriate. -
FISD is seeking to register MDDL.org and MDDL.net
-
The Steering Committee will address coordination with other XML groups in the
financial arena once the Technical and Vocabulary Committees have a chance to
address the scope of the standard and define the basic structural approach.
- FISD
will send notification to all interested parties to recruit broad participation
on the Working Committees as well as to seek candidates for chair of each.
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