DRM XML Profile Task Description

The FEA Data Reference Model (DRM) is intended to promote the common identification, use, and appropriate sharing of data/information across the federal government through its standardization of data in the following 3 areas:

Data Description: A standard approach to describing an agency’s structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data. Structured data includes individual entities (such as those defined within a data architecture), their attributes, and the relationships between them. Unstructured data includes multimedia files, and documents created using earlier versions of applications such as Microsoft Word. Semi-structured data includes Web pages and e-mails.

Data Sharing: A standard approach to describing the characteristics and requirements of interagency data exchanges, including data sources. Defines a standard message structure known as an Information Exchange Package.

Data Context: A standard approach to representing taxonomies that an agency uses to categorize its data. Such categorization enables the business context of data to be well understood.

In order to facilitate implementation of the DRM by federal agencies, OMB will provide agencies with a DRM Schema (also known as a “DRM XML Profile”). The DRM Schema will enable federal agencies to submit XML instances to OMB that contain information for the agency pertaining to the 3 DRM areas described above. The DRM Schema will also facilitate data modeling efforts within agencies by providing a capability by which – for example – physical data models may be derived from logical data models. Instances of the DRM Schema may also potentially be used for configuration and operational purposes , e.g. to automatically configure and/or categorize a data source, to support service-oriented architecture (SOA) based exchanges between agencies, etc.

The DRM Schema Task will produce the following deliverables:

1. An XML Schema with annotations for definitions
2. Two complete XML instance examples that validate successfully
3. Recommended enumerated lists/code tables
4. An XSLT Stylesheet to render XML instance data as HTML