“Now I know how my baby feels! Sensory overload here at #SXSW. Thankfully no diapers involved.” tweeted Michel Leder fellow panelist at this year’s SXSW Interactive conference, and I could not agree more. SXSW Interactive is a five day onslaught of inspirational presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders, the incredible new SXSW Trade Show and an unbeatable lineup of special programs showcasing the best new digital works, video games and innovative ideas the international community has to offer.
This year Rivet Software found its way in to the mix with two panels “Corporate Sustainability Reporting and Transparency: New Success Standards” and “Power to the People: Regulating Big Business”. I was so fortunate to moderate the Power to the People panel which drove the home the point that live and standardized data in the hands of “the people” can create transparency and enrich the decision making process. This concept of interactive data came through in a number of panels, from how Charlie Sheen can Tweet #Tigersblood and make millions to how health care related social networks can save lives. The same technologies that we use to communicate about our lives (Twitter, Facebook, Gowalla and LinkedIn to name a few) creates valuable information that we use to make social decisions; this same technology should be leveraged by big business and governments to enhance the lives of all data users, ergo XBRL. Alongside Eric Cohen (XBRL Global Technical Leader at PWC), Michelle Leder (Founder of Footnoted.com) and Gary Thompson (Co-Founder & President of Cloud Inc.) we contemplated how the government data standard, in this case XBRL, can revolutionize how data is produced and consumed.
XML and XBRL are not new in the US, but when they are truly leveraged as a government data standard for financial reporting there are new opportunities to consume the data. The hallways of the Austin convention bustled with creative energy and were lined with programmers keying away trying to create the next iPad app or decision support system. I gladly handed the location of the standardized XBRL data and RSS feed as though it were candy in hopes that XBRL data will be consumed by the masses. The future of XBRL is bright and conventions like SXSW leave me convinced that the value of government mandated and standardized data will be realized. Large data analysis companies are starting to use this data to enhance their ERPs and decision support systems but I believe this open data source will breed new entrepreneurial efforts. Here at Rivet we know XBRL is not simple, and it requires a savvy data solution to analyze and map XBRL concepts. Crossfire Analytics is a savvy tool for a savvy user, and its applications are limitless; it can make complex data mining and mapping of XBRL quite simple. We know how to pull, manage, and utilize the data and make it easy for reporting entities to leverage the data, but I think back to the halls of SXSW and I am hopeful to see the new and exciting ways that this data will be leveraged by today’s progressive developer community.
Tags: South by Southwest, SXSW
