SDMX is an initiative to foster standards for the exchange of statistical information. It started in 2001 and aims at fostering standards for Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange (SDMX). The SDMX sponsoring institutions are the Bank for International Settlements, the European Central Bank, Eurostat (the statistical office of the European Union), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Statistics Division, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Bank. The SDMX message formats have two basic expressions, SDMX-ML (using XML syntax) and SDMX-EDI (using EDIFACT syntax and based on the GESMES/TS statistical message). The standards also include additional specifications (e.g. registry specification, web services). Version 1.0 of the SDMX standard has been recognised as an ISO standard in 2005. The latest version of the standard - SDMX 2.1 - has been released in April 2011. In 2013 SDMX was approved by ISO as an International Standard (ISO 17369:2013).
