OIM and xBRL-JSON Progress
We were pleased to announce at the end of last year that new versions of the Open Information Model (OIM) and xBRL-JSON specifications have been released for public review. The release includes some significant improvements and simplifications to the xBRL-JSON representation, which provides an alternative representation for XBRL data. This is part of a larger XBRL International effort to modernise and simplify the standards and make XBRL data much easier to work with in modern software. Software vendors, regulators and others are strongly encouraged to experiment with the new formats with new approaches to data collection, storage, publication and analysis.
The OIM is part of XBRL International’s strategic initiative to modernise the XBRL specifications by providing a syntax-independent representation of the information in an XBRL report. This enables easy transformation of XBRL data between different formats, including XML, CSV, JSON and relational representations. It has been designed in such a fashion as to protect the existing investments in XBRL systems right around the world.
What does all of that mean in non-technical language? It means XBRL in API and web friendly formats. It means XBRL directly produced or published in CSV… or if you prefer… “Microsoft Excel™”. Or XBRL in rock solid XML, like it has been for 15 years now. Your choice! All with the power of machine readable taxonomies, multi-lingual disclosures, business rules and business control.
These specifications are now at Candidate Recommendation status, indicating the specifications are mature and whilst they may change further prior to finalisation, implementation and testing of the specifications is actively encouraged in order to provide feedback to the standards setting process.
The specifications, along with a summary of the key changes, can be found on our specifications site.
