XBRL and Open Data for Global Financial Ecosystems: A Linked Data Approach

O'Riáin, Sean; Curry, Edward; Harth, Andreas

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.accinf.2012.02.002

by Sean O'Riáin, Edward Curry, Andreas Harth

Abstract:

Information professionals performing business activity related investigative analysis must routinely associate data from a diverse range of Web based general-interest business and ﬁnancial information sources. XBRL has become an integral part of the ﬁnancial data landscape. At the same time, Open Data initiatives have contributed relevant ﬁnancial, economic, and business data to the pool of publicly available information on the Web but the use of XBRL in combination with Open Data remains at an early state of realisation. In this paper we argue that Linked Data technology, created for Web scale information integration, can accommodate XBRL data and make it easier to combine it with open datasets. This can provide the foundations for a global data ecosystem of interlinked and interoperable ﬁnancial and business information with the potential to leverage XBRL beyond its current regulatory and disclosure role. We outline the uses of Linked Data technologies to facilitate XBRL consumption in conjunction with non-XBRL Open Data, report on current activities and highlight remaining challenges in terms of information consolidation faced by both XBRL and Web technologies.

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Reference:

Sean O'Riáin, Edward Curry, Andreas Harth, "XBRL and Open Data for Global Financial Ecosystems: A Linked Data Approach", In International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 141-162, 2012.

Bibtex Entry:

@article{ORiain2012a,
abstract = {Information professionals performing business activity related investigative analysis must routinely associate data from a diverse range of Web based general-interest business and ﬁnancial information sources. XBRL has become an integral part of the ﬁnancial data landscape. At the same time, Open Data initiatives have contributed relevant ﬁnancial, economic, and business data to the pool of publicly available information on the Web but the use of XBRL in combination with Open Data remains at an early state of realisation. In this paper we argue that Linked Data technology, created for Web scale information integration, can accommodate XBRL data and make it easier to combine it with open datasets. This can provide the foundations for a global data ecosystem of interlinked and interoperable ﬁnancial and business information with the potential to leverage XBRL beyond its current regulatory and disclosure role. We outline the uses of Linked Data technologies to facilitate XBRL consumption in conjunction with non-XBRL Open Data, report on current activities and highlight remaining challenges in terms of information consolidation faced by both XBRL and Web technologies.},
author = {O'Ri{\'{a}}in, Sean and Curry, Edward and Harth, Andreas},
doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.accinf.2012.02.002},
file = {:Users/ed/Library/Application Support/Mendeley Desktop/Downloaded/O'Ri{\'{a}}in, Curry, Harth - 2012 - XBRL and Open Data for Global Financial Ecosystems A Linked Data Approach.pdf:pdf},
journal = {International Journal of Accounting Information Systems},
keywords = {Financial ecosystem,Internet,LEIdataspace,LOD Financial Mashup,Linked Data,Linked Open Data,Metadata,Open Data,Resource Description Framework RDF,Treo,World Wide Web,XBRL,eXtensible Business Markup Language},
mendeley-tags = {LEIdataspace,Treo},
number = {2},
pages = {141--162},
title = {{XBRL and Open Data for Global Financial Ecosystems: A Linked Data Approach}},
url = {http://www.edwardcurry.org/publications/oriain_IJAIS_2012.pdf},
volume = {13},
year = {2012}
}