In response to a previous post on search engines that fail to understand the intentions of research analysts, Jack Roehrig, Executive Director of RIXML.org, suggested that the RIXML technology should be considered as part of the solution to the problem of drawing meaning from unstructured information:
In order to achieve proper “content in context”, research search engines are part of the potential solution. Another important part is at the “grass roots” research meta data TAGGING level. RIXML.org is a not-for-profit organization, consisting of research publisher, consumers and vendor intermediary organizations that embrace and adopt XML-based tagging standards for research. These days, research data structure is taking on greater meaning as firms build out their commercial constructs for research, in order to be paid for research that finds its way into client consumer “playlists”.
Please see http://www.rixml.org for further detail. We welcome new member participation.
For more information about RIXML, please see the site and the FAQ. Some of the key information about how RIXML benefits investment research users:
Q: Why is a standard like RIXML needed?
A: Currently, financial services firms publishing research content are using their own proprietary solutions to classify and distribute content. An industry-wide standard will facilitate smoother exchange of information. Research consumers will be able to find what they are looking for more quickly and easily.Q: What are the benefits of RIXML?
A: The creation of RIXML as a common language provides a low-cost way to vastly improve the value of investment research.
In using RIXML as the standard, research content providers (e.g. the sell-side) benefit because RIXML:
Maximizes the value of research by making it more accessible
Enables transmission of new content types such as thematic research or earnings models
Enhances branding
Increases efficiency of distributionFor asset managers (buy-side), the RIXML standard offers the following benefits:
The ability to filter information
Enhanced search tools
Commingling of research from all sources
Personalization
Increased relevancy to their own portfoliosCurrently, financial services firms that publish research are using their own proprietary solutions. This industry-wide standard will facilitate a smoother exchange of information from producer to consumer, whether the information flows directly or via a third party aggregator or vendor.
While this does not solve the problem of extracting meaning from the wider web, it does present a way towards solving some of the common information overflow problems faced by users of sell side research.
One interesting challenge for the RIXML group would be whether the concept can accomodate other types of non-traditional investment inputs.
As an example: users of expert networks frequently receive large numbers of expert profiles, suggested for their consideration, from expert network providers. These profiles may be sent via email or stored on the website of the expert network. For those who use different networks, that is a lot of information that needs to be aggregated manually. A standard language to tag and structure expert profiles may enable them to be aggregated and organized much more easily, using automated tools. This would provide better ways to organize and filter inputs from different providers, allow integration with client applications, ease the information overload problem faced by expert network users, and enable better monitoring of profiles for compliance purposes.