Research and development center will work to advance XBRL, harmonize with other XML standards

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- XBRL US, a non-profit consortium standardizing business reporting in XML, announced the launch of XBRL US Labs today, a move that will expand an already significant program of taxonomy research, development, and maintenance that has accelerated adoption of the XBRL business reporting standard in the U.S.  The announcement, by XBRL US President and CEO Mark Bolgiano, and Chief Standards Officer Campbell Pryde, was made as they prepare to participate in three program sessions focused on the XBRL standard at Sibos, the world's premier financial services event, held in Hong Kong this week.

XBRL US Labs will perform commissioned research in partnership with private and public sector partners to advance open XML standards and, in particular, harmonize XBRL financial and business reporting taxonomies with other XML messaging standards such as ISO 20022 in the financial services sector, and NIEM in the US Federal Government sector.

The initiative will leverage methodologies and platforms developed by XBRL US, which provides free access to a unified dictionary based on a core 17,000-element XBRL US GAAP Taxonomy, delivered to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Sept 24, 2007, and released to the public on April 24, 2008.  XBRL US approved a 2009 version update, which was released to

the public in April.

SEC regulations require the use of XBRL US-approved taxonomies by public companies and mutual funds that report to the regulator.  XBRL US has engaged with other government agencies, and Congress, to improve the quality, cost effectiveness, and interoperability of business reporting with the adoption of XML data standards like XBRL.

"We expect a healthy mix of public- and private-sector research partners," said Mark Bolgiano, President and CEO of XBRL US.  "Our team has proven itself in developing the largest taxonomies of its kind, using a cross-industry, 'crowd-sourced', and transparent approach, with sound planning and management.  Our aim is to make XBRL US Labs a fulcrum to move industry and government towards a future that has significantly higher levels of information quality, consistency, and transparency in the United States."

XBRL US research partners will commission work with funding and loaned experts working at XBRL US Labs as research fellows and interns.  XBRL US consortium members have real-time access to research and development  products, which will go into the public domain through a variety of education and market outreach channels, including an increasing number of virtual events and seminars that regularly attract 100 or more participants.

"We have an effective platform built over the past three years to support significant long-term projects like US GAAP, mutual fund risk return, credit rating agency reporting, and corporate actions which we're excited to be demonstrating here at Sibos," said Campbell Pryde, the organization's Chief Standards Officer.  "We're passionate about work that advances the cause of financial transparency and interoperability and look forward to working with organizations that want to do the same."

XBRL US Labs will be led by Mr. Pryde with a staff of five professionals who have been involved in various aspects of XBRL US research and development for the last three years:

    --  project management: Carolyn DeVito, who managed the SEC's XBRL US GAAP Taxonomy  

       project

    --  data architecture:  Philip Engel, a ten year XBRL taxonomy development veteran

    --  taxonomy management : Angela Rose, who has been with the XBRL consortium

       since 2006

    --  data modeling:  Gregg Saunders, CPA, lead modeler for XBRL US taxonomies          

       since 2006

    --  applications management : Marc Ward, development workbench and public

        review web platforms lead for XBRL US since 2007

To learn more about XBRL US Labs, visit http://xbrl.us/labs or contact us at research@xbrl.us.