About the DDI Alliance
Established in 2003, the Data Documentation Initiative Alliance (DDI Alliance) is an international collaboration dedicated to developing metadata standards and semantic products for describing social science data, data covering human activity, and other data based on observational methods.
The Alliance is committed to meeting worldwide needs for open, interoperable standards and semantic products that support the documentation and integration of data to enhance understanding of the human condition. Its core purposes include:
- Overseeing the ongoing development, revision, and release of DDI standards and semantic products.
- Promoting adoption among key stakeholders, including data producers, distributors, libraries, archives, users, researchers, and software developers and vendors.
- Supporting training initiatives to encourage broad and effective use of DDI standards.
- Ensuring compatibility with emerging metadata standards in other fields.
- Maintaining an open, transparent, and consensus-driven governance process that balances diverse stakeholder interests.
Membership and Governance
The DDI Alliance is an unincorporated, contractual collaboration of member organizations responsible for the stewardship and advancement of DDI standards. Membership is open to organizations worldwide, regardless of discipline or sector, and is maintained through annual dues, in-kind contributions, and adoption of DDI standards and products.
The Alliance operates under its Bylaws and is governed by an Executive Board and an Executive Director. A Scientific Board oversees the technical and scientific direction, while a small Secretariat at the Host Institution manages daily operations. The Alliance is financially self-sustaining through membership dues.