The DDI standard (Codebook / Lifecycle) is designed as an XML standard. In the process of “moving forward” the community is working on a model-based representation of the concepts and structures included in the standard. But what is this good for? XML is only one possible solution for the technical representation of the metadata — and there many other possibilities. The presentation gives an overview of technologies that are actively used by members of the community, like storing metadata in relational databases, developing APIs to link software systems, representing the standard as classes in object-oriented-languages and others. A particular focus lays on the JSON format, which has become increasingly important recently in the field of web-development. A second aspect of this presentation is that DDI could be used for more than just metadata — it might also be a good starting point for the storage and exchange of research data, providing an alternative to the common formats of proprietary statistical software packages. The presentation is intended for both a technical and a non-technical audience
