From John Bottega, President, EDM Association
Dear Members, Partners and Friends,
As we move through 2026, I want to share an update on where the EDM Association is focusing its energy on your behalf, and the activities underway to keep our global community – across our Data & Analytics, OMG Standards, Digital Twin Consortium and Augmented Reality (AREA) groups – at the leading edge of data management, digital engineering and standards. Our work continues to center on the practical, business-critical challenges our members face — and on building the shared infrastructure that makes good data management and innovation possible across the industry.
Business Environment
EDMA is balancing growth and innovation with disciplined stewardship as members navigate AI-driven change and economic uncertainty.
We are mindful that our work with all of you is happening against a backdrop of real challenge and real opportunity. The rapid advance of AI is reshaping what our members need from data management, digital engineering and standards, even as it unfolds amid an uncertain economic and global environment. We recognize that many of our members, and the broader marketplace, are navigating funding constraints and closer scrutiny of travel and discretionary spend. With that context firmly in mind, we are working to make sound, disciplined business decisions that position the Association for sustainable growth — investing where it matters most to members and being deliberate stewards of the resources you entrust to us.
Upcoming 2026 Member Events
Members can look forward to an active schedule of global technical meetings and networking opportunities through the remainder of 2026
Q3 & Q4 will be very busy for EDMA in-person events across the globe, including the US, UK, Australia and India. Please check out the Conference and Events information for our DataVision events; Q3 Object Management Group (OMG) and Business Architecture in Data Management events in Orlando and Digital Twin Consortium (DTC) member meeting in Leeds, UK; annual charity golf event in New Jersey, US; as well as several industry conferences. We hope that you can join some or all to network with the EDMA community!
Register to join these events, and please get in touch to explore speaking or sponsoring opportunities.
PLUS, stay tuned for updates to be announced about our Q4 OMG Technical Meeting and DTC Member Meeting! Both will be held IN PERSON in the US in early December. More to come soon!
EDM Association’s Dynamic Market Position
We are actively positioning EDMA as the leading advocate for trusted, standards-based data foundations that enable successful AI adoption
Our members, and the global marketplace, across all industries and geographies are dealing with navigating the opportunity and challenge of adopting and leveraging AI across the enterprise. They are looking for guidance, collaboration and innovation to build their operational and business strategies.
The EDM Association’s position is clear: the path to AI optimization begins with trusted, interoperable data through best practices and standards. As AI systems scale, organizations are learning that performance depends not just on models, but on the quality, structure, and shared meaning of the data beneath them. Ontologies, knowledge graphs, and standardized data products transform fragmented information into machine‑readable intelligence, shifting the paradigm from “garbage in, garbage out” to “gold in, gold out.” This foundation is what enables AI to reason accurately, digital twins to mirror reality with fidelity, and AR systems to deliver contextual intelligence in real time. AI is leading to the convergence of innovative technologies, trusted data interoperability, standards and best practices. The EDM Association is well positioned for this convergence and the future is bright.
Business Update
Across industries and geographies, EDMA is advancing strategic initiatives focused on AI, interoperability, emerging technologies, and business value
Within and across the EDM Association, we are working with our member communities to undertake and advance significant conversations and initiatives – all focused around business impact and AI. Here are just a few of many recent highlights:
- Agentic AI & Data Products framework for global financial services firms
- Building on FIBO (Financial Industry Business Ontology) & other open ontology frameworks
- Driving XR frameworks to enable business value
- Adding Space Systems to the Aerospace and Defense working group
- New quantum computing working group in the DTC
- Joining the AMD’s Open Robotics Partner Ecosystem
- Partnering with Isle of Man on the first-of-its-kind legislated Data Monetization structure (see the Data Asset Foundations initiative)
Highlights From Our Consortia
Object Management Group (OMG Standards Development Organization)
OMG continues to expand the standards and frameworks that enable scalable, interoperable, and trustworthy enterprise AI solutions
Our OMG team continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in AI by strengthening the standards that make real interoperability achievable. They’re evolving the knowledge‑representation foundations — from API4KP and ODM to OMG Commons and our own FIBO ontology — that today’s agentic AI systems rely on. At the same time, they’re tackling the emerging challenges organizations face as they move from experimentation to enterprise deployment, with new work supporting GenAI, Graph‑RAG, and other fast‑moving technologies. The focus is squarely on practical adoption: building the frameworks, like SACM and SysML v2, that help organizations deploy AI responsibly, at scale, and with confidence.
Augmented Reality for Enterprise Alliance (AREA)
AREA is helping organizations translate XR technologies into measurable operational and workforce benefits.
AREA continues to be a powerful force in helping organizations turn XR (extended reality) from a promising idea into a proven business capability. Our Innovation Impact Framework keeps the emphasis on human‑centered design and workforce adoption — the real keys to avoiding stalled pilots and achieving measurable value. Recent webinars have showcased how companies are using XR to improve productivity, quality, safety, and training, including smart ways to convert legacy content into AR‑ready data. With active participation across major industry events and a growing community of members, the AREA is expanding collaboration opportunities and strengthening the enterprise XR ecosystem. Their research, tools, and frameworks are helping organizations navigate the strategic, technical, financial, legal, and workforce considerations that come with adopting AR at scale.
Digital Twin Consortium (DTC)
DTC is accelerating digital twin innovation through interoperability, physical AI, robotics, and industry-focused collaboration.
The DTC continues to accelerate innovation in digital twins, moving the field from prediction to action through physical AI, interoperability, and real‑world deployment. Our collaboration with AMD’s Open Robotics Partner Ecosystem is helping advance robotics and automation, while webinars and workshops highlight successful digital twin applications across energy, manufacturing, robotics, and space. The ecosystem keeps expanding, with new members and leadership — including Entarian joining the Steering Committee — bringing fresh expertise from aerospace, defense, healthcare, manufacturing, and research institutions. DTC’s recent programs, from the Space Mission Systems Workshop to Front‑Running Simulation initiatives and new working groups like Quantum, demonstrate how digital twins are delivering operational decision‑making and business value in complex, data‑intensive environments.
Data & Analytics Initiatives
EDMA is expanding practical guidance, standards, and tools that help organizations build trusted, AI-ready data ecosystems
Across EDMA, we’re seeing members push hard to make AI dependable, governed, and grounded in trustworthy data. Our expanded work on AI‑ready data is helping organizations structure, validate, and manage the information that fuels AI and machine‑learning models — including using AI itself to accelerate tasks like classification, lineage discovery, and quality remediation. At the same time, we’re deepening our guidance on data products, giving members practical patterns and operating models for designing discoverable, well‑owned, high‑quality data assets that agentic AI can rely on. FIBO continues to anchor our ontology standards work as the shared semantic foundation for financial services, with ongoing improvements in coverage, tooling, and adoption. And through the Data Asset Foundations, we’re helping members turn well‑governed data into measurable business value by giving them a structured way to inventory, assess, and manage data as a true enterprise asset. Together, these efforts support the shift from experimentation to repeatable, enterprise‑ready data and AI practices.
Key Partnerships
Strategic partnerships are broadening the Association’s influence and strengthening alignment across data, engineering, and standards communities
None of this work happens in isolation, and we continue to invest in partnerships that extend the reach and rigor of our standards and practices:
- INCOSE — collaborating on the intersection of systems engineering and data/information management, so data considerations are built into complex systems from the start.
- OGC (Open Geospatial Consortium) — aligning geospatial and location data standards, supporting members whose data assets increasingly carry a spatial dimension.
- ODI (Open Data Institute) — partnering on open data practices, data trust frameworks, and broader data ecosystem thinking that complements our members’ enterprise-focused work.
Together, these partnerships help ensure that the standards and practices we develop stay connected to the wider data, systems, and standards communities — and that our members benefit from perspectives beyond any single industry or discipline.
Training and Certification
New training and certification programs are equipping members with the skills needed for next-generation data, AI, and systems initiatives
We remain committed to expanding our training and certification offerings so members can build and validate the skills these initiatives demand. Highlights of our growing curriculum include:
- SysML v2 — training on the next generation of the Systems Modeling Language, helping members apply rigorous, model-based approaches to complex data and systems design.
- DCAM 3 — the newest release of our Data Management Capability Assessment Model certification, giving members an updated benchmark for assessing and maturing enterprise data management practices.
- AI Optimization Masterclass — an in-depth, practical workshop to deepen expertise in applying AI within a governed, data-driven enterprise.
These offerings reflect our ongoing investment in professional development, and we encourage members to take advantage of them as they roll out.
Operations
Internal modernization efforts are improving the efficiency, reliability, and member experience of the Association.
Behind these program initiatives, we are also investing in the operational foundation that supports them. We are working to normalize and improve our technology environment, streamline internal processes, and strengthen how we communicate and engage with members. This includes modernizing the systems and workflows the Association relies on day-to-day, so that member-facing services are more reliable and consistent, and improving the channels and cadence through which we keep members informed and involved. Our aim is an Association that runs as efficiently and transparently as the standards and practices we promote to the industry.
Get Involved
Members are encouraged to actively participate in working groups, standards development, partnerships, and community initiatives
Each of these initiatives depends on active member participation. If you would like to join a working group, contribute to FIBO development, pilot the Data Asset Foundation, or get involved in any of our partnership activities, please reach out to your member relationship contact, email our Member Services team, or get in touch through our online contact page. We welcome your engagement and your expertise!
In Closing…
On behalf of the EDM Association, we remain grateful for your continued membership, support and commitment to advancing our data-driven, innovative future – cross-industry and around the globe. We look forward to advancing this work together.