Live Blogging: SEC Announcing "Futuristic Information Disclosure System"

Wrap Up: "IDEA" is really a way to package the EDGAR Modernization project that was announced in 2006 [late note: which included a new infrastructure] with all of the interactive data tools and proposals that have been announced since then plus a special focus on the work Bill Lutz is currently doing for the SEC. Most of today's material has been used in the past and there was not much new here other than the name. There are a number of aspiration goals which make a lot of sense but which boil down to making financial information easier to search and analyze. The SEC needs new infrastructure and a new legal framework to really pull this off in its extreme form. The lack of new budget and specific details on the project probably means that the changes will be modest and incremental. The current goal is for IDEA to be "fully mature in 5 years". Chairman Cox was very clear that IDEA will run in parallel with the current EDGAR system and went so far as to say "we're not going to take [EDGAR] away." At one point he referred to EDGAR in an archival sense but overall the impression I got was that the SEC is not ready to move the entire reporting regime over to interactive data anytime soon. What the long term future holds is anyone's guess (I happen to agree with Bill Lutz) but for now we should get used to HTML and ASCII living hand in hand with interactive data on the major corporate and mutual fund form types which are not currently in a highly structured format. 

12:08 -- Bill Lutz - The goal is to provide the data in a way that people can access it and use it the way they want. We're "not going to get rid of the forms, they will simply die". Bill is shooting pretty high. I don't think we've discussed the press release announcing his initiative in any real depth but I'll commit to do that soon.

12:01 -- Cox punts the question on when IDEA will be fully implemented. In 3 years, mature in 5 years.

11:41 -- "Already hard at work on it as of this morning" ??? It's hard to get a gauge on this but it sounds less like a significant announcement as opposed to a shot in the arm for what was announced in 2006. "If you want to keep using EDGAR the way you've been using it. . . we're not going to take that away."

11:37 -- The SEC has decided that strapping on new functionality to EDGAR is more expensive than building new. Makes sense. Talking about building a parallel system within "the expected levels of funding that Congress has been providing". "Redeploying our resources". Hmmm.

11:35 -- More aspirational comparisons: Finding a house, comparing autos etc. IDEA will make information more accessible, more reliable. Four new SEC tech initiatives. "HUB", enforcement based tracking, making enforcement more efficient. "RADAR", state of the art risk assessment system. "PHOENIX", something about distributing money, I guess penalties that should go to shareholders. Talking about the history of interactive data starting with Section 16 data and options backdating. IDEA is "as much a concept and inspiration as EDGAR is an old friend." So we may not get many specifics.

11:29 -- "With IDEA, no intermediate step of a data provider." He reiterated that the SEC doesn't want to get into the software business. Wants to provide useful data.

11:26am -- He's now using the comparison capabilities in one of the interactive viewers to show how easy it can be to compare interactive data. Nothing new here although many people may not have seen the current interactive viewers yet.

11:19am -- Lot's of adjectives. Flexible, interactive etc. Will support any of the recommendations coming out of Lutz's project which is scheduled to wrap up at the end of '08 with his recommendations moving to an advisory committee in '09. Still sounds like a long term deal. Cox is currently demoing how difficult the current system is. No argument there.

11:17am -- IDEA will be opened up to search engines. EDGAR does not allow search engine spidering. Support RSS (currently widely implemented in EDGAR).

11:14am -- Cox says he is instructing Keane Federal Systems (the current lead contractor for EDGAR) to move this system ahead. So it may not be more than an "idea" at this point. No translation! Up to 40 languages will be supported, leveraging XBRL. At any rate, unicode characters!

11:12am -- Chris Cox has the podium. Bill Lutz is in the room. "A fundamental change" in the way the SEC collects and distributes information.

11:07am -- Someone in the room is concerned with the glare on top of his head. He must be my age. Does he have as much trouble as I do reading that yellow "E" on a white background? (sorry to ramble but nothing has really happened yet)

11:05am -- They must be serious about this. There's a logo. "ID" in blue letters followed by three horizontal bars in yellow representing the "E" followed by an "A" again in blue.

10:54am -- Well, futuristic isn't a word I've heard in a while, but anyway I'm listening in on the SEC's webcast where Chairman Cox is supposed to announce the long awaited EDGAR replacement. According the WaPo, it will be named IDEA (Interactive Data Electronic Applications). Hopefully we'll get a sense of how far it will go and how soon it will happen. (I'll be listening especially hard for budget figures!)

-- Ed