Search the Address Standard
The purpose of this section is three-fold: to provide a template for the XML documents and metadata that will move addresses from place to place, to provide information on preparing address data to be packaged, and to provide information on unpackaging address data that has been received.
Historically, the data format aspect of data exchange has impeded the flow of information. By providing a single and flexible data structure for exchanging street address data, the Address Standard will simplify the implementation of data exchanges, making them more reliable and less likely to need small changes, especially over time. Local data processing systems and applications change over time and frequently data exchange programs and reports must be rewritten along with those changes. Such changes may be as seemingly minor as the renaming of a data element, shortening or extending the length of a field, or the addition or subtraction of a field. When new data sharing partners are identified, a data format for sharing data with that partner must be constructed and implemented by each party. The Address Standard aims to minimize local changes necessary when upgrading computer systems and to provide a structure that can be reused by all data sharing parties without their having to implement something new.
The data sharing benefits of the Address Standard will only be realized when local agencies have implemented both export and import engines to process exchanged street addresses. The initial implementation of these data engines or programs will provide a lasting benefit to implementers in that once created, the agency will never again need to be concerned with creating programs or engines to share data with any new data sharing partners that they identify in the future.
The Address Standard is designed to be flexible enough to fit within current data sharing methods. There are two basic forms of sharing data between parties: