Last week’s Xtrakter conference featured the opportunity for audience participation in the form of interactive voting – via remote control style touch pads in the main room and via delegates’ own mobile phones in the break out room. Now, as a journalist, I’m always keen on using a few stats to back up an argument but as technologically advanced as it would seem to be able to vote via mobile phone (like a reference data themed X-Factor), it doesn’t work terribly well when the venue is situated in a reception black spot…
Of course it meant the amusing sight of a number of data managers forced to walk about the room in a Monty Python-esque manner in order to be able to register a vote, but it likely means the results weren’t that accurate in reflecting the views of those in the room. Watching the bar charts jump up and down over the course of the discussions about a reference data utility and evaluated pricing practices was also a little distracting. However, for those that did manage to register their opinions, here’s a breakdown of the results from the two most relevant reference data questions: What is the most pressing challenge in the reference data space? (we can assume that 10 people voted here) Standard formats 40% Improved instrument coverage 20% Counterparty coverage 10% Reference data utility 20% Cost of reference data 10% This indicates that the majority were in favour of standardisation ahead of the development of a utility. What is the greatest barrier to progress? (the same 10 people with enough network coverage voted here too it seems) Lack of support from vendors 10% Lack of a legal mandate for data acquisition 10% Lack of definitive standards 70% Lack of awareness or interest 10% The results of this one are fairly obvious.
