This proposal is part of the 2.03 upgrade process, please comment by replying below.
Standard
Activity
**Schema Object** iati-activity/sector
**Type of Change** Attribute and rule
**Issue** There is currently no place in the standard to include tags, keywords or sector-type classifications that cannot be assigned a percentage split of the activity’s costs. Rather than create a new tag or keyword element it is proposed that the sector element can be adapted for this purpose.
**Proposal** Add an attribute iati-activity/sector/@no-aggregation
- Format: Boolean
- Definition: A flag to indicate that the sector specified is provided as additional information and should not be assigned a percentage in apportioning shares of the activity’s resources. The default value, if not present, is false.
**Standards Day** Proponents of this proposal cited that there is a clear user need for this. Others supported this as it would make activities more searchable. An alternative approach was also mentioned - i.e. the introduction of a 'tag' element. It was suggested that changes to the sector element may cause existing tools to break, and that the least disruptive approach should be taken.
**Links** Previous discussions - https://iaticonnect.org/group/standard-management-consultations-0/discu…
Rereading the proposal again, I have doubt that adding this attribute to the sector element is the way forward. The use-case is seems clear and valid. The proposed solution uses the sector element for something it was not designed to do.
Therefore I like the alternative solution (adding a TAG element) much more. It does not create confusion or backward compatibility problems. Sectors will be purely statistical as it is right now. The current definition of the sector element will not change.
The TAG element allows for any classification to be added, allowing a great deal of flexibility to search through and select activities.
From the process point of view: adding an attribute to the sector element is not backward compatible for IATI data users (existing software making use of the statistical nature of sector classifications, must be changed). Therefore it can i.m.o. not be part of this decimal upgrade. The TAG alternative can though.