Preparing taxonomies for mapping

This article outlines general guidelines for standard setters and taxonomy authors who want to make sure data consumers can map and compare sustainability disclosures that report their values following different standards.

Guidelines for preparing taxonomies for mapping

Standard setters and taxonomy authors should consider the following when preparing taxonomies for mapping:

• Use common concepts.
  Using common concepts prevents two taxonomies from creating separate concepts that define the same topic. Taxonomies that use common concepts are easy to compare. We recommend having common concepts and sharing between other standard setters instead of having concordances and converting reports between taxonomies.
  Learn more about common concepts
• If you can’t use common concepts, use concordances.
  Prepare and publish a concordance to define rules on how to convert from source tax to target tax.
  Learn more about recording concordances between taxonomies
• Make sure the concordance is both machine and human-readable.
  Make sure to prepare the concordance so that machines can read it. Converting taxonomies on the basis of concordances is automatic and it is machines that convert reports.