Strategic Industry Reference Group minutes 14 June 2019

Attendee list

Agenda

Decisions made

N/A

Action list (New or Carried Forward)

Closed Action Items

1  Welcome, minutes and actions (Sean Carmody)

Sean Carmody welcomed members of the group and confirmed minutes from the 8 May meeting.

Action 080519.1 - completed.
Action 080519.2 - completed. 

2    Conflicts of interest (Sean Carmody)

None declared.

3    New Data Collection Solution (Daniel Hunt)

DCS Demonstration 

Vizor Software presented the standard out-of-the-box solution from the perspective of an entity submitting a return. 

The demonstration included:

• A standard authentication process, which is a multifactor authentication using a text message. This will be customised for APRA, and the intent is that the authentication process used in the external test environment will be the same as the process used for go-live 
• An overview of the process to log in, identify outstanding returns and submit returns
• How an entity can submit data using manual entry or by uploading a file, such as XBRL
• A walkthrough of the validation and query process for entities and
• A demonstration of how communication between APRA and the entities will be captured within the solution itself, rather than following the current process of communicating offline via email.  

The solution will reflect APRA’s needs with the intention of creating minimal impact to the submission process at go-live, and therefore majority of the returns will accept data in file formats available in D2A today. 

Further information regarding the technical specifications of APRA’s solution will be included in the next iteration of the Implementation Plan. 

External Test Environment Form Rollout

The objective for the external test environment is to enable users to become familiar with the solution and feel confident in submitting data, ahead of go-live. APRA advised that the functionality for the test environment will be made available in a series of phases over the course of a few months, and will be production-like before go-live. 

The first phase of test environment functionality is planned to be available from October 2019, and will include a select number of returns per industry. A number of factors were considered when determining which returns would be available in the first release of the test environment. APRA aimed to select a series of returns that would capture the breadth of complexities, entity coverage and submission time-frame. The remaining returns will be made available in the test environment in subsequent releases.

DCS Shortlist of Names

To date, “the new solution” or “the new Data Collection Solution” are phrases that have been used in place of an official name for the new system. APRA has been engaging in a series of internal workshops and crowdsourcing initiatives to finalise a name for the new solution. This included establishing key themes and collecting suggestions, and testing the strength of the names against a set of established criteria to develop a shortlist. 

The shortlist was presented and feedback was requested to test if the names resonated with external stakeholders. 

APRA will consider the feedback given by the SIRG and will communicate the name for the solution in the next iteration of the Implementation Plan. 

4    Looking into the Future of Data Collections (Sean Carmody)

APRA gave an update of the Financial Stability Institute’s ‘Meeting on the use of innovative technology in financial supervision’, which invited representatives from a number of different jurisdictions to meet and discuss Suptech (technology for financial supervision). There were some differences between the functions of the regulators in attendance, which may be the result of different regulatory architecture. However, similarities included a focus on looking at how data is collected, stored and communicated externally as well as the shift toward collecting more granular data. 

Representatives at the meeting also discussed the idea of standardising data models and taxonomies between countries. The SIRG gave commentary that harmonisation, as opposed to standardisation, might be a more achievable direction.   

5    Other business (Sean Carmody)

The date for the next SIRG meeting is TBC. 

APRA requested the SIRG and entities within their industry share sample submission files with test data. These files will be used as part of APRA’s analysis of existing submission methods and to help minimise the impact of transition. 

Action: APRA to share a list of the requested submission forms with the SIRG.