Is there a New GEDCOM Standard in our future?

While I've been working with Source Citations in several software programs, the Build a BetterGEDCOM group has been trying to work on an improved GEDCOM Standard.

At RootsTech in Salt Lake City last week, there was an open discussion session about GEDCOM standards.  Jordan Jones, on the GenealogyMedia blog, wrote RootsTech 2011: Towards a New Genealogical Data Model that describes the discussions. 

The key point in Jordan's post is that:

"...Tom Creighton, the CTO of FamilySearch, got up and announced that FamilySearch is nearly ready to announce a new proposed data model. This changed the meeting immediately. Instead of an open discussion, it became more like a press conference, with Tom fielding questions about what they have done, when the work will be shared, and so on. There was not a lot that he was able to divulge at this point."

Jordan discusses the issue further in his blog, and notes that:

"This is an exciting development in the intersection of genealogy and technology. If FamilySearch decides to share their work, and if a governance body can be identified or set up, and finally if that governance body has the trust of the genealogical community..."

I believe that the governance body is critical, as is the broad agreement of software providers, online family tree providers (including FamilySearch), and the users of software and websites.

Read all of Jordan's post.  I think that this is a positive development, since a major player in the Genealogy world is working on the problem.