classification scheme Data elements that store "Codes" or enumerated values must also specify the semantics of each of the code values with precise definitions. Adoption of 11179 standards Software AG's COTS Metadata Registry (MDR) product supports the ISO 11179 standard and continues to be sold and used for this purpose in both commercial and government applications (see Vendor Tools section below). While commercial adoption is increasing, the spread of ISO/IEC 11179 has been more successful in the public sector. However, the reason for this is unclear. ISO membership is open to organizations through their national bodies. Countries with public sector repositories across various industries include Australia, Canada, Germany, United States and the United Kingdom. The United Nations and the US Government refer to and use the 11179 standards. 11179 is strongly recommended on the U.S. government's XML website. and is promoted by The Open Group as a foundation of the Universal Data Element Framework. The Open Group is a vendor-neutral and technology-neutral consortium working to enable access to integrated information within and between enterprises based on open standards and global interoperability. Extensions to the ISO/IEC 11179 standard Although the ISO/IEC 11179 metadata registry is 6-part standard comprising several hundreds of pages, the primary model is presented in Part-3 and depicted in UML diagrams to facilitate understanding, supported by normative text. The eXtended Metadata Registry initiative, XMDR led by the US, explored the use of ontologies as the basis for MDR content in order to provide richer semantic framework than could be achieved by lexical and syntax naming conventions alone. The XMDR experimented with a prototype using OWL, RDF and SPARQL to prove the concept. The initiative resulted in Edition 3 of ISO/IEC 11179. The first part published is ISO/IEC 11179-3:2013. The primary extension in Edition 3 is the Concept Region, expanding the use of concepts to more components within the standard, and supporting registration of a Concept system for use within the registry. The standard also supports the use of externally defined concept systems. Edition 3 versions of Parts 1, 5, and 6 were published in 2015. Part 2, Classifications, is subsumed by the Concept Region in Part 3, but is being updated to a Technical Report (TR) to provide guidance on the development of Classification Schemes. Part 4 describes principles for forming data definitions; an Edition 3 has not been proposed. Examples of ISO/IEC 11179 metadata registries The following