The history of, and implementation strategy for, the"soon to be published" new ECDA IDX standard  will be presented.  The objective of this standard practice is the development of a new external corrosion direct assessment (ECDA) data interchange data structure that will enable electronic integration of data and standardize reporting of ECDA data within the pipeline industry, to allow transfer between different software packages or computer systems.  This is expected to minimize difficulty in using various programs to analyze or graph data and allow for comparison of data gathered for a given pipeline segment at different times, regardless of the software system used to collect it.  The format outlined is the commonly used American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) comma delimited text file, which is adaptable to all data processing systems.  There currently are no standards for submission and management of ECDA data.  This standard is expected to serve as a template for future internal corrosion direct assessment (ICDA) and stress corrosion cracking direct assessment (SCCDA) data interchange standards. 

This standard was prepared by joint Task Group (TG) 357 on External Corrosion Direct Assessment (ECDA) Integrity Data Exchange (IDX) TG 357 is administered by Specific Technology Group (STG) 35 on Pipelines, Tanks, and Well Casings, and sponsored by STG 05, Cathodic/Anodic Protection and STG 07, Computer Applications.  This standard is issued by NACE International under the auspices of STG 35, and the Pipeline Open Data Systems (PODS) Association.([1])

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^([1]) Pipeline Open Data Systems (PODS) Association, P.O. Box 273084, Fort Collins, CO 80527.