June 2019

Next Steps and Important Dates

• Data Import 1.0 Release Dates:
  • July 12, 2019 - Release Candidate 1
  • September 17, 2019 - Final 1.0 Release
• If you have a bug or feature request, create a ticket in the "Ed-Fi Alliance" project (EDFI) in Ed-Fi Tracker. 

Data Import 1.0 Features

• The Data Import 1.0 release will be a consolidated install that supports both Ed-Fi Tech Suite 2 and 3 versions (2.5 and 3.1)
• Any Ed-Fi API resource endpoint should be addressable in the Data Import 1.0, including custom extensions to resources
• Ability to “work deeper” in Ed-Fi API resource endpoints, such as the student assessment object with objective assessments, performance levels and other related – both in Data Import user interface and ETL components
• Based on this, we are planning on releasing Data Import 1.0 with a metadata-sharing feature built into the product.  We are leveraging investments made within the Ed-Fi MappingEDU infrastructure and integrating it for use within the Data Import product for expanding sharable metadata within Ed-Fi implementations.  Most of this will be transparent experience built-in Data Import, however important to note implementation sites will have this option to consume and publish Data Import templates (data maps, bootstrap data and other information).
• Sharing and consuming Data Import templates will be an “opt-in” activity, meaning that only Ed-Fi community members that are willing to Data Import templates
• Data Import templates are defined as bootstraps, data maps and lookups as they apply to mapping and loading a particular CSV source target to a particular Ed-Fi ODS / API version.  Data Import metadata is not intended to contain source data or implementation detail from particular projects to ensure data safety and privacy are maintained.  We will provide details with this important feature as Data Import 1.0 is released in the coming weeks.
• Ed-Fi ODS / API 2.5 and 3.1 compatibility
• Major architectural and internal data ETL mapping improvements for enhanced communication with Ed-Fi API endpoints
• As we’ve heard reflected from the community, much of the targeted valuable source data exists in flat files from legacy systems (such as CSV files) which Data Import (along with other ETL tools in use) are designed to accommodate.  The processes involved in CSV to Ed-Fi API endpoint(s) is difficult and time-consuming, as is the case with the majority ETL and data integration efforts.  The Ed-Fi community and team would like to help share the value from these processes, including data mapping and successful data loads from CSV source data to Ed-Fi API endpoints. 
• Other important technical improvements for data handling, performance, logging and user experience.