meetdata

Meetdata is a term used to describe structured metadata about meetings and their outcomes, used to organize, search, and analyze meeting-related information. It covers data about the meeting event itself (title, start time, duration, timezone, location or video link), participants and their roles (host, attendee, speaker), and the meeting’s outputs (agenda items, decisions, action items, minutes) and related resources (documents, recordings).

Data model and elements commonly involved in meetdata include core entities such as Meeting, Participant, AgendaItem, ActionItem, Minutes, and Resource. Typical attributes encompass identifiers, creation and update timestamps, start and end times, duration, location, meeting type, recurrence, attendee lists with roles and participation status, agenda descriptions, decisions, due dates, responsible persons, and attachments. Meetdata can be stored in relational databases or JSON-based stores and linked across systems to support cross-tool visibility.

Sources and interoperability: Meetdata can be produced by calendar and meeting software, note-taking apps, and task trackers, often collected via APIs or import/export of formats like iCalendar or custom JSON. While it can align with existing standards, there is no universal standard specifically for meetdata, which frequently results in heterogeneous schemas across tools and organizations.

Privacy and governance: Because meetdata may include personal information and sensitive decisions, governance emphasizes access controls, data minimization, retention policies, and regulatory compliance. Data quality practices include validating participant lists, ensuring accurate time zone handling, and maintaining consistent labeling of agenda items, decisions, and actions.

Applications and challenges: Potential uses include enhanced search across past meetings, analytics on participation and outcomes, automated follow-ups, and integration with project management. Challenges include fragmentation of data across tools, inconsistent metadata quality, and ongoing privacy concerns.