Methods and a computing device for carrying out data collection

1. A method for carrying out data collection by a host computing device, the method comprising:

receiving, from a first computing device, a data collection request of a first user, wherein the data collection request indicates a data point that is to be the subject of the data collection,

wherein characteristics of the data point are defined in a mark-up language schema;

receiving, from the first computing device, a request of the first user for the data point to be assigned at least a first data category and a second data category;

in response to the request of the first user, extending the mark-up language schema to characterize the first category and the second category within the mark-up language schema;

receiving, from the first computing device, the first user's designation of

a second user as provider of a value for the first data category, and

a third user as provider of a value for the second data category, notifying the second user and the third user of the data collection request;

transmitting, to a second computing device of the second user, a visual representation of a data collection template that shows

the first data category, for which the second user is to be a provider, as editable by the second user, and

the second data category, for which the third user is to be a provider, as non-editable by the second user; and

transmitting, to a third computing device of the third user, a visual representation of a data collection template that shows

the first data category, for which the second user is to be a provider, as non-editable by the third user, and

the second data category, for which the third user is to be a provider, as editable by the third user.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the visual representation transmitted to the second computing device shows the second data category as grayed out.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, from the second computing device, a value of the first data category from the second user;

notifying the first user of the receipt of the value;

receiving an approval of the value from the first user; and

in response to the approval, persisting the value in a data entity corresponding to the data point in a memory accessible to the host computing device.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising tagging the value in accordance with the extended mark-up language schema.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

receiving, from the third computing device, a value of the second data category from the third user;

notifying the first user of the receipt of the value of the second category;

receiving an approval of the value of the second category from the first user; and

in response to the approval of the value of the second category, persisting the value of the second category in a data entity corresponding to the data point in a memory accessible to the host computing device.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising tagging the value of the second category in accordance with the extended mark-up language schema.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, from the second user, a value in response to the request;

gating the response of the second user conditioned on the approval of the first user.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to the data collection request, updating a permission of a data entity corresponding to the data point to allow the second user to edit the data entity.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein notifying the second user and the third user of the data collection request comprises:

posting a message on a data collection dashboard of the second user;

providing the data collection dashboard to the second computing device;

posting a message on a data collection dashboard of the third user; and

providing the data collection dashboard to the second computing device.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein notifying the second user and the third user of the data collection request comprises:

emailing a link to the visual representation of the data collection template to the second user;

providing the visual representation of the data collection template to the second computing device in response to the second user activating the links;

emailing a link to the visual representation of the data collection template to the third user; and

providing the visual representation of the data collection template to the third computing device in response to the third user activating the link.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mark-up language schema is an extensible business reporting language schema.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein extending the mark-up language schema comprises adding a new neighbor element to the mark-up language schema based on at least one of the first and second data categories.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein extending the mark-up language schema comprises adding, to the mark-up language schema, a new child element that refines an existing element of the mark-up language schema based on at least one of the first and second categories.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 1 .

15. A method for carrying out data collection by a host computing device, the method comprising:

instantiating an asset in a media storage device;

receiving, from a first computing device, a data collection request of a first user, wherein the data collection request indicates a data point that is to be the subject of the data collection,

wherein characteristics of the data point are defined in a mark-up language schema,

wherein the instantiated asset corresponds to the data point;

receiving, from the first computing device, a request of the first user for the data point to be assigned at least a first category and a second category;

in response to the request of the first user, extending the mark-up language schema to characterize the first category and the second category within the mark-up language schema;

receiving, from the first computing device, the first user's designation of

a second user as provider of a value for the first data category, and

a third user as provider of a value for the second data category, notifying the second user and the third user of the data collection request;

transmitting, to a second computing device of the second user, a visual representation of a data collection template that shows

the first data category, for which the second user is to be a provider, as editable by the second user, and

the second data category, for which the third user is to be a provider, as non-editable by the second user;

receiving, from the second user in response to the transmission to the second computing device, a value for the first data category;

transmitting, to a third computing device of the third user, a visual representation of a data collection template that shows

the first data category, for which the second user is to be a provider, as non-editable by the third user, and

the second data category, for which the third user is to be a provider, as editable by the third user

receiving, from the third user in response to the transmission to the third computing device, a value for the second data category;

calculating a compound value from the received value for the first data category and the received value of the second category; and

persisting the compound value in the asset.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein extending the mark-up language schema comprises adding, to the mark-up language schema, a new element that groups together a plurality of existing elements of the mark-up language schema based on the first category and the second category.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein extending the mark-up language schema comprises adding, to the mark-up language schema, an additional semantic relationship between two or more elements of the mark-up language schema.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the data collection request indicates a second data point for which the second user is to provide a value, the method further comprising:

receiving, from the second user, an indication that the second user has declined the data collection request as to the second data point.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing the method of claim 15 .

20. A computing device comprising a memory and a hardware processor that carries out a data collection method, the method comprising:

receiving, from a first computing device, a data collection request of a first user, wherein the data collection request indicates a data point that is to be the subject of the data collection,

wherein characteristics of the data point are defined in a mark-up language schema;

receiving, from the first computing device, a request of the first user for the data point to be assigned a plurality of categories;

in response to the request of the first user, extending the mark-up language schema to characterize the first category and the second category within the mark-up language schema;

receiving, from the first computing device, the first user's designation of

a second user as provider of a value for the first data category, and

a third user as provider of a value for the second data category,

notifying the second user and the third user of the data collection request;

transmitting, to a second computing device of the second user, a visual representation of a data collection template that shows

the first data category, for which the second user is to be a provider, as editable by the second user, and

the second data category, for which the third user is to be a provider, as non-editable by the second user; and

transmitting, to a third computing device of the third user, a visual representation of a data collection template that shows

the first data category, for which the second user is to be a provider, as non-editable by the third user, and

the second data category, for which the third user is to be a provider, as editable by the third user.