[OSGeo-Standards] Format for sharing gis data models.

[Sunburned Surveyor]

I'm a fan of GIS data models:

http://support.esri.com/index.cfm?fa=downloads.datamodels.gateway

I think I like them because ESRI does such a nice job on the posters.
:] However, a poster isn't useful for much beyond communicating the
structure of a GIS data model visually. I'd like to find/define a
format that would allow a GIS data model to be described in a more
structured way. I was thinking of an XML file that would describe each
of the following in the data model:

- Spatial Features (Example: Land Parcel)
- Non-Spatial Entities (Example: Parcel Owners)
- Relationships (Example: Parcel Owner To Land Parcel)
- Temporal Events (Example: Parcel Subdivision Event)
- Required Policies (Example: Metadata Policy)

The idea is to create a definition of a GIS data model that would be
structured enough to allow:

- The creation of open source GIS data model viewers/editors.
- Automated creation of GIS layers/database tables based on a GIS data
model definition.
- The swapping of common GIS data model components between GIS data models.
- Validation of GIS data models for compliance with some standard for
GIS data model design.

Is there any interest in this among the OSGeo standards crowd?

I'm working on a GIS data model right now for the Public Land Survey
System in the United States as part of a volunteer project with my
local land surveyors association. I'm very interested in coming up
with a standard format I can use to document my GIS data model, and
other models I hope to work on in the future. I'd like to get other
people involved in the creation of a standard GIS data model format if
there was enough interest.

Landon