Gerard,
first of all, pursuing cooperations like this will always be very slow as long as it's a completely volunteer-driven effort. I think Wikimedia absolutely needs several people who can work on such matters full-time. Of course, you could ask the organization you have spoken to if they would be willing to fund the preparation itself (technical evaluation, research, planning, negotiation).
However, I also think we will have a much better negotiation position once Wikidata is past the prototype stage. Getting international metadata for Wikipedia for free is indeed a fascinating prospect, but I don't see it as an issue we need to address *right now*.
Best,
Erik