Data Policies

Definition

Statements of Intent and Fundamental Rules: Guidelines governing the creation, acquisition, integrity, security, quality, and use of data and information.
Importance: These are more fundamental and business-critical than data standards.
Purpose: Outline what to do and what not to do regarding data management.
Policy Characteristics: Should be few in number, stated briefly and directly.

Here are possible topics for data policies:

Data Modeling and Development: Guidelines for data modeling and data development activities.
Data Architecture: Policies regarding the development and use of data architecture.
Data Quality: Expectations for data quality, including roles and responsibilities.
Data Security:
- Confidentiality classification
- Intellectual property
- Personal data privacy
- General data access and usage policies
- Data access by external parties
Database Recovery and Data Retention: Policies on database recovery and data retention practices.
Externally Sourced Data: Guidelines for the access and use of data obtained from external sources.
Data Sharing: Policies on sharing data both internally and externally.
Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence: Regulations for data warehousing and business intelligence activities.
Unstructured Data: Policies related to unstructured data, including electronic files and physical records.

Enterprise Data Model:
- Sponsored at the data governance level.
- Must be aligned with key business strategies, processes, business units, and systems.
Aspects of Data Architecture:
- Data Technology Architecture
- Data Integration Architecture
- Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence Architecture
- Metadata Architecture