As a few of you already know, I’m dedicating these summer season days to the writing of my new e book, “99 Questions About Information Administration,” which follows not directly the e book “20 Issues You Must Know About Information Administration.” After the numerous questions I’ve obtained, I discover it fascinating to reply this one: What’s the distinction between a knowledge market and a knowledge catalog?

Information Market vs. Information Catalog

A knowledge market is a platform the place knowledge units may be contracted and made out there. It differs from a knowledge catalog in its strategy, because it presupposes that there are “transactions” between events – not essentially “exterior,” monetized knowledge.  

If in a knowledge catalog we make out there the info of a corporation, a knowledge market presupposes that there are a collection of managed processes in order that this knowledge can be utilized. 

Whereas a knowledge catalog often offers with a single group, even when it has completely different domains, a knowledge market may be deployed in order that knowledge belongings may be made out there to different organizations equivalent to enterprise companions or stakeholders. 

The info is made out there, may be examined, and on the time of entry maybe – as a result of proprietary nature of the info – it will likely be essential for the consumer to signal a “contract” and for the info proprietor to give you the chance always to trace using the info and for there to be always traceability of the processes. The info proprietor grants permission to entry the info or a set of information for a particular time frame. He may grant permission to “subscribe” to the info and obtain all of the variations that the info might symbolize over time. 

A Information Market Makes use of “Information Sharing Agreements”

In a knowledge market the presence of “knowledge sharing agreements” is important. Information sharing agreements are contracts or authorized agreements between the events concerned within the trade of information. These agreements set up the situations, phrases, and tasks associated to the use and sharing of information between taking part organizations or entities. 

Information sharing agreements are essential as a result of they outline the rights and obligations of every get together concerned in knowledge sharing. These agreements typically embody the next parts: 

Function and scope: Establishes the aim and aims of the info sharing, in addition to the scope of the info sharing. 

Definitions and terminology: Defines the important thing phrases and definitions used within the settlement to make sure a typical understanding between the events. These phrases ought to be compiled from a enterprise glossary.

Duties and obligations: Specifies the tasks and obligations of every get together concerned within the knowledge trade. This will embody how knowledge shall be collected, saved, protected and shared, in addition to the safety measures and privateness practices to be adopted. 

Permissions and licenses: Determines the permissions and licenses required for the use and sharing of information. This will embody copyright, mental property or different authorized issues. 

Confidentiality and privateness: Establishes the phrases associated to confidentiality and privateness of the shared knowledge. This will embody clauses on non-disclosure of confidential info, compliance with knowledge safety rules, and administration of privacy-related dangers. 

Information retention and disposal: Defines timelines and procedures for retention and disposal of shared knowledge and controls the life cycle. 

Regulatory and authorized compliance: Establishes compliance with legal guidelines, rules, and requirements relevant to knowledge sharing. This will embody compliance with knowledge safety laws, info safety, and different related authorized necessities. Totally different business compliance equivalent to RDA, IFRS17, IDMP, or ESG may additionally have an affect. 

Battle decision: Establishes the mechanisms and measures for the decision of conflicts that will come up in reference to knowledge trade.

Time period and termination: Determines the period of the settlement and the situations below which it may be terminated by both get together.

Traceability: Always it should be attainable to hint using knowledge for compliance or audit functions. 

Information sharing agreements are elementary to establishing a sound authorized and contractual foundation for knowledge sharing, making certain that rules and authorized obligations are met, and defending the pursuits of all events concerned. These agreements additionally assist set up belief and transparency between the organizations exchanging knowledge. 

Key Options of a Information Market

For a knowledge market to be efficient and engaging to customers, it ought to have the next traits:

Information selection: It ought to supply all kinds of information units from completely different sources and in several codecs. This may permit customers to seek out the info that matches their particular wants. Ideally, semantic search, ontologies, taxonomies, or one other type of querying ought to be out there to facilitate efficient trying to find customers. 

Information high quality: The info provided within the knowledge market ought to be of top quality and dependable. This suggests that the info is present, correct, full, and related to its meant objective. Ideally, the info market ought to have a knowledge verification and validation course of to make sure knowledge high quality. As well as, the consumer ought to even be capable to know the development of compliance with the high quality dimensions agreed upon by the group. 

Privateness and safety: The safety of privateness and knowledge safety is key. The info market will need to have sturdy safety measures in place to guard the saved knowledge and be sure that solely approved events can entry it. As well as, it should adjust to relevant knowledge privateness rules, such because the Common Information Safety Regulation (GDPR) within the European Union. Always there should be official entry to the info and safety should not be an obstacle to accessing the belongings. 

Ease of use: The platform should be simple to make use of and navigate for each patrons and sellers of information. It ought to have an intuitive interface that permits you to search, view and examine knowledge units, in addition to carry out transactions in a user-friendly method. To make an instance it ought to resemble one thing like Spotify, the place I discover what I’m searching for or my function customers can discover solutions relying on the function and historical past of my queries. 

Discovery options: There ought to be superior search and filtering options that permit customers to rapidly discover the info they want. This could embody the flexibility to look by classes, key phrases, particular attributes and different related standards. It ought to even be capable to “advise” probably the most helpful knowledge units relying on the habits of the consumer or their division. As now we have already mentioned, the best is to make use of semantic search, ontologies, or taxonomies. 

Detailed info: Every dataset ought to have an in depth description that gives related details about its content material, high quality, format, license, and phrases of use. This may assist “patrons” make knowledgeable selections about knowledge acquisition. A few of this info could also be derived straight from the info dictionary and include, for instance, legitimate knowledge ranges, title of reference tables, or entry functionality and timestamp. And a few might derive straight from the enterprise glossary as a result of enrichment of enterprise or domain-related info.

Transaction transparency: The info market should be clear concerning the phrases and situations of transactions. It ought to present clear info on pricing, licensing, utilization restrictions, and every other related particulars in order that customers can correctly consider the info and its acquisition. 

Feedback and rankings: Customers ought to have the choice to depart feedback and rankings on the datasets they’ve acquired. This helps keep the standard and status of the info provided within the market, and permits different customers to make selections primarily based on previous experiences. 

Integration and compatibility: The platform should be suitable with completely different knowledge codecs and techniques to facilitate integration with present instruments and functions. This may permit customers to make use of the info effectively of their initiatives and evaluation. 

Technical assist: A superb knowledge market ought to present enough technical assist for customers, both within the type of documentation, tutorials, dialogue boards, or customized help. This may assist resolve any technical points or reply questions associated to the info and the platform. It has to current an authorization circulation and a ticketing system to resolve doubts or recommend modifications that must be offered to the info house owners and must be tracked.

In Abstract

An information market and a knowledge catalog are two associated ideas, however with barely completely different approaches and capabilities: 

An information market focuses on facilitating transactions and buying and selling (albeit inner) of information by offering an surroundings the place “sellers” can checklist their knowledge and “patrons” can search, browse, and buy or subscribe to it – so long as the authorization circulation is met and the info proprietor grants permission. 

A knowledge catalog is a software or system that acts as a centralized repository of metadata concerning the datasets out there in a corporation. It gives an outline and stock of accessible knowledge, together with details about its construction, content material, high quality, supply, proprietor, permitted use, and different related particulars. The first objective of a knowledge catalog is to facilitate knowledge search and discovery by enabling customers to seek out and perceive what knowledge exists inside a corporation and the way they will entry it. As highlighted in DAMA’s DMBoK2, the info catalog is the final step in making knowledge belongings out there to the group after the profitable creation of each the info dictionary (fundamental metadata) and the enterprise glossary (enterprise metadata). 

In abstract, the primary distinction between a knowledge market and a knowledge catalog lies of their main focus. An information market focuses on the transaction whereas a knowledge catalog focuses on offering an summary of the info out there inside a corporation, facilitating search and discovery of the info. Each ideas can complement one another in a broader knowledge ecosystem, the place a knowledge market can leverage a knowledge catalog to prepare and current knowledge units out there on the market. It should at all times be essential to have a Information Governance surroundings and a stable integration layer for all of this to work and be embedded and incremental.