Definition Policies
Policy: Data Identification
Government agencies will identify data elements for which they hold custodial responsibility by defining and maintaining their metadata in a data catalogue.
Scope and Interpretation
The purpose of the data catalogue is twofold: first to allow each agency to identify and better use its own data resources, and second to publish the definitions to a wider audience across the whole of government. Government agencies should not hold data that is not identified and labelled.
The content of the catalogue is metadata describing the properties of data elements and their context in databases or datasets. It does not contain actual values or allow the direct retrieval of actual values. For example, while the catalogue might show that Name and Address are data elements in a database, it would not show the name and address of any particular person.
A data catalogue must be in an electronic form suitable for the size and complexity of the data stores being described. It will have a functional rather than an organisational focus. For small agencies with limited quantities of data this may be a simple document, while for larger agencies more elaborate data or system modelling tools may be preferred.
Since the catalogue is in effect an asset register, it must contain enough information for an enquirer to understand the purpose, meaning, and most important properties of the agency's data elements and the context in which they exist. Properties will include a business definition and physical characteristics e.g. size or data type, which may be required to retrieve and use the data.
The form of the catalogue will be consistent with NZ Government core metadata standards to ensure interoperability between databases and datasets. In some cases specialised standards will apply to complex datasets e.g. geospatial data. See also Context
Individual agency catalogues will contribute to a government-wide high level catalogue to be made available through NZGO.
Any regular exchange of data between agencies, regardless of technology, including extracts directed to a data warehouse, will be accompanied by an exchange of catalogue definitions.
Over time, agencies will be expected to harmonise definitions of data elements held in common or used for matching purposes.
Supporting Standards: Individual responsibilities; Discovery implications; Data Catalogue; Process maps
Rationale
The Crown makes huge investments in collecting and storing data. An effective catalogue is essential to get best use of data assets both within agencies and across government.
Policy: Document Identification and Capture
Agencies will create and implement policies and standards to identify and capture all business documents created or received in their processes.
Scope and Interpretation
The need is to capture and manage documents of business and statutory significance to an agency, but not to capture and manage every document. See Glossary: Data Object for definitions of document, business document, and non-business document. In this context 'capture' means to get documents into a controlling system, whether paper based or electronic.
Analysis supporting the creation of agency policies and standards is necessary to identify:
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What processes take place in the conduct of the agency's business
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What business documents are gathered or created by those processes
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How business documents must be managed to meet the agency's business needs.
The agency's own policies and standards will be consistent with these policies and standards, and will permit the agency to implement sound practices for paper/electronic document handling. They also have significant implications for workplace procedures and training.
Supporting Standards: Discovery implication; Individual responsibilities; Data Catalogue; Process maps; Skills and training
Rationale
Identification and subsequent management of all business documents reduces the risk of poorly informed or inconsistent decision-making, increases business reliability, reduces duplication of effort, and prevents ad-hoc management by individuals. It helps agencies to demonstrate and maintain the credibility of business processes and to contribute to e-govt objectives, while it also reduces time spent servicing Official Information Act enquiries.
Policy: Context
Contextual information about logical business data stores or complex datasets will be captured and stored in the agency's data catalogue.
Contextual information about business documents will be captured and associated with the documents and managed according to organisational policies and standards.
Scope and Interpretation
Agencies must use a defined standard set of contextual information or metadata (see GLOSSARY: METADATA), that has been derived from New Zealand government metadata standards. These standards will exist at four levels:
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international
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community of interest
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agency
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interoperability between databases and datasets.
Each agency will have to develop a detailed set of standards to meet its own requirements, or ratify an existing set.
Standardisation facilitates the effective sharing of information, both within and between agencies. Agencies can add metadata requirements specific to certain categories of data or documents, e.g. metadata on a policy report might include the related business output. Advancing technology may enable changes in core and optional metadata fields, for example the agency may wish to include electronic signatures.
Core metadata must be sufficient to describe the document, dataset, or data store, and to establish its validity and relevance for business or evidential purposes. Capture of most metadata for business documents is best undertaken at the time they are created or received, usually by the individual involved. It will normally be a specialist task to define complex datasets or data stores.
Supporting Standards: See New Zealand Government metadata standards; Classification of documents; Core metadata
Rationale
Quality contextual information is a valuable resource for management. Accurate and adequate metadata assist agencies to comply with legislative requirements by demonstrating which documents are associated with a process at every stage. In addition, complex datasets and data stores can be defined in the data catalogue both as physical entities and logical groupings if required. Metadata can also be used to implement business rules, e.g. if the document is "final" then its status is "read only".
Policy: Source
Agencies will be able to identify and locate the prime authoritative source of their data elements and business documents. Where it is cost effective, prime authoritative sources should be held electronically.
Scope and Interpretation
Where data is held in multiple physical databases e.g. for analysis purposes or technical performance reasons, the Business Custodian will designate the master source of the data which will always take precedence should conflict in data values occur.
This implies that update procedures should be concentrated on the main data source, with the subsidiary data store(s) being fed electronically from the main data store. It also implies that the physical formats adopted in different databases for the same logical data element should be consistent.
Defining a prime source falls naturally into the process of defining access and security arrangements (see Access Rules).
It is relatively easy to describe the location of physical items such as paper documents, disks, tapes etc. For material held within a storage area network it may not be possible to establish a physical location lower than a managed unit as recognised by the system.
Supporting Standards: Prime authoritative data source location; Synchronise data and document stores and publishing systems
Rationale
The prime authoritative source is defined to ensure that only one version of any given data element or business document is recognised as the correct one. This prevents confusion and promotes consistency. The source must be locatable to prove that adequate management provisions are being applied to data and document assets.
Electronic storage, when managed and organised according to these policies and standards, provides superior retention and retrievability options over paper based systems.
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