{"id":2209,"date":"2025-06-19T13:17:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T13:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/thought-leaders\/?p=2209"},"modified":"2025-06-19T13:17:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T13:17:47","slug":"who-is-responsible-for-drafting-data-definitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/thought-leaders\/who-is-responsible-for-drafting-data-definitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Responsible for Drafting Data Definitions?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"isPasted\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">Good data definitions are essential. I can\u2019t emphasize enough that without them, you\u2019ll lack clarity and accuracy, and your data will suffer for it. But who should actually be writing them? I\u2019ve written extensively over the years about how to create strong data definitions (read more about that here), but I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever really tackled the question of who\u2019s responsible for writing them.<\/p>\n<p>Spoiler: it\u2019s not the Data Governance team!<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Who Should Really Be Writing Data Definitions?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">I recently heard from a Data Governance Analyst whose team was under pressure to write data definitions for their entire organization. The business wanted the Data Governance team to take ownership of this task, but from my perspective, this is not the Data Governance team\u2019s job.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The reason is simple: the Data Governance team cannot possibly be experts in every single piece of data that your organization owns. It\u2019s the business users who know the data best, so they are the ones who should write the definitions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">By all means, the Data Governance team can support the business by providing guidance, advice and training on how to write good definitions. You might run workshops, offer templates, or give feedback, but the actual drafting needs to come from the business. After all, if the business uses the data and relies on it for decision-making, it only makes sense that only they are in the position to define what it means.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Role of Data Owners and Data Stewards<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This is where the roles of Data Owners and Data Stewards become essential.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Data Owners &#8211; Accountable but Not for Drafting<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Data Owners are senior people in your organization. They are accountable for a specific set of data, which includes being responsible for reviewing and approving definitions. However, they\u2019re typically too senior and busy to draft definitions themselves.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Data Stewards: Drafting the Definitions<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is where Data Stewards step in. Drafting data definitions is a key part of their role. They are usually the subject matter experts on that data, and therefore, \u00a0have the knowledge and expertise to create definitions for the data.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sometimes, a Data Steward might not have all the answers and will need to work with other business users in their area. That\u2019s perfectly fine, as long as the definitions are drafted by those who truly understand the data.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Good data definitions are the foundation of reliable, usable data but creating them isn\u2019t the job of the Data Governance team alone. While data governance provides the framework, tools, and support, it\u2019s the business, especially Data Stewards and knowledgeable users who must do the heavy lifting.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If your organization wants meaningful, accurate, and widely accepted data definitions, involve the people who use and understand the data every day. Empower your Data Stewards, support your Data Owners, and let the Data Governance team guide the process &#8211; not own it.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s how you build definitions that actually work.<\/p>\n<p>Originally published on\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nicolaaskham.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"external\">www.nicolaaskham.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Good data definitions are essential. I can\u2019t emphasize enough that without them, you\u2019ll lack clarity and accuracy, and your data will suffer for it. But who should actually be writing them? I\u2019ve written extensively over the years about how to create strong data definitions (read more about that here), but I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":479,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Who is Responsible for Drafting Data Definitions?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who is Responsible for Drafting Data Definitions?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Good data definitions are essential. 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