Enterprise data architecture¶
Defra runs on data - from river levels and disease surveillance to land parcels and farm payments. Enterprise data architecture helps that data be found, trusted, joined up and reused.
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The core things Defra cares about, how they relate, and where the authoritative data for each lives.
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The identifiers, formats and standards that let Defra data join up - within Defra and across government.
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What every team must and should do with the data their service creates and uses.
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Data and analytics service pattern
How data moves from source to insight to publication.
Cross-government data architecture
Defra's data architecture aligns with the cross-government data architecture guidance and the Data Standards Authority. Where they cover a topic, we follow them and only add what is specific to Defra.
Data principles¶
- Data has an owner. Every data set has an accountable business owner.
- Collect once, use many times. Use authoritative sources rather than asking again or copying.
- Use common identifiers. Shared identifiers are what make data joinable.
- Open by default, protected by design. Publish what we can; protect what we must.
- Fit for purpose. Quality is defined and measured against how the data is used.
- Describe it. Data that cannot be found or understood is not reusable.
Why it matters for delivery teams¶
Most Defra services touch the same core entities - a customer, a business, a holding, a piece of land, an animal or plant, a permit. When each service models these differently, users re-enter the same information, staff reconcile records by hand, and we cannot see the whole picture. Using Defra on a page and the data standards from the start avoids this.