Overview¶

Defra on a page (DoaP) is a high-level conceptual data model showing the enterprise conceptual data entities that underpin Defra's business data concepts.

It is important to think of this diagram as "the cookie cutter, rather than the cookie".

Much of our physical data architecture has resemblances to this diagram, but different entities and terminology will be used in many cases. One way to use the diagram is as an enabler of common understanding of similarities and differences.

Using Defra on a Page¶

Use this model to:

establish common vocabularies across Defra
identify the enterprise concepts relevant to a service or domain
provide a starting point for domain conceptual and logical data models
make relationships between business concepts explicit
avoid embedding platform or implementation choices too early

When developing a more detailed model, retain these enterprise concepts where they apply, add domain-specific concepts and relationships, and show cardinality at the appropriate level of detail.

Source and status¶

This page is a web representation of Defra on a Page (DoaP), document version 1.1, updated 15 March 2023. The document describes the package status as proposed. The source PDF remains available on Defra SharePoint - Defra on a Page.

Defra on a Page¶

---
config:
  layout: elk
  elk:
    forceNodeModelOrder: true
    considerModelOrder: NODES_AND_EDGES
---
flowchart TB
    accTitle: Defra on a page
    accDescr: Conceptual data model showing 19 interconnected entities: Agreement, Finance, Communication, Product, Event, Facility, Case, Time, Control, Party, Territory, Asset, Activity, Address, Request, Location, Assessment, Service and Document.

    %% Entity declarations: retain this order when editing.

    Agreement["Agreement"]

    Finance["Finance"]
    Communication["Communication"]

    Product["Product"]
    Event["Event"]
    Facility["Facility"]
    Control["Control"]
    Case["Case"]
    Time["Time"]
    Party["Party"]

    Territory["Territory"]
    Asset["Asset"]
    Activity["Activity"]
    Address["Address"]
    Request["Request"]

    Location["Location"]
    Assessment["Assessment"]
    Service["Service"]
    Document["Document"]

    %% Agreements and communication

    Agreement ---|pricing| Finance
    Agreement ---|requires| Activity
    Agreement ---|enters| Party
    Agreement ---|recorded in| Document

    Finance ---|relates to| Party

    Communication ---|between| Party
    Communication ---|recorded in| Document

    %% Products, events and facilities

    Product ---|defines| Asset

    Event ---|results in| Activity
    Event ---|leads to| Activity
    Event ---|happens at| Location

    Facility ---|uses| Asset
    Facility ---|supports| Activity
    Facility ---|happens at| Activity
    Facility ---|located at| Location

    %% Activity context

    Control ---|influences| Activity
    Case ---|requires| Activity
    Time ---|relates to| Activity

    %% Parties

    Party ---|responsible for| Activity
    Party ---|contacted at| Address
    Party ---|makes| Request
    Party ---|provided by| Service

    %% Geography and assets

    Territory ---|defines an area at| Location
    Asset ---|located at| Location

    %% Activity outputs and requests

    Activity ---|influences| Assessment
    Activity ---|produces| Assessment
    Activity ---|recorded in| Document

    Request ---|for| Service

This diagram is a simplified, accessible representation of the source model.

Conceptual data entities¶

Activity¶

A deliberate action carried out by a party, or by an automaton acting on behalf of a party. An activity may have happened in the past or be planned for the future.

Activities generally take place at facilities. They differ from events because activities are actions, while events are occurrences that affect the organisation or result from activities.

Examples include:

maintenance tasks relating to assets and facilities
project plan activities comprising detailed planned tasks
transfers or exports of goods or materials involving multiple steps

Address¶

A method of contact for the purpose of location or communication.

Agreement¶

A mutual understanding between two or more parties that records agreed terms and conditions. An agreement may be formal or informal, may be constructed from other agreements, and may be qualified by related agreements. It may be signed and published in a document, such as a contract.

Examples include:

licences to extract water or handle waste
import and export agreements
agreements to pay for services supplied by third-party organisations

Assessment¶

The result of an activity involving analysis, observation, estimation, judgement or appraisal. Assessments help the organisation shape behaviour and make decisions that affect future actions.

An assessment may be fine-grained, such as determining whether a measurement exceeds a level, or broad, such as a habitat survey. One assessment may consolidate several smaller assessments.

Asset¶

A physical or intangible object that has value to one or more parties. Assets include instances of products, equipment used to make or transport other assets, raw materials, and resulting structures.

Assets differ from facilities. A facility uses assets to support activities. For example, a manufacturing facility may use buildings as assets to house manufacturing activities.

Examples include buildings, land, equipment, harvested crops and livestock animals.

Case¶

An incidence that requires investigation or action.

Communication¶

An interchange of information between parties. A communication normally involves one initiating party and one or more receiving parties.

Activities may be associated with communications. For example, a marketing campaign may send communications and process responses. Letters, emails, attachments, voice recordings and video recordings are captured through associated documents.

Control¶

A means of limiting or regulating something. Controls may be provided at different levels of detail, including directives, laws and regulations, principles, policies, recommendations and operating rules.

Document¶

A piece of written, printed or electronic matter that provides information. A document may be electronic or physical, may be a copy of another document, and may contain sub-documents in a dossier or folder.

Event¶

The occurrence of an incident or phenomenon. Events may have occurred or may happen in future, and may be real-world occurrences or predictions produced through modelling.

Events may occur naturally or be caused by activities. Defra may respond to events by carrying out business activities, and the relationship between an event and the activities that caused or responded to it may be recorded.

Facility¶

A place with a purpose where known types of activity are carried out. A facility may use assets to support activities and is managed or operated by one or more parties.

Examples include:

manufacturing sites
meat processing plants
laboratories
parks

A facility differs from an asset because it involves parties supporting activities that may produce assets. Assets may be used by facilities, but facilities are not used by assets.

Finance¶

Monetary amounts relevant to finance and accounting.

Examples include:

payments between parties
financial account transactions
accounting transactions
ledger account items
estimates of value, budgets and commitments

Location¶

Any place in three-dimensional space: above, inside or below the earth, including the ocean, land-based water bodies, the atmosphere and orbital space.

Party¶

A person or organisation of interest to Defra, including its executive agencies and key delivery partners.

Product¶

A specification of a good or item offered by one party to another, including the terms and conditions governing its exchange, sale and servicing.

Products provide specifications for types of assets; assets are the individual instances described by products. Product specifications may cover items used by Defra, items produced by Defra organisations, or items produced by third parties that Defra organisations monitor and control. Specifications may be formal or informal.

Examples include vehicles, monitoring equipment, environmental samples and waste products.

Request¶

A call for something by one party to another. A request is generally made under an existing agreement or against an advertised service provided by the receiving party.

Examples include:

an application for an agreement with a third party
a claim for funds under an existing agreement
a sales, purchase or work order
a request to process information in a submission supporting an application

Service¶

A means of delivering value to customers by facilitating outcomes that customers and beneficiaries want to achieve.

This entity describes an instance or implementation of a service specification. A specification may be implemented in different ways, with each implementation representing a different service.

Territory¶

An area whose boundary has been defined by a state or private organisation for managing particular types of activity carried out by parties operating in that area.

Examples include:

Sites of Special Scientific Interest
bathing water zones
operational catchments
internal drainage districts

Time¶

A point in time measured in the context of day, week, month and year. Where a time of day is recorded, use the 24-hour clock and the ISO 8601 format T[hh]:[mm]:[ss]. Consult ISO 8601 where more complex time or elapsed-time representations are needed.