Guidance

Data Standards Authority: operational model and processes

Updated 29 November 2023

Applies to England

DSA Operational Model and Processes

Purpose of document

This document sets out how the Data Standards Authority (DSA) works with internal and external partners to set common data standards for government. It provides clear steps and actions for the DSA to ensure the consistency of its work and these standards.

The DSA will review and continuously improve the way it works through stakeholder feedback and analytics.

What is the purpose of the DSA, and how does the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) support its work?

The Government published its National Data Strategy in July 2019. The Strategy set out its ambitions for Data, with Mission 3 focusing on transforming government’s use of data to drive efficiency and improve public services. In June 2022, the Central Digital and Data Office published Transforming for a Digital Future: Government’s 2022-25 Roadmap for Digital and Data, which set out the next stage of government’s plans for a transformed, more efficient digital government that provides better outcomes for everyone.

The DSA and its responsibility to coordinate cross-government work on the standards and supporting artefacts that support the exchange and effective use of data is an essential part of the foundations we are looking to deliver to realise the ambitions set out in both strategies. The DSA set out its vision and objectives in 2021.

The CDDO supports cross-government governance to:

• set common data standards
• identify strategic priorities for common data standards
• share best practice and knowledge of data standards
• make sure processes are in place to carry out due diligence regarding recommendations around the adoption of data standards
• commission working groups to identify standards and develop supporting artefacts to support the exchange and effective use of data
• improve the monitoring of and compliance with the common data standards

The DSA is primarily concerned with standards that support data interoperability. Data interoperability is critical as it addresses how systems and services that create, exchange and consume data have clear, shared expectations for the contents, context and meaning of that data. Data interoperability is important to improve broader interoperability across government, or to allow one system to interact with another system within or across organisations. To this end the DSA works closely with the Open Standards Board, which was established to consider and make recommendations on specific open standards that relate to software interoperability, data and document formats.

Principles

Many principles inform the work of the DSA and the processes that it operates in response to the challenges it faces:

• Open: we will support and facilitate the cross-government adoption of open standards wherever possible.
• Transparent: our processes will be:
  • open
  • transparent
  • iterative
  • collaborative
  • consultative (bringing together subject matter experts (SMEs) from within and outside the public sector).
• Relevant: our processes will prioritise standards that fix known problems.
• Maintained: our processes work through the lifecycle of data standards to ensure they’re fit for purpose.
• Timely: our processes reflect the fast pace of public sector transformation without sacrificing quality thresholds and due diligence.
• Available: standards and processes will be always publicly available
• Accountable/owned: all proposals for standards should have a clear owner outside of the DSA to maintain independence in supporting the setting of common standards for government.

Key governance and expert groups

Several groups of experts have a role in the work of the DSA, ranging from reviewers of proposals to providing formal approval as part of the governance for the DSA. Several groups of experts have a role in the work of the DSA, ranging from reviewers of proposals to providing formal approval as part of the governance for the DSA. The CDDO has an active role in facilitating these groups, including the working groups that enable cross-government collaboration on specific areas related to the delivery of National Data Strategy and Transforming for a Digital Future: Government’s 2022-25 Roadmap for Digital and Data objectives.

Chief Data Officer (CDO) Council

The CDO Council is the decision-making body responsible for overseeing the strategic delivery of Mission 3 of the National Data Strategy (NDS).

As such, the council has collective accountability for strategic delivery in respect of the government’s own use and reuse of data. This includes setting the future strategy for government as initial NDS targets are met and data management and maturity evolve.

The CDO Council is not responsible for setting specific data standards for government. As the most senior governance body for data management issues, the CDO Council can help the DSA determine strategic risks, problems and opportunities related to adopting common data standards in government.

DSA Steering Board

The Steering Board is a senior advisory group that supports the DSA in setting a cross government strategy and clear, ambitious delivery plan to drive greater standardisation of government data.

The Board is responsible for:

• overseeing the operation of the DSA, which will include determining its operations, priorities, and the supporting monitoring, enforcement and assurance processes required
• approving cross-government standards in their role as the final step in the DSA data standards endorsement process
• driving implementation of DSA objectives within the organisations, functions or programmes they represent
• ensuring appropriate representation from their organisation, functions or programme on the DSA and DQHub Peer Review Group and relevant data communities

Peer Review Group for DSA and DQ Hub (PRG)

The Peer Review Group is an advisory group that reviews products, proposals and data standards before submitting them to the DSA Steering Board. The Group also acts as an expert advisory group to review products and services created by the GDQH.

The Peer Review Group is responsible for:

• informing the DSA’s approach to data standards in the public sector, including:
  • its operations
  • priority areas for action
  • supporting monitoring, enforcement and assurance processes required
• helping to create products and proposals before they are submitted to the Steering Board, considering several factors, such as:
  • cost and impact
  • skills and capability
  • technical feasibility
• contributing suggestions and views on priority areas of data to be standardised at a cross-government and domain level
• assessing and commenting on products and proposals on behalf of the organisations, functions, domains or programmes they represent

Open Standards Board (OSB)

The OSB is an advisory group of selected industry, professional, developer and academic volunteers. The OSB’s aims are to:

• consider open standards recommendations that relate to software interoperability, data and document formats
• consider and come to an agreement on whether a recommended standard should be adopted or made compulsory across government
• ensure open standards are considered before the creation of unique government or sector-specific standards

The OSB makes decisions on whether standards recommendations:

• meet user need and business outcomes
• provide a level playing field for open source and proprietary software
• are implementable, mature and supported by the market
• have been adequately researched and that the impact of adoption is understood
• are aligned with the Open Standards Principles and the government’s IT and digital strategies

Data and Technology Architecture Design Authority (DTADA)

The Data and Technology Architecture Design Authority (DTADA) is the decision-making body responsible ​​for the development of data architectural principles, policies, strategies and standards for government. The DTADA works alongside the DSA. The DTADA is empowered by, and operates as a sub-group of, the Chief Data Officer (CDO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Councils. The DTADA has devolved responsibility for:

• commissioning and approving the data architecture:
  • principles
  • policies
  • strategies
  • standards for data architecture
• collaborating with other Design Authority Boards to ensure clear and connected:
  • enterprise architecture
  • architectural principles
  • policies
  • strategies
  • standards
• collaborating with other external Data Strategy and Standards bodies to ensure that system-wide consistency is maintained
• providing strategic oversight for the design and maintenance of a national reference data architecture and associated architectural assets
• providing a forum to approve and endorse domain-specific conceptual data models for specialisms within government
• providing oversight for large government projects’ data architecture and data management practices

Communities of experts

The DSA has a role in helping several cross-government expert communities. Communities play an important role in identifying problems, sharing best practice, developing and reviewing solutions. The important communities are:

• Government Data Architecture Community (GDAC) – data architects from the public sector. GDAC includes groups tasked with looking at particular issues, including the Taxonomy Oversight Group

• API Community - experts responsible for developing and managing APIs across government

• Data Sharing Practitioners Community - experts responsible for data sharing governance across government

• Government Data Quality Community - facilitated by the Government Data Quality Hub (DQHub) this brings together those working in, or with an interest, in data quality across government and the public sector

External expert networks

There are external expert groups which currently exist which may be utilised by the DSA. These groups include:

• The BSI – which has expert groups working on specific standards at national and international levels
• The Geospatial Commission - which has an expert board for endorsing geospatial data standards

Common steps

There are a number of steps that are applicable for all scenarios in which the CDDO team supporting the DSA may be involved in the consideration of common standards for government. These steps are set out in the following table, with further detail provided later in the document.

Step	Description
Identifying the need for a data standard	Understanding the problem and defining the requirement
Research and review	1. Identify stakeholders 2. Research the standards and related publications 3. Ensure documentation of work carried out
Consultation	The proposed standard undergoes public consultation, targeted at experts with a close interest in the subject matter.
Approval	Comments from public consultation are considered and factored into the proposal. The proposal is reviewed and approved by the governing body.
Publication and monitoring	The standard is published and publicised to ensure adoption. The standard is kept under review by the lead/owner to provide support to implementers, and it continues to be fit for purpose.

Identifying the need for common data standards

Under the DSA’s operating model, there are 4 ways interoperability issues and/or potential common standards can be identified:

• Proactive engagement - representatives from departments, domains, or functions - approach the DSA with a specific potential standard for common adoption.
• Open Standards Board Challenge - someone uses the open standards process to submit a challenge, and a challenge owner is found to take the challenge forward as a formal proposal.
• Data projects and use cases - public sector organisations work with DSA to identify interoperability problems and potential standards to solve them. Use cases such as particular services are important for determining interoperability and standards. In this case, early and ongoing engagement with the DSA is required so that the whole user journey is understood and multiple standards can potentially be adopted.

CDDO analysis and insight - the DSA will create and maintain a Government Data Standards Catalogue. The Government Data Standards Catalogue will make it easy to find DSA endorsed standards and standards undergoing consultation. Furthermore, the DSA will engage with public sector organisations, functions and domains to identify standards that they are using for inclusion in the Government Data Standards Catalogue. This will help to share knowledge and best practice and provide a tool for the DSA to determine proposals for common standards.

Prioritising and determining CDDO involvement with proposals for common standards

As the CDDO has limited resources to support the operations of the DSA, it is essential that its involvement with specific standards is targeted according to the government’s strategic priorities. The CDDO’s involvement in most proposals will be to provide guidance about processes, support them using effective practices, and exercise due diligence. The CDDO team will support publicising the proposed or endorsed data standard through the standards catalogue, blogs and other DSA digital content.

There will be instances where leads/challenge owners may request more support from the CDDO. For example, when responsibility may not have one clear owner or the issue is particularly complex. In such instances, the Head of Frameworks and Standards within the CDDO team, with input from the data architecture team and portfolio management team, will assess proposals and make recommendations to the Government CDO on its prioritisation and set out estimated resourcing requirements. The proposal will be communicated to the Steering Board and Peer Review Group (PRG) for validation and transparency.

Research and review

A critical part of determining the use of data standards is understanding the business needs and any interoperability issues that come from them. The DSA recommends that leads use the linked proforma [D.N add link] to consider various factors and document them to articulate the problem to the DSA and other stakeholders. Data leads should carry out a stakeholder mapping exercise and, wherever possible, start a working group to get relevant experts together.

The DSA recommends using existing expert groups wherever possible. Bringing together representatives from the policy/business and technology areas is important to ensure a full view of the problem. Bodies like the British Standards Institute (BSI) and Open Data Institute (ODI) may be able to help understand existing standards from a domestic and international perspective and identify potential standards.

Scenarios

Once an interoperability issue has been identified and potential options have been research and reviewed, there are broadly 4 approaches that the lead can take which will determine how they work with the DSA:

Scenario	Description
Scenario 1: department X proposes a standard already in use within government be endorsed for common adoption.	An official or team representing a public sector organisation, domain or function identifies the potential common usage of a standard to address a known data-sharing problem. The standard may be open or closed, but there is a reference implementation to provide confidence in its broader adoption.
Scenario 2: department X proposes that an existing standard that has not been implemented by government be endorsed for common adoption	This scenario differs from the first scenario in that there is no known implementation of the standard in government. Additional considerations may apply, such as formal public consultation on the standard and piloting the standard with specific departments or as part of a use case.
Scenario 3: department X wishes to develop a new standard to solve a policy or interoperability problem	Where a standard does not exist to meet a strategic policy need, government may need to develop its own standard for cross-government adoption. There is a high cost of ownership for bodies creating standards to ensure it is correctly supported and maintained. As such, we expect limited instances where this would be undertaken. Expert bodies such as the BSI must be engaged in this work.
Scenario 4: department X wishes to adopt or create a new taxonomy for common adoption	As taxonomies exist so that data can be classified, the DSA considers them as data standards. Taxonomies can be complex and hierarchical structures or flat “code lists”. Responsibility for taxonomies rests with the DSA, with the Taxonomy Oversight Group (TOG) helping to coordinate work, address challenges and recommend taxonomies for common usage. Leads may wish to recommend existing or new taxonomies. Still, they should use the TOG as the expert group to oversee the proposal.

Operational model requirements

The operating model of the DSA requires the following foundations to be in place:

Governance

The authority of the DSA comes from a blend of delegated spend controls and the process of creating agreement between public sector organisations on solutions to common data sharing and usage problems the public sector faces. The maintenance of effective governance of the DSA is a critical activity that supports the operating model.

Communities of interest and experts

DSA processes rely on the active engagement of data, technology and policy experts across government and sectors. We cannot effectively identify problems and determine the right solution without their input. Fostering vital communities of interest/experts supports essential parts of the standards-setting process.

Communications and content

The work of the DSA requires active engagement by organisations across the public sector and other sectors. It needs a strong brand and presence on GOV.UK to enable this. The operational model requires online content that provides clear information to a wide range of users and meets various needs. This includes:

• what data standards are
• what standards users should be adopting
• what users need to do to propose a standard for common adoption

In addition to online content, the DSA will use other channels and material to provide updates on the work of the DSA and maintain the brand.

Standards catalogue

A major building block of the DSA is a searchable standards catalogue, allowing users to:

• understand which standards are endorsed and should be used
• participate in the review of standards under consideration for endorsement for common adoption
• understand which standards are in use by public sector organisations that may solve their own particular user needs

The DSA will engage with public sector organisations and provide information regarding standards in use at an enterprise or domain level, help improve cross-government awareness, and provide insights to help inform the potential development of a pipeline of standards for common adoption.

Multi-disciplinary working

Supporting the work of the DSA requires multi-disciplinary CDDO resourcing. The governance for the DSA will need due diligence to be carried out on standards proposed by public sector organisations.

Where there are potential differences in views, the CDDO team will be required to arbitrate and provide advice on policy, business processes, and technology.
Interoperability issues without clear leadership or owner may require CDDO resourcing to coordinate action.