Quality data is not a luxury it is an operational, regulatory and statutory requirement.
Quality Data and Information
Data and information quality are now widely recognized problems in companies large and small, ranging from manufacturing and processing, to finance and health care. Incomplete or duplicate records, poor quality descriptions and inaccurate information cause inefficient allocation and use of resources. This can add up to a 20% increase to direct and indirect costs. Poor quality data is a barrier to effective marketing and the leading cause of transparency issues that drive up the cost of regulatory compliance.
The Purpose of ISO 8000
The purpose of ISO 8000 is to make it easier to decipher between companies and software applications that can deliver quality data and those that cannot. This standard allows users to ask for ISO 8000 quality data and test if the data they received does in fact conform to ISO 8000. The roots of ISO 8000 are grounded in cataloging. Cataloging is the process of describing an item by its characteristics, as opposed to its identifiers. Characteristic based descriptions make it possible to understand why things are the same or different, and if so, to what degree. This is very important in all aspects of commercial and government activity and this capability depends on the quality of the data.
ISO 8000-100 Series
ISO 8000 comes in separate parts. The 100 series concerns Master Data. Master Data describes individuals, organizations, locations, good and services. The 100 series describes the three fundamental characteristics of quality as they are applied to data. The first, is there must be a reference to a syntax (format of the data). Second, is the metadata (data labels) must be explicitly defined; no cryptic data labels. The final requirement is the data must meet requirements. This is where the ECCMA Data Requirements Registry (eDRR™) is a valuable tool as well. When an individual sends data and claims it to be "quality data," it must be readable (syntax) and the data must be correctly labeled (eOTD®) and it must also meet the requirements that are registered in the eDRR.
The ECCMA ISO 8000-110:2009 certification program verifies that you understand how to use ISO 8000 in measuring data quality, as well as, in requesting and responding to requests for quality master data.
Quality Data and Information