Data and Information Inventory and Attributes on International Foundation for Information Technology (IF4IT)

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

About This Inventory

The Data and Information Inventory governs every named, recognized type of data or information that the enterprise produces, consumes, stores, or transmits. Each Noun Instance is a governed type — not a specific record, file, or database row, but the class of content that record or file represents. “Customer Profile,” “Supplier Invoice,” “Contract Document,” and “Regulatory Filing” are Noun Instances in this inventory. Each has a permanent Semantic ID, a governed definition, a designated owner, a sensitivity classification, an authoritative source, and a full set of governance attributes that apply everywhere instances of that type appear — regardless of which system holds them, which format they are in, or which environment they reside in.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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The following terms are used throughout this document with specific meanings. Terms defined in the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document or in discipline-specific Best Practices documents are not duplicated here.


Term	Definition
Data and Information Type	A named, governed class of data or information content — the Noun Type of this inventory. Each type is a distinct category of content the enterprise recognizes, owns, and governs, independent of any specific system, file, or database that contains it. “Customer Profile” and “Contract Document” are types; a specific customer record in Salesforce is an instance of that type.
Structure	The intrinsic structural form of a Data and Information type: Structured (machine-readable with a defined schema), Semi-Structured (self-describing without a rigid schema), or Unstructured (no predefined schema or machine-readable structure). Structure describes the type itself, not the technical asset housing it.
Data Category	The governance category of a Data and Information type, determining its ownership model, quality standards, and lifecycle characteristics. Standard categories: Master Data, Reference Data, Transactional Data, Analytical Data, Operational Data, Unstructured Information, Metadata.
Authoritative Source	The single system or organizational unit designated as the master source of truth for a Data and Information type — the origin from which all other copies are derived or synchronized. An organizational accountability designation, not a physical location.
Source of Truth Store	The specific physical data store (database, object store, file system) that holds the master copy of a Data and Information type. The physical complement to the Authoritative Source, which is an organizational designation. Both are required for complete governance; conflating them is a common and costly data governance mistake.
Data Catalog	A technical metadata management tool that scans, ingests, and organizes metadata from actual data assets — tables, columns, schemas, files, and APIs. Operates at the physical and technical layer. Complements this inventory (which operates at the logical and governance layer) rather than replacing it.
Logical Layer	The governance level at which Data and Information types are defined, owned, classified, and governed, independent of their physical implementation. This inventory operates at the logical layer.
Physical Layer	The technical level at which actual data assets — tables, files, object stores, and databases — are managed. The Data Stores Inventory and enterprise Data Catalog operate at the physical layer.
Data Domain	The business area or functional domain a Data and Information type belongs to: Finance, Customer, Product, Operations, Human Resources, Risk, Regulatory, Technology, and similar. Enables domain-level data governance and ownership assignment.
Sensitivity Classification	The data sensitivity types applicable to a given Data and Information type, referencing the Data Sensitivity Types Inventory. Drives encryption, access control, retention, disposal, and regulatory compliance requirements for the type across all systems that handle it.
Retention Period	The governed duration for which instances of a Data and Information type must be retained. Derived from the most stringent applicable regulatory requirement, litigation hold policy, or business need.
Data Steward	The operational role responsible for day-to-day data quality management, definition maintenance, and lineage tracking for a Data and Information type. Distinct from the Owner, who holds strategic accountability.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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The Data and Information Inventory governs every named, recognized type of data or information the enterprise produces, consumes, stores, or transmits. A Data and Information type qualifies for a record when it represents a distinct, identifiable class of content that the enterprise has consciously decided to recognize, name, own, and govern — independent of any specific system, database, or file that happens to contain instances of it. Every entry is a Noun Instance of the Data and Information Noun Type, with its own Semantic ID, its own owner, its own sensitivity classification, and its own full set of governance attributes.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Enterprise Architecture depends on this inventory as the data vocabulary of the Enterprise Model. Without governed Data and Information types, every architectural artifact — data flow diagrams, integration maps, capability models — uses informal terminology that means different things in different contexts. The same class of content is called “customer data” in one diagram and “account information” in another, making cross-artifact analysis unreliable and AI-assisted enterprise reasoning impossible. This inventory provides the stable, governed vocabulary that makes Enterprise Model traversal precise.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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The Data and Information Inventory has a direct seeding relationship with the Integrations Inventory and Attributes. The Integration Payload attribute on every Integration record is a reference to a Data and Information type. When the Integrations Inventory is populated before the Data and Information Inventory is formally established, the distinct Payload values across all integration records become the discovery list for the first pass of this inventory — every distinct Payload value is a candidate Data and Information Noun Instance. The Integrations Inventory is authoritative for Integration records; this inventory is authoritative for Data and Information type definitions. The connecting attributes are Integration Payload on the integration side and Semantic ID on the data type side.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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The Data and Information Inventory is one of 38 recognized Noun Types in the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management taxonomy. The full taxonomy, its governance principles, and the Inventory of Inventories are documented in the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document.

The six most closely related Noun Types to Data and Information, with their named relationships: (1) Application — an Application is the authoritative source or primary consumer of one or more Data and Information types; the Applications Inventory and Attributes is published. (2) Capability — a Capability produces Key Output Data and Information types and consumes Key Input Data and Information types; the Capabilities Inventory and Attributes is published. (3) Integration — an Integration carries Data and Information types as its Payload; the Integrations Inventory and Attributes is published. (4) Data Store — a Data Store physically houses instances of one or more Data and Information types; the Data Stores Inventory is not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document. (5) Data Sensitivity Type — every Data and Information type carries a Sensitivity Classification referencing the Data Sensitivity Types Inventory; not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document. (6) Systems Deployment Pipeline — a Systems Deployment Pipeline moves Data and Information types across environments; the Systems Deployment Pipelines Inventory is not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Section A — Sourcing and Harvesting

Before building the Data and Information Inventory from scratch, assess whether data type definitions already exist in any form in the enterprise. Common sources include: the enterprise Data Catalog, where physical asset metadata often contains type-level labels and descriptions that can be promoted to governed inventory records; the Integrations Inventory, where the distinct Payload values across all integration records are a direct discovery list for data types currently moving through the enterprise; the Capabilities Inventory, where the Key Input and Key Output Data and Information attributes name types that capabilities consume and produce; data dictionaries and business glossaries maintained by data governance or enterprise architecture teams; and regulatory compliance documentation, where data types subject to specific regulations are often explicitly named.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Why Data and Information in a Single Inventory

The most common assumption practitioners bring to a data inventory is that it governs structured data — database records, CSV files, JSON payloads. The Data and Information Inventory is deliberately broader: it governs both data (structured, schema-bound, machine-readable content) and information (unstructured or semi-structured content such as PDF documents, images, audio files, contracts, and regulatory submissions). These two forms are governed together under a single Noun Type because the enterprise produces, moves, protects, and must comply with regulations governing both.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Descriptive attributes capture the core identity of each Data and Information Noun Instance — what it is called, what it represents, and how it is distinguished from adjacent types.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Semantic ID

Crawl

Description — A unique, permanent, human-readable identifier assigned to every Data and Information type following the enterprise naming convention. Encodes the domain, sub-domain, and type name in its structure.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Classification attributes position each Data and Information type within the enterprise data taxonomy — its structural form, governance category, business domain, and sensitivity profile.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Structure

Crawl

Description — The intrinsic structural form of this Data and Information type. Three valid values: Structured (machine-readable with a defined schema — relational records, CSV files, EDI transactions, JSON with enforced schema), Semi-Structured (self-describing but without a rigid schema — XML, Avro, Parquet, variable-field JSON documents), or Unstructured (no predefined schema or machine-readable structure — PDF documents, images, audio recordings, video files, email bodies, binary files). Describes the type itself, not the technical asset housing it.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Ownership and Stakeholder attributes establish the governance accountabilities for each Data and Information type — who owns it, who stewards it, and which system is the authoritative source.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Owner

Crawl

Description — The named business role or individual accountable for the accuracy, completeness, definition, and appropriate use of this Data and Information type. The Owner sets the governance rules and resolves disputes about what the correct value is.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Lifecycle and Status attributes track the current governance state of each Data and Information type and govern the retention, disposal, and retirement obligations associated with it.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Lifecycle Status

Crawl

Description — The current governance state of this Data and Information type.

Benefit(s) — Enables the inventory to distinguish actively governed data types from those in transition, deprecated, or retired. Without Lifecycle Status, a data inventory cannot be used for active governance.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Governance attributes document the standards, definitions, and review processes that govern each Data and Information type.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Governing Standard

Walk

Description — The data standard, schema, or specification that defines the valid structure, format, and values for this Data and Information type.

Benefit(s) — Enables standards-based data governance and interoperability. When a Governing Standard is referenced, any system producing or consuming this type can validate conformance without ambiguity.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Strategic attributes capture the enterprise’s assessment of each Data and Information type’s importance to business operations and competitive position.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Strategic Importance

Walk

Description — The assessed strategic importance of this Data and Information type to the enterprise’s ability to operate, compete, and comply.

Benefit(s) — Enables risk-weighted prioritization of data governance investments. High strategic importance types that are poorly governed represent disproportionate organizational risk.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Assessment and Health attributes capture the evaluated quality, risk, and governance health of each Data and Information type.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Data Quality Dimensions

[Multi-Value]

Walk

Description — The data quality dimensions that are formally governed for this type. Not every type requires governance across all six dimensions.

Benefit(s) — Focuses quality governance effort on the dimensions that matter for each specific type. Accuracy matters most for financial data; Completeness for master data; Timeliness for operational data.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Technical attributes capture the formats, volumes, velocities, and catalog references that characterize how this Data and Information type is technically implemented and discovered.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Common Formats

[Multi-Value]

Walk

Description — The file, exchange, or encoding formats in which this Data and Information type commonly appears across the enterprise.

Benefit(s) — Enables format-aware integration design and data pipeline architecture. Surfaces format diversity that may require transformation governance.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Operational attributes capture who consumes this Data and Information type in day-to-day operations and what the operational implications of quality failures are.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Typical Consumers

[Multi-Value]

Walk

Description — The primary business roles, teams, or systems that consume this Data and Information type in their day-to-day operations.

Benefit(s) — Identifies the stakeholders most affected by data quality failures or access disruptions for this type. Supports change impact assessment when the type definition, format, or authoritative source changes.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Security attributes capture the access classification and encryption requirements governing this Data and Information type across all systems and integrations that handle it.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Access Classification

Walk

Description — The access control classification for this Data and Information type — who is authorized to view, create, modify, or delete instances of this type.

Benefit(s) — Provides a governance-level access control statement independent of any specific system’s permission model. Enables consistent access governance across all systems that hold copies of this type.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Data and Information attributes capture the hierarchical taxonomy relationships between Data and Information types — the parent-child specialization structure that enables domain-level data governance.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Parent Data and Information Type

Walk

Description — The Semantic ID of the broader Data and Information type of which this type is a specialization. Supports hierarchical data taxonomy within this inventory.

Benefit(s) — Enables the enterprise to govern a data taxonomy rather than a flat list. Child types inherit the governance characteristics of their parent while adding specificity. Enables roll-up analysis: the governance posture of a parent type encompasses all its children.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Geographic and Jurisdictional attributes capture whether this Data and Information type is subject to data residency or cross-border transfer restrictions, and the legal mechanisms governing permitted transfers.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Cross-Border Restriction

Walk

Description — Whether instances of this Data and Information type are subject to data residency or cross-border transfer restrictions, and if so, which jurisdictions impose those restrictions.

Benefit(s) — Surfaces the data types that cannot be freely moved across national boundaries without compliance controls. Directly feeds the Integrations Inventory’s Cross-Border Data Flow attribute — any integration carrying a type with cross-border restrictions must be governed accordingly.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Temporal and Effective Date attributes capture validity windows for time-bounded Data and Information types.

The IF4IT has not yet identified standard attributes in this category for the Data and Information Inventory. This does not mean no such attributes exist — organizations building this inventory are encouraged to identify and define attributes in this category that are relevant to their specific context and governance needs.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Contractual and Legal attributes capture any legal instruments governing the use, sharing, or protection of this Data and Information type.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Vendor and Supplier attributes capture external parties that supply or have rights over this Data and Information type.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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IT Environment attributes capture the operating environments in which this Data and Information type is processed or stored.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Skills and Competencies attributes capture the data management and domain skills required to govern and steward this Data and Information type effectively.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Provenance and Audit attributes capture metadata about the inventory record itself — how it was created, when it was last updated, and the reliability of its content.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Record Created Date

Walk

Description — The date on which this Data and Information type record was first created in the inventory.

Benefit(s) — Supports audit and compliance reporting.

Source — Manual.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Risk attributes capture the specific governance risk factors associated with this Data and Information type beyond the overall Assessed Risk rating.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Key Risk Factors

[Multi-Value]

Walk

Description — The specific conditions or vulnerabilities driving the Assessed Risk rating for this Data and Information type.

Benefit(s) — Translates the overall risk rating into actionable remediation targets. A practitioner who reads the Key Risk Factors knows exactly what governance gaps to address.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Compliance and Regulatory attributes capture the specific regulatory obligations that govern this Data and Information type and the current compliance status.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Regulatory Obligations

[Multi-Value]

Walk

Description — The specific regulatory requirements, laws, or compliance frameworks that govern how this Data and Information type must be handled.

Benefit(s) — Enables per-type regulatory scoping. When a regulator asks for all data types in scope for GDPR Article 17 (right to erasure) or HIPAA’s minimum necessary standard, this attribute produces the answer directly.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Financial attributes capture the estimated business value of this Data and Information type — enabling data asset valuation and return-on-investment analysis for data governance programs.

Attribute Name

Maturity

Description and Notes

Estimated Annual Value

Run

Description — The assessed business value of this Data and Information type — the estimated annual contribution to revenue, cost reduction, risk mitigation, or regulatory compliance, or the estimated cost to the enterprise of losing this type.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Relationship attributes connect each Data and Information type to related Noun Instances in other inventories — the applications, capabilities, integrations, data stores, and deployment pipelines that produce, consume, store, and move it.

Every attribute in this category is Calculated or Derived from records in other inventories, with the exception of Housing Data Stores and Source of Truth Store which are manually populated at Walk maturity. Do not create data entry fields for any Calculated or Derived attribute listed here.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Applications are the primary organizational systems that own, produce, and consume Data and Information types. The Applications Inventory is authoritative for Application records; the Data and Information Inventory is authoritative for data type definitions. The connecting relationship is the system-of-record designation: every Data and Information type has at most one Application that is its Authoritative Application — derived from the Authoritative Source attribute. The Applications Inventory and Attributes is published and available.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Capabilities produce and consume Data and Information types. The Key Output Data and Information and Key Input Data and Information attributes on Capability records reference data types by name; when this inventory is mature, those references are replaced by Semantic IDs. The Capabilities Inventory and Attributes is published and available.

When this relationship is established, the enterprise can answer: what data does Capability X require to function? What data does it produce? Which capabilities would be impaired by a quality failure in data type Y? Which data types are produced by only one capability, creating single-point-of-failure exposure in the data production chain?

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Integrations carry Data and Information types as their Payload. The Integrations Inventory and Attributes is published and available. The Integration Payload attribute on every integration record names the data or information type being transmitted — when the Data and Information Inventory is mature, those names are matched to Semantic IDs, and the Related Integrations relationship attribute in this inventory is derived automatically.

The relationship is bidirectional and mutually enriching: the Integrations Inventory is the primary discovery source for Data and Information types that are already in motion through the enterprise but not yet formally governed. Every distinct Payload value in the Integrations Inventory is a candidate Noun Instance for this inventory. Conversely, when a data type’s Sensitivity Classification is updated in this inventory, the Related Integrations attribute immediately surfaces every integration that carries that type and therefore inherits the updated sensitivity governance requirements.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Data Stores physically house instances of Data and Information types. The Data Stores Inventory (not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document) will govern the physical containers — databases, object stores, file systems, data warehouses, data lakes — that contain instances of the types governed by this inventory.

The connecting attributes are Housing Data Stores (which lists all Data Stores containing instances of a given type) and Source of Truth Store (which identifies the single master copy Data Store) in the Relationship Attributes category of this inventory. These two attributes are manually populated at Walk maturity and automatically derived at Run maturity when the Data Stores Inventory is published and connected.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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The Sensitivity Classification attribute on every Data and Information type record references the Data Sensitivity Types Inventory (not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document). The Data Sensitivity Types Inventory defines the governed sensitivity classifications — PII, PHI, PCI, PFI, and others — with their domains, governing frameworks, regulatory obligations, and scope. This inventory applies those classifications at the data type level.

When the Data Sensitivity Types Inventory is published, Sensitivity Classification values will carry formal Semantic ID references. Until then, the standard value set (PII, PHI, PCI, PFI, Confidential, Regulated, None) is used as plain text. The Data Sensitivity Types Inventory baseline has been designed and is documented in REFERENCE_DATA_INVENTORY_NOTES.md for reference.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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Systems Deployment Pipelines move Data and Information types across environments as part of the application lifecycle. The Systems Deployment Pipelines Inventory (not yet published — refer to the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document) will govern the multi-environment deployment containers through which applications and their data move from Development through Production.

The most governance-sensitive cross-environment data flow is Production-to-non-Production: when Production data containing PII, PHI, or other sensitive content is copied into Development, Testing, or UAT environments for testing purposes. The Related Systems Deployment Pipelines relationship attribute in this inventory will surface which deployment pipelines move each Data and Information type across environments, enabling targeted data sanitization governance.

Data and Information Inventory and Attributes

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The Data and Information Inventory and Attributes document is one of many Noun Type inventories in the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management taxonomy. Each inventory in the taxonomy governs a distinct class of enterprise asset, relationship, or organizational construct — and each contributes its records and relationships to the Enterprise Model that connects them all. The full catalog of recognized Noun Types, the principles that govern inventory design and federation, the Inventory of Inventories, and guidance for building, connecting, and maturing a complete enterprise inventory program are documented in the IF4IT Enterprise Inventory Management Best Practices document. Practitioners who find value in the Data and Information Inventory are encouraged to explore the broader taxonomy — each additional inventory that is built and governed strengthens the Enterprise Model and expands the range of questions that AI-assisted enterprise analysis can answer. The IF4IT welcomes contributions from practitioners who develop attribute categories, attribute definitions, or governance approaches not covered in this document — your real-world experience is how this framework matures.