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In 2002, the United States Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) issued guidelines known as Section 515,
requiring that information disseminated by federal
agencies be of optimal quality and integrity. To comply
with OMB statutes, all federal agencies must submit
their own agency guidelines for data quality management.
Upon review of these agency guidelines, Certica has
observed that most agencies focus on procedures for
addressing and responding to challenges and complaints
about data after it has been disseminated. Although
this addresses a critical element of the OMB guidelines,
dealing with data quality issues after the fact fails
to take advantage of pro-active, preventive measures
that address quality issues closer to the point of
origin.
Based on numerous data certification programs for
commercial and government organizations, Certica recommends
that agencies place more emphasis on pro-active programs
of data quality validation and improvement before
data is disseminated. Certica customers “build”
quality into information by ensuring that improvements
to data are achieved and maintained at key points
in the data creation and delivery process, e.g., database
design, data collection, transmission, reporting and
archiving. Further, data quality best practices call
for data to be assessed on a regular, systematic basis
for completeness, validity and adherence to business
rules.
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