Andmekilde

Andmekilde, literally “data source” in Estonian, denotes the origin of data used in a dataset, system, or analysis. It describes where the data comes from, how it was collected, and the conditions under which it is available for use.

Data sources can be internal or external. Internal sources originate within an organization, such as databases, transactional systems, or sensor networks. External sources come from third parties, public records, or external APIs. Data can be primary (collected directly for a purpose) or secondary (compiled from other sources).

In practice, identifying and documenting andmekilled is part of data provenance and metadata management. Tracking the source supports data quality assessment, reproducibility, and regulatory compliance. It helps assess timeliness, accuracy, and bias, and enables lineage tracing from source to analytics results.

Privacy and governance considerations apply when the data involves individuals. Organizations should apply appropriate protections, metadata standards, and governance policies to manage and disclose data sources responsibly.