Datakohteita

Datakohteita is the plural form of datakohde, a term used in Finnish information technology and data management to refer to a data object or data target. A datakohde denotes a resource that contains or receives data within a system, process or architecture. Typical datakohteita include database tables, files, API endpoints, message queues, or other storage or interface points used by software to read, write, or route information.

In data integration and ETL/ELT pipelines, datakohteita are commonly described as data sources or data targets depending on their role in a given step. In modeling and documentation, they function as logical or physical containers for data and are often catalogued as data assets with metadata such as name, owner, data domain, schema, access rights, and retention requirements.

In practice, distinguishing datakohteita from other terms such as datalähde (data source) and datavarasto (data store) can be contextual. The term emphasizes the object that data moves to or from, rather than the process itself.

Examples include a SQL table in a data warehouse, a JSON file in a data lake, a REST API providing data, or a Kafka topic used for data ingestion. Datakohteita are central in describing the endpoints involved in data flows and governance.