dataressourcer

Dataressourcer is a term used in data management to describe a person, team, or automated system responsible for identifying, acquiring, and maintaining data resources used within an organization or project. The role centers on ensuring that data resources are suitable, licensed, accessible, and discoverable for downstream users such as analysts, researchers, and applications.

Typical responsibilities include sourcing data from internal and external providers, evaluating data quality and relevance, and verifying licensing and access rights. A dataressourcer curates data inventories, creates and maintains metadata and data dictionaries, and coordinates with data producers, stewards, and IT teams to ensure data is stored in appropriate repositories with clear lineage. They may also negotiate data access agreements and monitor usage to ensure compliance with policies and regulations.

Methods and tools commonly associated with the role include data catalogs, metadata standards, and data lineage tools to document provenance. They may apply data quality metrics, perform data cleansing, and use privacy and security assessments to mitigate risk. Adherence to governance frameworks and relevant regulations is typical, with attention to consent, intellectual property, and licensing constraints.

Challenges faced by dataressourcers include navigating complex licensing, balancing data accessibility with privacy and security, maintaining up-to-date metadata, and managing costs. The role often overlaps with data stewardship or data engineering and is most common within organizations that emphasize data governance, open data programs, or data-driven decision making.

In practice, a dataressourcer may be a dedicated function within a data governance team, a collaborative role across departments, or an automated system designed to locate, evaluate, and provision data resources for reuse.