EDGC Decision Date: July 31, 2023
Decision: Data Approval Process for Enterprise APIs
Decision
UW System is building out data integration and analytics capabilities in support of administrative transformation, most notably in the form of institutional APIs and data assets which are themselves supported by an enterprise data lake. To effectively manage access to these data assets, UW System needs to develop an approval process that maintains campus control over data but can also be responsive to needs for cross-institutional data access.
Background
Requests for data that span institutions, or that represent a System-wide dataset, should be routed to UW System Administration (UWSA) for review. UWSA will work with the EDGC to establish a register of pre-approved use cases for systemwide datasets, and UWSA will review requests against that register. If a request cannot be satisfied by a pre-approved use case, the EDGC will determine if it represents a new use case, should be amended, or should be approved as an isolated case.
In support of this process, the Enterprise Data Governance Council (EDGC) will document existing institutional data governance processes and develop supporting documents to support those decision-making processes.
A more detailed procedure is defined in Appendix 1.
Who Developed the Recommendation?
This recommendation was developed jointly by:
- Tom Jordan, UW-Madison’s Ancillary Systems Program
- Stacy Scholtka, UW System’s Enterprise Analytics Program
Who Was Consulted in the Development of the Recommendation?
The following stakeholders were consulted about the proposed POC:
- Members of UW-Madison’s API development teams and UW System’s Enterprise Analytics program reviewed and contributed to the principles identified in Appendix 1
- Additionally, ATP functional and integration teams consulted on issues related to data access and approval for integrations.
Appendix 1: Recommended Procedure for Data Approval for APIs and Data Lake Assets
Principles
- Campuses retain the ability to make decisions about their own data, through their data stewards, even when that data resides in enterprise-wide information systems.
- Access to data assets should be based on a legitimate university interest, and should involve consideration of risk, impact, and business need.
- The EDGC will determine appropriate uses of enterprise-wide data sets or integration services, including institutional APIs that provide access to data for all campuses.
- UWSA will manage the request and approval process, including evaluating requests against a set of pre-approved use cases. UWSA will not judge the merit of a request beyond its technical feasibility.
- EDGC will consider new use cases for system-wide datasets and services as the need arises.