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Circular data life cycle diagram showing access, management, consumption, and completion stages with key activities.
Data Lifecycle circular visual guiding through each step described below including 1) Access & Distribution: generate, acquire, collect and store; 2) Management & Analysis: analyze and manipulate; 3) Consumption: share, visualize and interpret and 4) Completion: backup, disposal and storage

Access & Distribution

Light bulb icon representing the creation or generation of new data and ideas.

Generate

Everything generates data. 

Open padlock icon representing authorized access to and acquisition of data.

Acquire

Not all data that’s generated is collected or used. It’s up to the data governance leaders at our institution to identify what information should be captured, the best means for doing so and what is unnecessary or irrelevant for a project or request.

Clipboard icon representing the collection of data from forms, surveys, interviews, or observations.

Collect

 Data can be collected in a variety of ways, including forms, surveys, interviews and observation. 

Folder icon representing organized storage and management of data for future use.

Store

After data has been collected and processed, it must be stored for future use through the creation of databases or datasets, most often stored in the cloud, on servers or using some other physical form of storage.

Management & Analysis

Magnifying glass over a chart representing analysis of data to identify trends and insights.

Analyze

Processes that attempt to extract meaningful insights from raw data. Analysts and data scientists use different tools and strategies including statistical modeling, algorithms, artificial intelligence, data mining and machine learning to conduct these analyses. 

Flowchart icon representing processing, transforming, encrypting, and preparing data for use.

Manipulate

As data is collected, it must be processed and compressed, encrypted or transformed for applicable use.

Consumption

Handshake icon representing collaboration and secure sharing of data with others.

Share

Gaining access or implementing access to track who is using data and what changes they may have made in the process.

Bar chart icon representing the visualization of data through charts, graphs, and dashboards.

Visualize

The process of creating representations of your information, typically through the use of one or more visualization tools. Visualizing data makes it easier to communicate data analysis to a wider audience. 
 

Document and pencil icon representing interpretation and documentation of data findings.

Interpret

Provides the opportunity to make sense of your analysis and visualization for your audience or purpose. 

Completion

Cloud upload icon representing secure backup and preservation of data for recovery and retention.

Backup

After a certain amount of time, data is no longer useful for everyday operations; however, it may be pertinent to maintain copies of the organization’s data. Consider one or more secure methods to store your data for future use. 

Trash can icon representing secure deletion and disposal of data that is no longer needed.

Disposal

Data that is no longer needed may be deleted to create storage space for new data. Data is removed from archives when it exceeds the required retention period or no longer serves a meaningful purpose.

Shield with check mark icon representing secure, reliable storage and protection of organizational data.

Storage

When determining data storage, it’s important to consider naming conventions and to build in a certain level of redundancy to ensure that a copy of your data will be protected and accessible, even if the original source becomes corrupted or compromised.