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Please note that this CSPA Glossary and the Statistical Metadata Glossary have to be consolidated/harmonized.
Term | Definition |
Application Architecture | Application architecture is a description of the major logical grouping of capabilities that manage the data objects necessary to process the data and support the business - it details the structure of components, their inter-relationships, and the principles and guidelines governing their design and evolution over time. Source: CSPA Architecture Patterns 2018 |
Architectural Pattern | The description of a recurring particular design problem which comes from different design contexts. The solution schema is specified by describing its components, its responsibilities its relations and the ways they collaborate. Source: CSPA |
Business Architecture | Business Architecture (BA) covers all the activities undertaken by a statistical organization, including those undertaken to conceptualize, design, build and maintain information and application assets used in the production of statistical outputs. BA drives the Information, Application and Technology architectures for a statistical organization. Source: Statistical Network BA definition |
Business Line | A business line within a statistical organization usually delivers a particular business outcome. Business lines allow the Business Architecture to be split into homogeneous areas of related activities. Business lines are defined in order to guarantee independence from reorganization of the current organizational structure. Source: Statistical Network BA definition |
Business Function | Something an enterprise does, or needs to do, in order to achieve its objectives. Source: GSIM |
Business Process | A set of process steps to perform one or more Business Functions to deliver a Statistical Program. Source: GSIM |
Business Service | A defined interface for accessing business capabilities (an ability that an organization possesses, typically expressed in general and high level terms and requiring a combination of organization, people, processes and technology to achieve). Source: GSIM |
Capability | Capabilities provide the agency with the ability to undertake a specific activity. A capability is only achieved through the integration of all relevant capability elements (e.g. methods, processes, standards and frameworks, IT systems and people skills). Source: Statistical Network BA definition |
Common Statistical Production Architecture | A set of principles for increased interoperability within and between statistical organizations through the sharing of processes and components, to facilitate real collaboration opportunities, international decisions and investments and sharing of designs, knowledge and practices. Source: CSPA |
Enterprise Architecture | Enterprise Architecture is about understanding all of the different elements that go to make up the enterprise and how those elements interrelate. It is an approach to enabling the vision and strategy of an organization, by providing a clear, cohesive, and achievable picture of what's required to get there. Source: Statistical Network BA definition |
Global Artefact Catalogue | A list and descriptions of standardized artefacts, and, where relevant, information on how to obtain and use them. Source: CSPA |
Industry Architecture | A set of agreed common principles and standards designed to promote greater interoperability within and between the different players that make up an "industry", where an industry is defined as a set of organizations with similar inputs, processes, outputs and goals. Source: CSPA |
Information Architecture | Information Architecture classifies the information and knowledge assets gathered, produced and used within the Business Architecture. It also describes the information standards and frameworks that underpin the statistical information. Information Architecture facilitates discoverability and accessibility, leading to greater reuse and sharing.. Source: Statistical Network BA definition |
Interface | A type of contract by which subsystems or component communicate. Source: CSPA |
Non Functional Requirements | Non Functional Requirements are the overall factors that affect runtime behavior, system design, and user experience. They represent areas of concern that have the potential for application wide impact. Source: CSPA |
Principles | Principles are general rules and guidelines, intended to be enduring and seldom amended, that inform and support the way in which an organization sets about fulfilling its mission and business objectives. Source: Statistical Network BA definition |
Protocol | Formats and rules for exchanging messages in or between computing systems. Source: CSPA |
Reuse | Reuse is the concept of using a common asset (implemented component, a component definition, a pattern...) repetitively in different (or similar) contexts (for example in different business processes), and/or by different participants, and/or overtime. Source: CSPA |
Service | A service is a logical representation of a repeatable business activity that has a specified outcome and is self-contained, fulfils a business need for a customer (internal or external to the organization) and may be composed of other services. Source: Statistical Network BA definition (adapted from TOGAF G113) |
Service Contract | A service contract is comprised of one or more published documents (called service description documents) that express meta information about a service. The fundamental part of a service contract consists of the service description documents that express its technical interface. These form the technical service contract which essentially establishes an API into the functionality offered by the service. A service contract can be further comprised of human-readable documents, such as a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that describes additional quality-of-service features, behaviors, and limitations. Source: http://serviceorientation.com/soaglossary/service_contract |
Service Interface | A service interface is the abstract boundary that a service exposes. It defines the types of messages and the message exchange patterns that are involved in interacting with the service, together with any conditions implied by those messages. Source: http://www.w3.org/TR/ws-arch/#service_interface |
Service Oriented Architecture | Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is an architectural style that supports a way of thinking (Service Orientation) in terms of services and service-based development and the outcomes of services.
It is based on the design of the services – which mirror real-world business activities – comprising the enterprise (or inter-enterprise) business processes. Service representation utilizes business descriptions to provide context (i.e., business process, goal, rule, policy, service interface, and service component) and implements services using service orchestration. It places unique requirements on the infrastructure – it is recommended that implementations use open standards to realize interoperability and location transparency. Implementations are environment-specific – they are constrained or enabled by context and must be described within that context. It requires strong governance of service representation and implementation. It requires a "Litmus Test", which determines a "good service". |
Share | Share is an ownership concept where an asset is made available to other participants for use. There are levels of sharing. A limited form of sharing would be to provide another participant with the means to replicate (make a copy) the asset (for example give the source code) (i.e. they share an aspect of the asset only). A more involved form of sharing would entail that asset is actually been made entirely common (in this case the asset is also reused). Source: CSPA |
| Statistical Programme | A Statistical Programme is a complete implementation of the GSBPM required to deliver a statistical output. An example could be Gross Domestic Product. |
| Statistical Programme Cycle | A Statistical Programme Cycle is one specific instance of this. An example could be Gross Domestic Product 2019. |
Statistical Service | A Statistical Service is a specialization of Service for the statistical industry. A Statistical Service represents a defined interface for accessing business capabilities (an ability that an organization possesses, typically expressed in general and high level terms and requiring a combination of organization, people, processes and technology to achieve). It is logical representation of a repeatable business activity that has a specified outcome and is self-contained, fulfils a business need for a customer (internal or external to the organization) and may be composed of other services Source: GSIM and Statistical Network BA definition (Service) |
Technology Architecture | Technology Architecture (TA) describes the IT infrastructure required to support the deployment of applications and IT services, including hardware, middleware, networks, platforms, etc. Source: Statistical Network BA definition |