Data has been universally regarded as a strategic asset that powers the digital future, economic prosperity, civic progress, and social good. In order to nurture this strategic asset in the best possible manner, the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) has been actively working on several key initiatives to achieve the aforementioned objectives. One of these initiatives has resulted in the establishment of a national data ecosystem known as the National Data Bank (NDB), which empowers holistic and effective national data governance and management.
NDB is a constellation of objectively interconnected national data platforms that aim to accelerate data sharing, improve national data quality, and instill data as a common denominator for the digital economy in the Kingdom.
NDB Platforms
National Data Lake
The National Data Lake is a national-scale central polyglot data repository that consolidates data silos by integrating all the disparate national data assets across the Kingdom into a unified repository.
The key features offered by the National Data Lake are:
Highly available, scalable, and distributed certified platform for data sharing.
Highly automated development process to accelerate time-to-market.
Secure and large-scale standardized data sharing through in-house engineered solutions via APIs.
Data Marketplace
The Data Marketplace is a secure, flexible, and scalable data sharing and monetization platform that supports multiple data sharing and trust models based on a unique set of features to cater to consumers’ needs.
The key features offered by the Data Marketplace are:
Data products using APIs enable easy integration with other systems.
Ability to discover and subscribe to datasets based on various advanced filters.
Flexible monetization module offering rating, billing, multi-level discounts, and account management.
Collaborative Data Labs
The Collaborative Data Labs provide physical and virtual collaborative workspaces to help entities experiment and cross-pollinate their ideas and run various data-related PoCs/PoVs with the National Data Lake's data
The key features offered by the Collaborative Data Labs are:
Secure facility and platform for data discovery, wrangling, munging, and mash-up.
Equipped with data and analytics workbenches supported by relevant tools and libraries.
Ability to generate reports and dashboards interactively and generate actionable insights.
National Data Catalog
The National Data Catalog serves as an inventory of the government entities systems' metadata that helps accelerate data democratization and entrance into the age of self-service data exploration and promote data literacy.
The key features offered by the National Data Catalog are:
Single source of truth of metadata inventory from all government entities.
Essential in implementing national policies (e.g., “Ask-Once”) across government entities.
Flexible metamodel and processes available to be leveraged by government entities.
Reference Data Platform
The Reference Data Platform is a central platform that enables governance and management of reference tables across all government entities to ensure the accuracy and consistency of the available reference data.
The key features offered by the Reference Data Platform are:
Flexible data ownership management and customized workflows.
Custom-defined data quality and validation checks.
Complex hierarchical reference data management.
Open Data Platform
The Open Data Platform allows various government entities and private sector organizations to publish their datasets publicly for transparency, innovation, and accountability.