17-May-2026

Frequently Asked Questions

These questions summarize key concepts related to data management and governance, and the role of the Data Management Office in enhancing data quality, protection, and value.

What is the role of the Data Management Office at the University?
The Data Management Office supports data governance across the University, enhances data quality and reliability, regulates data use and sharing, enables data-driven decision-making, and ensures alignment with national data policies and standards.
Why is data considered an important institutional asset?
Data is an institutional asset because it helps improve performance, increase productivity, support service delivery, enable strategic decision-making, anticipate future needs, and strengthen transparency and accountability.
What is data governance?
Data governance refers to the policies, controls, roles, and responsibilities that regulate data management, classification, protection, sharing, and publication to ensure trusted, secure, and compliant use of data.
What is data classification?
Data classification is the process of identifying the sensitivity of data and the potential impact of unauthorized access or disclosure, in order to apply the appropriate protection and access controls.
What are the main data classification levels?
Data classification levels generally include: Top Secret, Secret, Restricted, and Public. These levels help determine the protection requirements and access controls for each type of data.
What is personal data?
Personal data is any data that can identify an individual directly or indirectly, such as name, national ID number, contact details, images, or any other data of a personal nature.
What is sensitive data?
Sensitive data is data that may cause serious harm or negative impact if lost, misused, modified, or accessed without authorization, including harm to national interests, entity operations, or individuals’ privacy and rights.
What is open data?
Open data is non-protected public data made available to the public free of charge and in machine-readable formats, allowing individuals and organizations to use, reuse, and share it under approved controls.
What is public information?
Public information refers to non-protected processed data that public entities receive, produce, or handle, regardless of its source, form, or nature.
What is metadata?
Metadata is information that describes data and its characteristics, such as field meanings, data source, update frequency, data type, and usage, making data easier to understand, manage, and share.
What is machine-readable data?
Machine-readable data is structured data in a format that computers and systems can read and process automatically, enabling analysis, search, and reuse.
How can data sharing be requested?
Data sharing can be requested through an approved form or channel that includes the requester’s information, the required data, and the purpose of use, so the request can be assessed according to data sharing and privacy controls.
What is a data sharing agreement?
A data sharing agreement is a formal agreement that regulates data sharing between two parties. It defines the purpose, conditions, security controls, responsibilities, and permitted use of the shared data.
Why is data quality important?
Data quality improves the reliability of reports and indicators, supports evidence-based decision-making, and reduces duplication, inconsistency, and conflicting data sources across the institution.
What does “need to know” mean?
The “need to know” principle means that access to data should be limited to individuals who have an actual business need, and only to the extent required to perform their duties.
What does “least privilege” mean?
Least privilege means granting users only the minimum level of access and permissions required to perform their assigned tasks, without unnecessary expansion of access rights.
What is freedom of information?
Freedom of information regulates the right of individuals to access or obtain public information from public entities, promoting transparency and public participation while considering legal exceptions.
How does open data support transparency?
Open data enables the public to benefit from non-protected information, supports transparency, encourages research and innovation, and increases public participation and the value generated from data.
How is personal data protected?
Personal data is protected by regulating its collection, processing, sharing, purpose of use, and security controls to preserve the privacy and rights of data subjects.
How is children’s personal data handled?
Children’s personal data, and data of those treated similarly, must be handled with special care to protect their privacy and rights, and to reduce risks related to collecting or processing their data through websites or digital applications.
What is a personal data breach?
A personal data breach means disclosing, obtaining, or enabling access to personal data without authorization or legal basis, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
What does transferring personal data outside the Kingdom mean?
It means sending personal data to an entity outside the geographical borders of the Kingdom by any means for processing, while complying with controls that preserve digital sovereignty and the rights of data subjects.
What is the relationship between data and artificial intelligence?
Artificial intelligence technologies rely on data to build models, conduct analysis, anticipate the future, and support decision-making. Therefore, data quality and governance are essential for successful AI applications.
How does data support decision-making?
Data supports decision-making by providing accurate and reliable information that helps leaders analyze current conditions, measure performance, anticipate future trends, and develop evidence-based policies and plans.
Was this page useful?