ISO/IEC 25012:2008

Software engineering — Software product Quality Requirements and Evaluation (SQuaRE) — Data quality model

ISO/IEC 25012:2008 defines a general data quality model for data retained in a structured format within a computer system. ISO/IEC 25012:2008 can be used to establish data quality requirements, define data quality measures, or plan and perform data quality evaluations. It could be used, for example, to define and evaluate data quality requirements in data production, acquisition and integration processes, to identify data quality assurance criteria, also useful for re-engineering, assessment and improvement of data, to evaluate the compliance of data with legislation and/or requirements. ISO/IEC 25012:2008 categorizes quality attributes into fifteen characteristics considered by two points of view: inherent and system dependent. Data quality characteristics will be of varying importance and priority to different stakeholders. ISO/IEC 25012:2008 is intended to be used in conjunction with the other parts of the SQuaRE series of International Standards, and with ISO/IEC 9126-1 until superseded by ISO/IEC 25010.

Ingénierie du logiciel — Exigences de qualité et évaluation du produit logiciel (SQuaRE) — Modèle de la qualité des données

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 02-Dec-2008
• ICS: 35.080 - Software
• Technical Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 - Software and systems engineering
• Drafting Committee: ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 7 - Software and systems engineering
• Current Stage: 9093 - International Standard confirmed
• Start Date: 03-Jan-2025
• Completion Date: 12-Feb-2026

Overview

ISO/IEC 25012:2008 - part of the ISO SQuaRE family - defines a general data quality model for data retained in a structured format within computer systems. Published by ISO/IEC JTC 1, this standard provides a framework to establish data quality requirements, define data quality measures, and plan or perform data quality evaluations. It addresses target data used by humans and systems across the data lifecycle while remaining neutral about physical data storage and schema design.

Key topics and requirements

• Defines a data quality model that categorizes attributes into fifteen characteristics evaluated from two viewpoints:
  • Inherent data quality (qualities intrinsic to the data)
  • System-dependent data quality (qualities that depend on the system and environment)
• Applicable to all common data types (strings, dates, numbers, images, sound) and to relationships between data elements.
• Conformance: when claiming conformance, users must demonstrate that each data quality characteristic has been addressed, justify any exclusions, or provide an alternative categorization mapped to the standard’s characteristics.
• Scope constraints clearly stated:
  • Excludes ephemeral data not retained (e.g., some real-time sensor outputs unless stored)
  • Does not dictate physical data organization or schema design
  • Metadata definition is outside scope (see ISO/IEC 11179)
• Supports integration with system lifecycle processes (e.g., ISO/IEC 15288) and other SQuaRE parts for measurement and evaluation.

Practical applications

ISO/IEC 25012 is designed for practical, operational uses such as:

• Defining and evaluating data quality requirements during data production, acquisition, or integration
• Establishing data quality assurance and acceptance criteria for migration, re-engineering, or system integration projects
• Creating or selecting data quality measures for monitoring, profiling, and reporting
• Performing compliance assessments against legislation or contractual requirements
• Guiding corrective actions (data cleansing, transformation, enrichment) and prioritizing improvements

Who should use this standard

• Data governance and data quality teams
• IT architects, data engineers, and system integrators
• Quality assurance and compliance officers
• Project managers overseeing data migration, integration, or re-engineering
• Auditors and evaluators performing independent data quality assessments

Related standards

• ISO/IEC 25000 series (SQuaRE) - companion guidance on quality measurement, requirements, and evaluation
• ISO/IEC 15288 - system life cycle processes
• ISO/IEC 11179 - metadata registries (metadata definition)
• ISO/IEC 9126-1 (historical reference) / ISO/IEC 25010 (successor for software quality models)

ISO/IEC 25012 is a practical foundation for consistent, repeatable data quality assessment and helps organizations embed data quality into software and system lifecycle activities.

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO/IEC
STANDARD 25012
First edition
2008-12-15
Software engineering — Software product
Quality Requirements and Evaluation
(SQuaRE) — Data quality model
Ingénierie du logiciel — Exigences de qualité et évaluation du produit
logiciel (SQuaRE) — Modèle de la qualité des données

Reference number
©
ISO/IEC 2008
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ii © ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword. iv
Introduction . v
1 Scope . 1
2 Conformance. 2
3 Normative references . 2
4 Terms and definitions. 2
5 Data quality. 4
5.1 Overview . 4
5.1.1 Inherent data quality. 4
5.1.2 System dependent data quality. 4
5.2 Data quality model. 4
5.3 Data quality characteristics . 6
5.3.1 Inherent point of view. 6
5.3.2 Inherent and system dependent point of view . 7
5.3.3 System dependent point of view. 10
Annex A (informative) Terms and definitions from ISO/IEC 25000 . 11
Bibliography . 13

© ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved iii

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical
Commission) form the specialized system for worldwide standardization. National bodies that are members of
ISO or IEC participate in the development of International Standards through technical committees
established by the respective organization to deal with particular fields of technical activity. ISO and IEC
technical committees collaborate in fields of mutual interest. Other international organizations, governmental
and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO and IEC, also take part in the work. In the field of information
technology, ISO and IEC have established a joint technical committee, ISO/IEC JTC 1.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of the joint technical committee is to prepare International Standards. Draft International
Standards adopted by the joint technical committee are circulated to national bodies for voting. Publication as
an International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the national bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO and IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/IEC 25012 was prepared by Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology,
Subcommittee SC 7, Software and systems engineering.
ISO/IEC 25012 is one of the SQuaRE series of International Standards, which consists of the following
divisions under the general title Software engineering — Software product Quality Requirements and
Evaluation (SQuaRE):
⎯ Quality Management Division (ISO/IEC 2500n),
⎯ Quality Model Division (ISO/IEC 2501n),
⎯ Quality Measurement Division (ISO/IEC 2502n),
⎯ Quality Requirements Division (ISO/IEC 2503n),
⎯ Quality Evaluation Division (ISO/IEC 2504n).
iv © ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved

Introduction
The quantity of data and information handled by computer systems is increasing worldwide; data quality is a
key component of the quality and usefulness of information derived from that data, and most business
processes depend on the quality of data.
A common prerequisite to all information technology projects is the quality of the data which are exchanged,
processed and used between the computer systems and users and among computer systems themselves.
Managing and enhancing the quality of data is important because of:
⎯ the acquisition of data from organizations of which the quality of data production process is unknown or
weak;
⎯ the existence of defective data contributing to unsatisfactory information, unusable results and dissatisfied
customers;
⎯ the dispersion of such data among various owners and users. Data captured in accordance with the
workflow needs of a single organization often lack a coherent and integrated vision which is necessary to
ensure interoperability and co-operation;
⎯ the need for processing data which are not immediately re-usable because of semantic ambiguity or lack
of consistency between such data and other existing co-related data;
⎯ the co-existence of legacy architecture and computer systems with distributed systems designed and
realized at different times and with different standards;
⎯ the existence of information systems (such as the world wide web) where data change frequently and
integration is a special issue.
The data quality model defined in this International Standard aims to meet these needs, taking into account
that the data life cycle is often longer than the software life cycle; it could be used, for example, to:
⎯ define and evaluate data quality requirements in data production, acquisition and integration processes;
⎯ identify data quality assurance criteria, also useful for re-engineering, assessment and improvement of
data;
⎯ evaluate the compliance of data with legislation and/or requirements.
The detection of errors or inefficiencies due to data gives rise to enhancement and corrective interventions
concerning data and other components of the system in which data reside, for example:
⎯ data (e.g. redesigning, parsing, cleansing, enriching, transforming, matching);
⎯ software (e.g. modifying source programs to implement consistency controls);
⎯ hardware (e.g. upgrading a computer system to improve response time);
⎯ human business processes (e.g. user training to avoid errors in the data entry process; improvement of
accounting processes that manage data).
© ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved v

The data quality model defined in this International Standard is intended to be used in conjunction with the
other SQuaRE series International Standards, which are represented in Figure 1 (adapted from
ISO/IEC 25000).
Quality Model
Division
2501n
Quality Quality
Quality
Requirements Evaluation
Management Division
Division Division
2500n
2503n 2504n
Quality
Measurement Division
2502n
Extension Division 25050 to 25099

Figure 1 — Organization of the SQuaRE series of International Standards
The divisions within the SQuaRE series are:
⎯ ISO/IEC 2500n - Quality Management Division. The International Standards that form this division
define all common models, terms and definitions referred to further as all other International Standards
from the SQuaRE series. Referring paths (guidance through SQuaRE documents) and high level practical
suggestions in applying proper standards to specific application cases provide help to all types of users.
The division also provides requirements and guidance for a supporting function which is responsible for
the management of software product requirements specification and evaluation.
⎯ ISO/IEC 2501n - Quality Model Division. The International Standards that form this division present
detailed quality models for software and data. Furthermore, in the software quality model the internal and
external quality characteristics are decomposed into subcharacteristics. Practical guidance on the use of
the quality models is also provided.
⎯ ISO/IEC 2502n - Quality Measurement Division. The International Standards that form this division
include a software product quality measurement reference model, mathematical definitions of quality
measures, and practical guidance for their application. Presented measures apply to internal software
quality, external software quality and quality in use. Quality Measure Elements forming foundations for the
latter measures are defined and presented.
⎯ ISO/IEC 2503n - Quality Requirements Division. The International Standard that forms this division
helps to specify quality requirements. These quality requirements can be used in the process of quality
requirements elicitation for a software product to be developed or as input for an evaluation process. The
requirements definition process is mapped to technical processes defined in ISO/IEC 15288.
vi © ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved

⎯ ISO/IEC 2504n - Quality Evaluation Division. The International Standards that form this division provide
requirements, recommendations and guidelines for software product evaluation, whether performed by
evaluators, acquirers or developers. The support for documenting a measure as an Evaluation Module is
also presented.
⎯ ISO/IEC 25050 to ISO/IEC 25099 are reserved for SQuaRE extension International Standards, Technical
Specifications, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and/or Technical Reports.

© ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved vii

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/IEC 25012:2008(E)

Software engineering — Software product Quality
Requirements and Evaluation (SQuaRE) — Data quality model
1 Scope
This International Standard defines a general data quality model for data retained in a structured format within
a computer system.
This International Standard focuses on the quality of the data as part of a computer system and defines quality
characteristics for target data used by humans and systems.
Target data are those that the organization decides to analyse and validate through the model; the term non-
target data covers two cases: the first refers to data that are not persistent such as data handled by an
operating system; the second refers to data that could be within the scope of the standard, but an organization
chooses to not apply the standard to them.
In Figure 2 the structure of a general system is displayed in a diagram: this can include information systems
which in turn can include one or more computer systems.
Data Quality Model
System
Human
Communication
Information system
business
Computer system
Computer Software
Target Non target Mechanical
hardware
Data Data system
Figure 2 — Target domain of the data quality model
This International Standard can be used with other standards in the SQuaRE series to establish data quality
requirements, define data quality measures, or plan and perform data quality evaluations.
Data quality requirements and data quality measures can be categorized with the data quality characteristics
in 5.2 and used by an evaluation process to analyse data independently from other computer system's
components.
© ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved 1

This International Standard aims to support the implementation of system's life cycle processes, such as
those defined in ISO/IEC 15288.
This International Standard takes into account all data types (e.g. character strings, texts, dates, numbers,
images, sounds, etc.), assigned data values and relationships between data (e.g. consistency between data in
the same or in different entities); the scope does not include data produced by embedded devices or real time
sensors that are not retained for further processing or historical purposes.
This International Standard does not dictate physical organization of data (i.e. data base management
systems); moreover the activities of conceptual, logical and physical schema design are outside the scope of
this International Standard; all processes and deliverables related to such data benefit from the application of
this International Standard.
Conformance of data to the data design is included within the scope of this International Standard.
The definition of metadata is addressed by ISO/IEC 11179 and is outside the scope of this International
Standard, even if it refers to metadata to evaluate data quality.
The relationship of this International Standard to industry- and domain-specific data quality standards and its
precedence over these standards are determined by the user in a specific context of use.
2 Conformance
When this International Standard is used for conformance, the user shall provide evidence that each data
quality characteristic in 5.2 has been addressed, give reasons in the event of exclusion, or describe its own
categorization of data quality attributes and provide a mapping to the characteristics in 5.2.
3 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO/IEC 25000, Software engineering — Software product Quality Requirements and Evaluation
(SQuaRE) — Guide to SQuaRE
4 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO/IEC 25000 and the following apply.
4.1
computer system
system containing one or more components
NOTE 1 Components include computers (hardware), associated software and data.
NOTE 2 Adapted from ISO/IEC 24765.
4.2
data
reinterpretable representation of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation,
or processing
NOTE 1 Data can be processed by humans or by automatic means.
[ISO/IEC 2382-1:1993]
2 © ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved

NOTE 2 The definition in ISO/IEC 25000 is different because it refers to data which relate to the result of the
measurement.
4.3
data quality
degree to which the characteristics of data satisfy stated and implied needs when used under specified
conditions
4.4
data quality characteristic
category of data quality attributes that bears on data quality
4.5
data quality measure
variable to which a value is assigned as the result of measurement of a data quality characteristic
NOTE Adapted from ISO/IEC 15939:2007.
4.6
data quality model
defined set of characteristics which provides a framework for specifying data quality requirements and
evaluating data quality
4.7
data type
categorization of an abstract set of possible values, characteristics, and set of operations for an attribute
NOTE Adapted from ISO/IEC 2382-17.
4.8
entity
representation of a set of real or abstract things that are recognized as the same type because they share the
same characteristics and can participate in the same relationships
NOTE Adapted from ISO/IEC 2382-17.
4.9
entity instance
one of a set of real or abstract things represented by an entity
[IEEE 1320.2-1998]
4.10
information
〈information processing〉 knowledge concerning objects, such as facts, events, things, processes, or ideas,
including concepts, that within a certain context have a particular meaning
[ISO/IEC 2382-1:1993]
NOTE Although information will necessarily have a representation form to make it communicable, it is the
interpretation of this representation (the meaning) that is relevant in the first place.
4.11
information system
one or more computer systems and communication systems, together with associated organizational
resources such as human, technical, and financial resources, that provide and distribute information
NOTE Adapted from ISO/IEC 2382-1:1993.
© ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved 3

4.12
integrity
property of safeguarding the accuracy and complet
...