Glossary · Information modeling
Schema governance
In information architecture, schema governance is the set of rules for the controlled creation, change, approval, versioning and use of data and interface schemas.
- Information architecture
- Ontology
In one sentence
Schema governance controls who may create, change, approve and version data and interface schemas, so consumers are not broken by silent changes.
Example
Before a new field is added to the status schema of a robot cell, the change is checked for its impact on the MES and dashboards, approved and released as a new schema version.
How it applies
- Integrated systems: Keep a register of schemas with their owners, versions and consumers. Classify each change: compatible additions versus breaking changes that need a migration or a deprecation path.
- Change control: Schema changes are engineering changes. Route them through change control with an impact analysis, especially where interfaces feed safety-related functions or documentation.
- Technical documentation: Interface documentation and the published schema must carry the same version, so readers know which contract applies.
- AI and retrieval: Pipelines that extract, index or generate content depend on stable schemas; ungoverned changes break them without warning.
Schema governance vs. semantic control
Schema governance controls structure. Semantic control preserves meaning. A field can pass every schema check while its meaning has changed, so both are needed.