Glossary Updates12 new terms added to the glossaries · October 2, 2026, 22:44 CEST
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Glossary · Systems engineering and MBSE

Source of truth

Also known as: authoritative source of truth, Single source of truth

German: Datenhoheit

In systems engineering, a source of truth is the authoritative source for a defined information type, including its ownership, approval and conflict-resolution rules. Copies elsewhere are derived and yield to it when they disagree.

  • Data and interfaces
  • Systems engineering
  • Technical documentation
  • German source term

In one sentence

A source of truth names the authoritative source for one information type, with owner, approval and rules for resolving conflicting copies.

Example

For a robot cell, the safety PLC project is the source of truth for safety parameters; the HMI, the maintenance manual and the MES read these values but may not change them.

How it applies

  • Scope: Define one source of truth per information type (safety parameters, part numbers, hazard list, warning texts), not one for everything.
  • Integrated systems: Record owner, approval route and conflict rule. When two systems disagree, the rule says which wins and who corrects the other. See authoritative source boundary.
  • Technical documentation: Manuals often copy values from engineering sources. Reference or generate them from the source of truth to avoid silent divergence.
  • AI and retrieval: Retrieval systems should prefer the source of truth and mark derived copies, so answers do not come from an outdated duplicate.

The German term Datenhoheit stresses ownership and authority over data, not only where the data comes from: it answers who decides, which the English “source of truth” leaves implicit. Governance rules such as model governance make that authority explicit.

By knowledge.aitechdoc.world · Published September 25, 2026 · Last reviewed

Source: AI TechDoc Blog editorial definition, based on systems engineering practice

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