Definition
Metadata is structured information that describes the characteristics, context, or management attributes of an Object. Metadata supplements an Object but does not define its identity or operational state. Metadata may evolve throughout the lifecycle of an Object.
Purpose
This document defines Metadata within the OCOM Specification.
Metadata provides descriptive information about an Object without altering its identity, behavior, or business meaning.
Metadata supports discovery, governance, interoperability, traceability, and operational management.
Business meaning
Metadata enables organizations to understand, organize, discover, and govern Objects consistently across operational environments.
Metadata improves interoperability by providing common descriptive attributes independent of implementation technologies.
Design principles
Metadata shall:
- be descriptive
- be structured
- be extensible
- support interoperability
- support governance
- remain technology independent
Core characteristics
Metadata may describe:
- identity attributes
- descriptive attributes
- administrative attributes
- governance attributes
- operational attributes
- technical attributes
Organizations may define additional metadata categories.
Relationship to other specifications
Metadata is used throughout the OCOM Specification, including:
ocom:Objectocom:Identityocom:Registryocom:Relationshipocom:Referenceocom:Lifecycleocom:Governanceocom:Evaluation
All managed Objects may possess Metadata.
Compared with
Read as: OCOM term, the nearest concept in the other model, and how close they are. Similar means the two carry the same intent; Partial means they overlap but differ in scope or obligation; None means the other model has no counterpart. The verdicts are site-published editorial judgments, not normative.
- OCOM vs Digital Twin: Partial (Telemetry / properties)
- OCOM vs Knowledge Graph: Similar (Properties)
- OCOM vs Ontology: Similar (DatatypeProperty / Annotation)
- OCOM vs Data Model: Similar (Column / Attribute)
Independence
The Metadata specification does not prescribe:
- metadata schemas
- storage mechanisms
- serialization formats
- implementation technologies
Organizations remain free to implement Metadata using any compatible approach.
Metadata Categories
Typical metadata categories include:
Descriptive Metadata
Provides information describing the Object.
Examples include:
- Name
- Description
- Version
- Summary
Administrative Metadata
Supports operational management.
Examples include:
- Creation Date
- Last Modified Date
- Owner
- Status
Governance Metadata
Supports organizational governance.
Examples include:
- Classification
- Policy References
- Compliance Status
- Audit Information
Technical Metadata
Supports implementation-specific environments.
Examples include:
- Format
- Encoding
- Schema Version
- External References
Technical Metadata is implementation-specific.
Metadata Lifecycle
Metadata may change throughout the lifecycle of an Object.
Metadata updates shall preserve:
- Object Identity
- auditability
- traceability
Metadata history should be retained according to organizational policy.
Metadata Ownership
Metadata should have defined ownership.
Organizations shall determine who may:
- create metadata
- modify metadata
- approve metadata
- archive metadata
Ownership shall remain traceable.
Metadata Validation
Organizations should validate Metadata for:
- completeness
- consistency
- accuracy
- required attributes
- policy compliance
Validation methods are organization-specific.
Metadata Relationships
Metadata may reference:
- Policies
- Classifications
- Registries
- External Systems
- Related Objects
Metadata relationships shall preserve traceability.
Conformance
A compliant implementation shall:
- support structured Metadata
- preserve Metadata traceability
- support Metadata governance
- allow Metadata extension
- remain technology independent
Provenance
Governance records: —
| Version | Date | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | 20 July 2026 | Initial draft |