Data Governance and Management Policy - MoS Portal

1. Introduction

In line with the strategic directions of the United Arab Emirates in enhancing data governance and adopting data as a national asset that enables the development of government services and policies with efficiency and transparency, the Ministry of Sports has issued this policy as the approved regulatory and executive framework for the governance and management of sports data within its institutional scope.

This policy is based on best practices in data governance and management and constitutes an integral part of the digital transformation ecosystem.

It aims to enable the Ministry of Sports to manage its data as strategic assets by implementing unified methodologies and procedures for data management that ensure quality, accuracy, and security.

The policy further seeks to enhance the optimal use of data to support decision-making, achieve operational efficiency, and ensure compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements.

This policy aims to regulate the roles and responsibilities of organizational units, teams, and committees concerned within the Ministry of Sports.

It also defines their obligations in applying unified standards for data governance, including the development of institutional structures and roles, the implementation of quality management tools, the conduct of periodic compliance assessments, and the handling of data in accordance with the highest standards of governance and security.

This policy has been officially approved by the senior management of the Ministry of Sports and is considered a binding document for all departments, organizational units, committees, and teams affiliated with it.

Violations of, or circumvention of, this policy are strictly prohibited.

All concerned organizational units, committees, and teams within the Ministry of Sports, as well as sports entities licensed by it, are responsible for implementing the provisions of this policy.

They are also required to provide evidence of compliance with its principles and controls in accordance with the approved timelines and implementation plans.

2. Objective

This policy seeks to establish an integrated methodology for data governance and management within the Ministry of Sports, including the following:

Enhance the unified institutional use of government data in the sports sector by building and adopting official and reliable data sources that represent the sports sector in the United Arab Emirates.
Support mechanisms for sharing sports sector data among government entities in a controlled and secure manner.
Enable integration between government services by unifying definitions and concepts related to data.
Adopt shared working rules for data classification based on open data sharing standards, data confidentiality, and the impact of sharing as required and in accordance with the standards of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre and the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority.
Reduce duplication and redundancy, and address inconsistencies and errors resulting from multiple unapproved data sources.
Raise the maturity level, quality, and accuracy of sports data throughout all stages of its lifecycle.
Enhance ethical practices in handling sports data and ensure compliance with legislation related to its protection and confidentiality.
Support the government’s direction toward making decisions based on accurate, consistent, and up-to-date data.
Promote the concept of open data sharing with the public.

3. Scope of Work

Compliance with the provisions of this policy is a mandatory institutional obligation for all organizational units in the Ministry of Sports and sports entities licensed by the Ministry of Sports, including senior management, technical departments, operational units, support units, and contracted external service providers.

The scope of application of this policy extends to include all types of data that fall within the jurisdiction and responsibility of the Ministry of Sports or are processed within its systems or digital or operational environment, whether:

Player data (names, ages, nationalities, fitness, medical records, etc.).
Data of workers in the sports sector.
Sports facility data (locations, capacity, etc.).
Event data (number of participants, results, evaluations, etc.).
Institutional and operational performance data (budgets, projects, indicators, etc.).
All items contained in the International Sports Data Guide adopted by the Ministry of Sports.
Data created or produced internally by the Ministry of Sports systems or employees.
Data received from external entities under data sharing or integration agreements.
Data processed, analyzed, or modified for business support purposes within the Ministry of Sports.
Data stored and archived in institutional repositories or databases.
Data shared or reused by other government entities or third parties.
Non-sports data or data related to entities outside the scope of sports is excluded from this policy.
This obligation includes handling data in all its forms (digital or paper) and across all classifications (personal data, reference data, operational data, open data, and others), in accordance with approved quality, privacy, confidentiality, and data protection standards.
Each organizational unit is committed to fulfilling its responsibilities to ensure compliance with this policy, including governance responsibilities, quality control, access control, documentation of data management–related activities, and providing the necessary support for audit, review, and periodic assessment procedures conducted by regulatory bodies or governance units within the Ministry of Sports.
The scope of compliance also includes applying data management and protection requirements in accordance with national policies and approved regulatory frameworks, including those issued by authorities concerned with data governance, privacy protection, and information security.
Organizational units are committed to applying data classification controls according to confidentiality and sensitivity levels, implementing the necessary procedures to protect data from unauthorized access, modification, or loss, and ensuring full alignment with national data protection regulations.

The Ministry of Sports has adopted an integrated operational model for data management and governance that serves as the reference framework for organizing roles and distributing responsibilities among relevant regulatory and technical entities.

This model ensures integration in managing data as a strategic asset that supports decision-making and enhances operational efficiency.

The Ministry of Sports based the adoption of this model on defining the key roles of the data management team as follows:

4. Responsibilities

Data Management Officer
Represents the leadership and strategic role in data governance and management within the Ministry of Sports, with responsibilities that include the following:
- Representing the Ministry of Sports before the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre and other regulatory bodies in matters related to data indicators, and coordinating all related data exchange and processing operations.
- Developing the data management strategy and compliance and implementation plans related to performance indicators, and overseeing the implementation of governance and technical integration policies.
- Monitoring the implementation of data sharing plans and ensuring that all organizational units comply with approved work plans, timelines, quality levels, and required data classifications.
- Overseeing the implementation of data-related agreements, reviewing templates, and applying policies to ensure the accuracy and integrity of exchanged data.
- Monitoring the preparation and documentation of the data guide/catalog and ensuring that the technical infrastructure aligns with the requirements of regulatory authorities and data beneficiary entities.
- Developing and applying methodologies for controlling and improving data quality, and leading audit activities and corrective reporting.
- Overseeing the implementation of the record data classification framework and ensuring compliance with national data protection regulations.
- Coordinating with responsible teams to identify and publish open data, monitoring its updates, and ensuring compliance with national standards.
- Leading assessment, training, and capacity-building activities for teams involved in data management.
- Managing the team responsible for data indicators and monitoring implementation in accordance with the approved timeline.
Data Steward
The executive officer within the relevant organizational units, whose scope of duties includes the following:
- Reviewing and implementing data availability agreements and proposing improvements in accordance with applicable requirements and legislative rules.
- Analyzing and classifying personal and sensitive data and ensuring compliance with national legislation and privacy protection requirements.
- Documenting the data guide/catalog for each data source and maintaining data dictionaries and glossaries to ensure consistency and institutional knowledge.
- Supporting data quality procedures in collaboration with the technical team and preparing periodic reports that include practical solutions to improve and maintain data quality levels in line with defined requirements.
- Implementing data classification procedures and ensuring proper documentation of all related processes.
- Verifying that data intended for sharing with regulatory bodies and data beneficiary entities complies with the required technical and regulatory standards.
- Contributing to the identification and publication of open data while ensuring an appropriate balance between transparency and data protection.
Data Technician
The specialist responsible for implementing and documenting the technical aspects of data management, whose duties include the following:
- Extracting and preparing data from systems and configuring it for interoperability with national data sharing platforms in accordance with approved specifications.
- Creating and updating metadata and the data guide/catalog, and documenting the detailed technical characteristics of data sources.
- Designing and implementing electronic integration with government platforms and ensuring secure and consistent data flow.
- Monitoring procedures related to data integration and interconnection operations, and addressing technical failures in coordination with relevant entities.
- Improving data quality by applying technical tools and procedures that ensure data accuracy, integrity, and compliance with operational requirements.
- Collaborating with information security teams to protect data and ensure compliance with information security and privacy protection policies for data sources throughout the data lifecycle.

5. Terms and Definitions

Ministry: Ministry of Sports.
Sports Entities: Any non-governmental sports entity licensed by the Ministry or authorized by competent authorities, operating in the field of sports, such as federations, associations, clubs, companies, and sports institutions.
Licensed Sports Entities: Any sports entity for which a licensing decision has been issued by the Ministry in accordance with Article (36) of this law, such as federations, associations, and sports clubs.
Sports Federation: A sports entity licensed by the Ministry, responsible for managing one or more sports activities.
Sports Clubs: A sports entity licensed by the Ministry, designated for practicing one or more sports, affiliated with one of the sports federations licensed by the Authority.
Data Management Officer: The person responsible at the Ministry of Sports who has the authority to manage the Ministry's data program, and is entrusted with the responsibility of leading and supporting data governance and management operations, effective data dissemination and exchange, and ensuring the achievement of the entity's strategic objectives regarding data.
Data Steward: The person assigned data management tasks at the organizational unit level, including classification, quality, documentation, and sharing within a regulatory framework compliant with legislation.
Data Technician: The person responsible for implementing the technical operations necessary for extracting, preparing, ensuring the quality of, integrating, and sharing data within and outside the Ministry of Sports.
Data: A structured or unstructured set of facts, realities, concepts, instructions, information, observations, or measurements, in the form of numbers, letters, symbols, images, maps, or any other form.
Information: A set of data, facts, knowledge, or details that have been organized, processed, or presented in an understandable or systematic manner.
Data Sharing: Sharing or providing access to data granted to an entity different from the one that originally created and used that data.
Data Governance: The secure management of institutional data in all its organizational forms through infrastructure, processes, rules, and defined responsibilities.
Data Management: Systems and methods aimed at handling data as an asset owned by the Ministry of Sports.
Government Data: Any data or information stored electronically or non-electronically belonging to the government or public authorities and institutions.
Personal Data: Any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.
Sports Data: Any electronic or non-electronic data related to sports, including performance and personal data.
Metadata: A set of information organized according to a specific structure that enhances discovery, understanding, and use of data.
Data Classification: The process of determining the sensitivity or importance level of data.
Data Quality: The degree of accuracy, completeness, consistency, and currency of data.
Data Lifecycle: The stages data goes through from creation to archiving or destruction.
Audit Records: Digital records documenting operations performed on data.
Open Data: Data published by government entities for public use with minimal restrictions.
Open Data by Default: The assumption that all non-personal data is publicly available unless restricted.
Data Management Principles: Permanent value statements guiding long-term decision-making.
- Used to identify and support strategy developments.
- Understood, agreed upon, and owned by stakeholders.
Private Sector Entities: All entities not classified as government or semi-government entities.
- Companies and institutions owned by individuals.
- Private sector entities in the Emirate, including free zone authorities.
Sensitive Personal Data: Data revealing sensitive attributes such as health, beliefs, or biometric data.
Government Data Shared Digitally with Other Government Entities: Data shared through approved electronic platforms.
Data Sources: Any system, database, or document containing data.
Data Ownership: The formal responsibility of an organizational unit for data use, quality, and compliance.

6. References

Federal Law No. (4) of 2023 concerning Sports and its Executive Regulations.
Federal Law No. 45 of 2021 concerning Personal Data Protection.
Federal Decree No. (28) of 2024 amending some provisions of Federal Law No. (1) of 1972 concerning the Competencies of Ministries and Powers of Ministers.
Federal Decree-Law No. (46) of 2021 on Electronic Transactions and Trust Services.
Cabinet Resolution No. (22) of 2025 concerning the Organizational Structure of the Ministry of Sports.
Digital Government Policies in the Country (TDRA).
Open Data Policy – UAE Digital Government Portal.
General Principles of Data Governance (DAMA-DMBOK2), and Data Maturity Model from the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre.
Government Data Standards Guide, and Data Privacy Laws (FCSC Data Maturity Framework).
Federal Data Quality Guide, Data Maturity Model, Data Exchange Agreements (FCSC).
Government Cybersecurity Standards (NESA).
International Data Governance Standard (ISO 38505-1).
Open Data Specifications Guide for Government Entities 2022.
Open Data Guide 2011.
Open Data License (within the Specifications Guide).
Sports Federations Governance Guide, Second Edition 2025.
Federal Law No. (4) of 2023 concerning Sports and its Executive Regulations.
Federal Law No. 45 of 2021 concerning Personal Data Protection.
Federal Decree No. (28) of 2024 amending some provisions of Federal Law No. (1) of 1972 concerning the Competencies of Ministries and Powers of Ministers.
Federal Decree-Law No. (46) of 2021 on Electronic Transactions and Trust Services.
Cabinet Resolution No. (22) of 2025 concerning the Organizational Structure of the Ministry of Sports.
Digital Government Policies in the Country (TDRA).
Open Data Policy – UAE Digital Government Portal.
General Principles of Data Governance (DAMA-DMBOK2), and Data Maturity Model from the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre.
Government Data Standards Guide, and Data Privacy Laws (FCSC Data Maturity Framework).
Federal Data Quality Guide, Data Maturity Model, Data Exchange Agreements (FCSC).
Government Cybersecurity Standards (NESA).
International Data Governance Standard (ISO 38505-1).
Open Data Specifications Guide for Government Entities 2022.
Open Data Guide 2011.
Open Data License (within the Specifications Guide).
Sports Federations Governance Guide, Second Edition 2025.

7. Strategic Objectives of the Data Governance and Management Policy at the Ministry of Sports

7.1 Governance and Regulation

- Establish an institutional regulatory framework that defines the roles and responsibilities related to data governance and management at the Ministry of Sports, including defining data ownership, and the rights and responsibilities of those in charge of managing it.
- Adopt a unified and reliable national reference for data representing the sports sector in the United Arab Emirates as an official and approved reference for core data sets, to avoid conflict and duplication and ensure data consistency across all systems and applications.
- Establish the principle of collecting data only once, whereby a centralized and unified database is adopted covering various institutional needs and is available for government use within an environment characterized by transparency and accountability.
- Align the Ministry's systems with the model and standards adopted in the Government Data Index issued by the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, ensuring integration with the national data governance ecosystem.
7.2 Sports Data Quality and Accuracy
- Ensure the availability of sports sector data with accuracy and consistency throughout its lifecycle, including its collection, storage, analysis, exchange, and continuous updating.
- Raise the quality of sports data to be accurate, comprehensive, updated (real-time), and directly usable in supporting decision-making and policy formulation.
- Implement continuous monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for the maturity level of sports data in the country, enhancing the continuous development of its management practices.
7.3 Institutional Integration and Exchange
- Enable integration and data exchange between the Ministry of Sports and other government entities, including the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, to ensure smooth delivery of government services and fulfillment of strategic requirements in the federal government.
- Enhance the ability to benefit from shared data at the national level to support government integration and achieve the country's strategic objectives.
- Ensure that different systems within and outside the Ministry rely on the same approved reference values when exchanging data or making decisions.
7.4 Optimal Use and Analytics
- Enhance the utilization of sports data in improving the level of services provided by the Ministry of Sports and raising its operational and administrative efficiency.
- Conduct accurate analyses and foresight through reliance on consistent and integrated data, contributing to supporting government decisions and public policies on scientific bases.
- Enhance confidence in government data by adopting policies and practices that reflect commitment to governance, transparency, and accountability.

8. Data Governance and Management Principles

The institutional principles of data governance form the foundation upon which the Ministry of Sports relies in organizing data governance and management procedures as a strategic asset that enables performance improvement, decision-making support, and enhancement of institutional efficiency and regulatory compliance.

Accordingly, and in its keenness to enhance its institutional capabilities in the field of data governance, the Ministry of Sports has established a set of fundamental principles that constitute the reference framework from which the Ministry of Sports builds an integrated institutional environment for data management.

The Ministry of Sports is committed to applying the following principles in a systematic and integrated manner across all its organizational units, ensuring the unification of concepts and practices related to data management, and controlling processes related to data collection, storage, processing, protection, and exchange, in line with national legislation and privacy and data protection requirements.

8.1 First Principle | Considering Data as National Assets
- The Ministry of Sports is committed to managing its data as one of the national assets of strategic value that must be managed according to the highest standards of transparency, accountability, and compliance.
  The Ministry of Sports is committed to protecting this data, ensuring its accuracy and completeness, in a manner that serves its operational and regulatory objectives, and using it in a way that achieves public benefit at the government level as a whole and enhances the quality of services it provides.
  This commitment includes adherence to the principles of transparency in clarifying how data is used, accountability in defining responsibilities related to its management, and compliance with relevant national legislation and policies.
  Implementation Mechanism:
  To activate this principle and ensure optimal use of data, the Ministry of Sports commits to the following:
  - Treat the data available to it as a national asset requiring governance, protection, and continuous development, reflecting its responsibility in managing this data on behalf of beneficiaries and regulatory authorities.
  - Seek to maximize the value extracted from data by improving data quality, integration, and availability internally and externally in an organized manner that supports effective institutional decision-making.
  - Identify the data sets available to the Ministry of Sports comprehensively and accurately, document them in official records such as the data guide/catalog, and classify them according to importance and sensitivity, ensuring their management within a clear and approved lifecycle.
  - Consider data management a shared responsibility among all organizational units within the Ministry of Sports, with each party assuming its responsibilities in preserving, updating, and using data within the scope of its institutional authorities.
  - Ensure that all technical or administrative initiatives and projects take into account that data is an institutional element that must be handled according to governance controls and transparency requirements through disclosure of data sources and usage mechanisms, accountability of parties responsible for data accuracy and integrity, and full compliance with national legislation and policies.
8.2 Second Principle | Data Sharing and Reuse as a Means to Increase Institutional Value of Data
- Data sharing and reuse are among the fundamental pillars upon which the Ministry of Sports relies to maximize the value derived from its data and enhance its utilization within and outside the Ministry of Sports.
  These practices contribute to supporting institutional integration, improving service efficiency, enabling innovation, and achieving optimal use of data available within the scope of the Ministry of Sports.
  Data sharing procedures are implemented in a manner that ensures transparency regarding the nature of the data provided, accountability of beneficiary entities for its use, and compliance of sharing operations with privacy and data protection frameworks.
  Implementation Mechanism:
  Within the framework of the Ministry of Sports' commitment to activating this principle, the relevant departments and organizational units commit to taking the following actions:
  - Identify stakeholders and data users, whether from within or outside the Ministry of Sports (including federal or local government entities, licensed sports entities, councils, and the private sector), and proactively analyze their potential data needs.
  - Enhance the use of open data available from the Ministry of Sports, and work to encourage private entities to develop applications and services that rely on this data and reuse it within the specified legal and technical frameworks.
  - Deal flexibly and efficiently with requests from other entities to obtain shareable or usable data, giving priority to rapid response and providing data in organized and secure formats whenever policies and controls permit.
  - Adopt clear controls ensuring data sharing within the limits of privacy, ownership, and security, in accordance with approved national legislation and policies, with documentation of all sharing operations to ensure transparency, defining responsibilities to ensure accountability, and verifying that each sharing operation complies with compliance requirements.
8.3 Third Principle | Single Trusted Source of Data within the Ministry of Sports (Avoiding Duplication and Redundancy)
- The Ministry of Sports is committed to managing its data in a manner that ensures its consistency, accuracy, and integration across its various departments and organizational units, achieving the concept of a “single trusted source of data” within the Ministry of Sports.
  This principle aims to reduce duplication, prevent redundancy, and avoid conflicts between multiple copies of the same data within the Ministry of Sports, ensuring the provision of consistent and effective services to customers, achieving transparency in the use of approved data copies, ensuring accountability for data quality and accuracy, and complying with institutional policies.
  Implementation Mechanism:
  - The Ministry of Sports works to identify, establish, and centrally manage the main reference records for data, so that they are adopted as an official and reliable source used across all internal systems and applications.
  - All organizational units commit to using data from these main reference records and to not creating duplicate copies of reference data within the Ministry of Sports, except when there are documented and approved justifications.
  - The organizational units owning the main reference records bear responsibility for ensuring data quality, applying governance controls and technical and regulatory standards related to them, and ensuring their integration with the rest of the Ministry of Sports’ systems.
    This includes documenting owners’ responsibilities to ensure accountability and providing periodic reports to support transparency and compliance.
  - Different organizational units in the Ministry of Sports are prohibited from requiring customers or users to resubmit the same data more than once within internal transactions, as long as that data was previously collected through an official and approved channel within the Ministry of Sports and in a manner consistent with the privacy policy.
8.4 Fourth Principle | Making Non-Personal Data Available as Open Data by Default
- The Ministry of Sports is committed to adopting the principle of open availability of non-personal data by enabling access to it and publishing it by default, unless there are legal or regulatory justifications that prevent this.
  Such justifications must be specific and based on clear and approved data classification standards, supporting the principle of government transparency, enhancing public trust, and contributing to compliance with national directions toward open data.
  Implementation Mechanism:
  To support transparency and enhance the utilization of data available to the public, the Ministry of Sports commits to following these procedures:
  - All non-personal data produced or held by the Ministry of Sports is considered publishable in open data format and is preferably made available through the entity’s official electronic platforms and through the UAE national open data platforms.
  - Exceptions to publication are accepted only when there are clear justifications related to privacy protection, commercial rights, or public safety and security.
    Such justifications must be documented in accordance with the data classification policy adopted by the Ministry of Sports and disclosed upon request to ensure transparency, with all exception decisions subject to periodic oversight and accountability.
  If a specific dataset cannot be published in its original format, the Ministry of Sports commits to preparing a derivative version in which personal and sensitive data is concealed, allowing publication without compromising privacy or security.
8.5 Fifth Principle | Protection of Privacy, Confidentiality, and Intellectual Property Rights
- The Ministry of Sports is committed to ensuring that all its data management practices are carried out in a manner that guarantees respect for and protection of individuals’ privacy, the confidentiality of information belonging to other entities, and relevant intellectual property rights.
  This commitment is implemented in accordance with applicable national legislation and approved ethical practices, ensuring full compliance with policies and enhancing transparency and accountability in the use of personal and sensitive data.
  Implementation Mechanism:
  In support of the Ministry of Sports’ direction toward applying data exchange principles and enhancing transparency, and with due regard for respecting data-related rights, the Ministry of Sports commits to applying the following controls:
  - Respect individuals’ privacy at all stages of data collection and processing, and give it priority when considering the classification of any dataset as open data.
    Data containing personal information shall not be published or made available unless the necessary legal and technical protection measures have been applied.
  - Maintain the confidentiality of information related to private sector entities or any external party with which the Ministry of Sports interacts.
    This confidentiality is considered a fundamental obligation that prohibits the publication or sharing of such data without a valid legal justification or a clear and formal agreement.
  - Respect intellectual property rights associated with data, its sources, or its methods of production, and ensure that such rights are not violated when classifying or sharing any dataset.
    This includes respecting copyright, usage licenses, data exchange agreements, and any related contractual obligations, while applying transparent controls to verify data sources and define preservation and usage responsibilities for each organizational unit, in support of accountability and compliance.
8.6 Sixth Principle | Data Quality Level Should Be Appropriate for Its Intended Purpose and Subject to Continuous Improvement
- The Ministry of Sports is committed to ensuring that the quality of its data is appropriate for the purpose for which it was collected or created, and that it undergoes continuous monitoring and improvement processes, in accordance with the requirements of institutional business and the services provided to customers and partners.
  This commitment constitutes a fundamental pillar in ensuring institutional performance efficiency, the accuracy of data-driven decisions, compliance with policies, transparency in interpreting data results, accountability for data performance, and achieving added value from data use internally or when shared with external entities.
  Implementation Mechanism:
  - The Ministry of Sports develops and implements effective mechanisms for periodically measuring, monitoring, and managing data quality, ensuring data alignment with its intended use, integrity, and reusability across different systems and organizational units.
  - The Ministry of Sports adopts continuous improvement practices in data quality management, giving priority to data that affects customer needs or directly impacts service delivery and the execution of operational and oversight tasks.
  - Relevant departments establish performance indicators for measuring data quality, including Accessibility, Descriptiveness, Completeness, Accuracy, Timeliness, Coverage, and Consistency.
    These indicators are linked to institutional performance evaluation programs, disclosed periodically to enhance transparency, supported by documented corrective actions to ensure accountability, and connected to internal audit programs that support compliance.
8.7 Seventh Principle | Adopting Effective Methodologies for Data Collection and Analysis (Identifying Institutional Directions Through Data)
- The Ministry of Sports is committed to developing its institutional practices in data collection and analysis to enable optimal utilization of its internal data, as well as data from other entities when necessary.
  This commitment aims to improve service efficiency and enhance the quality of operational and administrative decisions by employing real-time and near/non-real-time data to support analysis and evidence-based decision-making.
  It further contributes to achieving transparency in the analysis process, enabling accountability of decision-makers for data use, and supporting compliance in adopting policies based on valid and reliable evidence.
  Implementation Mechanism:
  To support the effectiveness of policies, programs, and services provided by the Ministry of Sports, and to link them to realistic performance indicators that reflect customer and operational trends, the Ministry of Sports commits to implementing the following:
  - Develop and operate digital systems capable of collecting data and generating real-time reports that cover all institutional transactions and operations related to services, procedures, and technical systems.
  - Utilize data analysis and visualization tools that assist in interpreting indicators and clarifying trends for decision-makers and relevant users within the Ministry of Sports.
  - Build employee capabilities and empower them to use statistical and technical analysis tools through specialized training programs that ensure proper understanding and accurate interpretation of data.
    This supports policy formulation and evidence-based decision-making grounded in accurate and reliable data.
  - Adopt responsibility-definition models that enable continuous data updating and analysis, and ensure the inclusion of analysis outcomes in operational plans and periodic reports at the departmental level.
    This includes documenting data-driven decisions to ensure transparency and linking analysis results to evaluation indicators to ensure accountability and compliance.
8.8 Eighth Principle | Governance with Shared Roles
- The Ministry of Sports is committed to applying a participatory data governance approach at both internal and external levels by activating shared roles and responsibilities among organizational units concerned with data management.
  This approach enhances institutional integration and ensures optimal use of data in service delivery and support operations, reinforces transparency among stakeholders, and clearly defines responsibilities to ensure accountability and compliance.
  Implementation Mechanism:
  To enhance internal and external cooperation and improve data management efficiency within the Ministry of Sports, an internal and external participatory governance model has been adopted and is implemented through the following measures:
  - Activate an internal data governance system that enables departments to participate in a coordinated manner in data collection, analysis, sharing, and processing, based on approved institutional standards.
  - Establish multidisciplinary teams responsible for coordinating efforts related to data governance, facilitating decision-making regarding shared data between departments, and ensuring compliance with approved policies.
  - Leverage available internal systems and platforms to enable data sharing between departments, reducing duplication and achieving integration across approved data sources within the Ministry of Sports.
  - Define clear responsibilities for each role within the governance model to ensure effective coordination, implement transparent mechanisms for monitoring execution, ensure accountability for outcomes, and conduct periodic reviews of compliance with defined roles and responsibilities.

9. Data Governance Domains

The data governance and management program at the Ministry of Sports represents the fundamental institutional framework upon which all efforts related to organizing and managing data specific to the sports sector in the country within its scope of work are based.

This program aims to identify and apply systematic institutional methods and standards in dealing with various data sources, ensuring achievement of the highest levels of quality, enhancing data security, and ensuring continuous compliance with approved controls, policies, and regulatory legislation.

The data governance and management program at the Ministry of Sports includes a set of specialized domains concerned with multiple aspects of the data lifecycle, with each domain entrusted with clear roles and objectives that enhance processing efficiency, source integration, and information reliability.

Together, these domains form the institutional structure through which the Ministry of Sports can extract, analyze, and invest in data as an institutional strategic asset that enables decision support, performance development, and value realization from data within its jurisdiction.

9.1 Data Governance
Data governance represents the approved institutional framework that defines the rules, practices, and regulatory procedures necessary to ensure effective and disciplined management of data assets at the Ministry of Sports.
This domain aims to establish the principles of transparency, accountability, and compliance, and ensure data quality, integrity, and security, through creating an integrated regulatory environment based on roles and responsibilities, processes, and technologies, in line with national legislation and globally approved standards in data management.
Data governance is considered a fundamental condition for managing data as a strategic asset, as it enables the Ministry of Sports to apply effective policies, enhance institutional integration, and achieve responsible use of data in supporting decisions and formulating public policies, including contributing to the production of the unified UAE number and accurate statistical data.
This domain represents the foundation upon which other data management domains are built, as it provides the institutional guarantees necessary for the sustainability of initiatives, and contributes to enhancing overall performance efficiency and enabling senior management to rely on accurate data in making strategic decisions.
Data governance at the Ministry of Sports includes the following aspects:
- Define fundamental principles, standard practices, and data management responsibilities within the Ministry of Sports, and establish the concept of data ownership and distribution of responsibilities, ensuring compliance with regulatory provisions and enhancing confidence in data quality and reliability.
- Activate the operational model (organizational structure) for data governance and management and the teams concerned with executing their tasks, and enhance coordination and integration among different organizational units, including business and information technology teams.
- Enhance institutional awareness at all levels of the importance of data as an institutional asset, and emphasize the role of senior leadership in supporting quality and compliance initiatives.
- Document and implement operational procedures related to data quality management, sustainability, access control, and controlled and secure data sharing.
- Document data sharing procedures and initiatives internally and externally through regulatory agreements that specify regulatory and technical terms and conditions, data usage rights, controls related to privacy and security, and distribution of responsibilities among parties, ensuring complete protection of government data sources.
9.2 Metadata Management
Metadata management represents one of the fundamental pillars within the data governance program at the Ministry of Sports, aiming to organize and document information that describes the characteristics, contexts, and uses of data, ensuring a unified and effective understanding of data sources across different organizational units within the Ministry of Sports.
Metadata is considered an enabling factor for data integration and exchange, and for ensuring its use in a safe and effective manner in a data-dependent operational environment.
Metadata management practices are essential for unifying institutional concepts related to data, achieving transparency, reducing variation, and ensuring sustainability of institutional knowledge related to data.
The application of this domain contributes to improving interoperability, increasing the efficiency of data exchange with other entities, and achieving regulatory compliance at the internal and external levels.
Metadata is classified into three main types:
- Business Metadata: Describes the context, objectives, and meanings specific to data from the perspective of users and institutions.
- Technical Metadata: Specifies the technical characteristics of data, including locations, structures, and data types within databases and information systems.
- Operational Metadata: Concerned with documenting and describing operational aspects related to data use and flow within the systems environment, and clarifies how data is processed and operated, including usage and modification records, processing timings, data states (such as active or archived), and performance of related operations.
  It also includes permission settings and access control, where this data is a pivotal element in supporting Data Lineage tracking capabilities, achieving transparency, and enhancing security levels and compliance with institutional and regulatory policies.
  Operational metadata contributes to enabling entities to accurately monitor data-related activities, analyze usage patterns, and proactively interact with operational problems, supporting data operation sustainability and quality, and enhancing institutional performance efficiency.
The metadata management domain at the Ministry of Sports includes the following aspects:
- Develop and manage the Data Catalog as a central tool for documenting and indexing all data sources, including data definitions, formats, usage guidelines, and interrelationships, serving as a fundamental reference for internal and external stakeholders.
- Make metadata available in a manner that enhances the ability to identify data sources, enables their reuse in an organized manner, and supports operational and technical integration between organizational units and different systems.
- Document metadata associated with record sources used in preparing national statistical indicators, and ensure consistency of data elements across statistical system components, including defining each element, its format, and usage guidelines, contributing to unifying concepts among entities and ensuring statistical analysis accuracy.
- Manage a comprehensive registry of data sources, including describing each source according to the type of available data, and identifying the relationship between these sources, providing an accurate internal data map that enhances effective use of data resources and decision-making based on accurate knowledge foundations.
- Support centralized data storage and preservation environments by enabling metadata integration with data available for sharing, and expanding data exchange and open data capabilities in a safe and controlled manner, in accordance with privacy policies and security requirements.
- Link with other governance domains such as data quality, data security, and data access, through documenting data elements related to control procedures, quality measures, and privacy classification levels.
9.3 Data Quality
The data quality domain represents one of the pivotal components in the institutional data governance and management program, aiming to ensure that data used within the Ministry of Sports is accurate, integrated, reliable, updated, and usable in various work contexts, supporting data-driven decision-making and improving operational and service performance efficiency.
Data quality is defined as a set of measurable characteristics that reflect the extent of data suitability for intended use purposes, achieved through a set of systematic processes and applied techniques to control and improve data characteristics continuously.
The data quality domain is considered a critical factor in achieving digital transformation goals, relying on government data as a reliable element for policy formulation and service development, and ensuring integrity and transparency in government performance.
The data quality management domain at the Ministry of Sports includes the following aspects through developing and implementing an integrated framework for data quality management that includes planning, implementation, and monitoring processes, based on approved national standards and guidelines:
- Define and apply data quality metrics that include the basic approved metrics for measuring data quality such as Accuracy, Timeliness, Availability, Accessibility, Consistency, Completeness, Coverage, Conformity, Transparency, Interoperability, and Usability, and use these metrics to evaluate both record and non-record data within the Ministry of Sports.
- Design and implement periodic monitoring and review mechanisms for data quality at the level of all main data sources to ensure continued compliance with quality standards, and reduce errors, duplication, and gaps, according to an approved review plan subject to institutional oversight.
- Issue periodic reports to measure data quality that clarify the extent of data sources’ compliance with approved metrics, identify improvement priorities and correction plans, and enable data improvement before making it available or integrating it into analytical operations and strategic decisions.
- Provide continuous measurement and improvement tools by adopting technical platforms and specialized applications for measuring data quality (such as duplication and consistency verification tools), and linking them with data repositories and operational systems to achieve continuous improvement and reduce operational risks.
9.4 Data Privacy Classification
Data privacy classification is considered one of the important pillars within the institutional data governance and management program, aiming to organize and process government data in a manner that ensures maintaining its privacy, confidentiality, and security, in line with national policies and approved legislative standards, primarily the Personal Data Protection Law in the UAE. This classification enables the Ministry of Sports to apply appropriate security and oversight controls for each category of data, and ensure the balance between the right to access data and legal and regulatory protection requirements.
This domain relies on a rigorous classification methodology that takes into account the degree of sensitivity and potential impact of unauthorized disclosure of data, and classifies data into four main categories as follows:
- Confidential Data: Contains information whose unauthorized disclosure may lead to severe and irremediable damages affecting national security, sovereignty, vital state interests, or constitutionally guaranteed rights of individuals.
- Sensitive Data: Includes information whose disclosure may result in significant and impactful damages that can be partially addressed, affecting institutional interests, individuals, or operational infrastructure, without reaching the level of severe danger.
- Private Data: Contains personal or institutional information of a non-sovereign nature, and its unauthorized disclosure may lead to limited and containable effects, not threatening institutional security or operational stability.
- Open Data: Includes information available to the public, which does not fall under any sensitivity or privacy categories, and its disclosure does not lead to any regulatory or legal damages.
- 9.4.1 Scope of Work within the Data Privacy Classification Domain Includes:
  - Prepare a comprehensive institutional framework for data privacy classification that clearly defines the characteristics and classification levels for each type of data, including record data containing names, identification numbers, addresses, or financial or health information, with identification of data sources and related systems.
  - Create an updated central classification registry containing all classified data categories (confidential, sensitive, private, and open), including details such as data source, collection method, purpose of use, and entities authorized to access it, with periodic review to ensure registry accuracy and continuous updating.
  - Link classification level with access controls according to the principle of least privilege, including defining permissions at the system level, and activating technical protection controls such as encryption, multi-factor authentication, and anonymization.
  - Define clear standards for sharing classified data with external parties (such as regulatory entities like the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre or national data centers), through legally binding agreements containing terms of use, responsibilities of both parties, and protection procedures and compliance with relevant national regulations.
  - Implement accurate disclosure impact assessments for all record data sources, for the purpose of classifying them based on content sensitivity and its impact on individuals, entities, or national security, and reassessing classification whenever needed (upon new sharing, system development, or discovery of new threats).
  - Conduct continuous auditing of compliance requirements with local and international legislation related to data protection and privacy, and perform internal audits to ensure organizational units within the Ministry of Sports comply with approved classifications and prescribed protection controls.
9.5 Data Integration and Sharing
The data integration and sharing domain is considered one of the core domains in the data governance and management program at the Ministry of Sports level, aiming to establish the policies, standards, and technical and regulatory procedures that ensure effective and secure integration of data between various systems and internal sources of the entity, as well as when exchanging data with government entities or relevant partners.
This domain forms the foundation upon which entities rely in achieving optimal use of their data assets and enhancing the effectiveness of government services, through supporting interoperability, achieving transparency, and ensuring compliance with relevant legislative and regulatory requirements.
This domain regulates the following aspects within the institutional scope of work:
- Develop a comprehensive operational framework clarifying the regulatory and technical mechanisms necessary for data integration from multiple sources within the Ministry of Sports using data integration tools and unified data warehouses.
- Prepare and adopt institutional sharing policies that regulate internal and external data exchange operations with identification of controls related to privacy, ownership, confidentiality, and access permissions.
- Link sharing with usage determinants including purpose, frequency, usage oversight, and documentation of permissions to ensure effective governance at the data sharing level.
- Sign official data sharing agreements between the Ministry of Sports and beneficiary parties, containing regulatory and security obligations, usage restrictions, and secure data processing mechanisms (such as encryption and masking).
- Create a unified central registry for shared datasets that includes data description.
- Enhance integration with accredited national platforms, such as open data or government cloud platforms, by adopting unified data standards and models and ensuring interoperability between systems.
- Conduct periodic audits to assess compliance with sharing requirements and analyze risks associated with data integration to ensure data protection and compliance with the Personal Data Protection Law and any relevant legislation.
- Implement standardized procedures for extracting data from source systems and preparing it for availability in a manner that ensures its accuracy, integrity, and freedom from duplication or inconsistency.
- Use accredited Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) within the government integration platform to execute integration and data exchange operations in accordance with national standards.
- Commit to electronically injecting and making data available according to specific timelines stipulated in sharing agreements, while ensuring input quality and data integrity.
- Use intelligent scheduling tools that enable automatic data transfer management on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, and monitor any transfer failures through early warning systems.
- Ensure the infrastructure's capacity to accommodate the increasing volumes of data exchanged between systems without affecting efficiency or performance.
- Enforce strict protection measures on transferred data, including minimizing shared personal and sensitive data to the bare minimum, and ensuring compliance with relevant legal and security controls.
9.6 Open Data
The open data management domain is concerned with establishing policies, standards, and procedures that govern the inventory, classification, and publication of government data that can be made available for public use without restrictions, with the aim of enhancing transparency, supporting innovation, and encouraging economic development.
This domain focuses on enabling the Ministry of Sports to make unrestricted-use data available, provided it complies with national and international open data standards and does not conflict with privacy and security protection requirements or any applicable regulatory legislation.
This domain represents a strategic tool within the government data management ecosystem and an effective means of enabling open access to data that is not subject to security or privacy restrictions, thereby enhancing institutional transparency and stimulating data-driven innovation in society and the economy.
The scope of work within this domain extends to include the following areas:
- Conducting a comprehensive inventory of all data sources available at the Ministry of Sports, including data collected, created, or managed within its scope of work, and documenting them in an organized registry that clarifies the type of data, its source, and the entities responsible for it, in preparation for determining what can be published as open data.
- Reviewing and evaluating candidate datasets for publication as open data according to approved data quality standards, including accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, and actual usage, while adopting correction and improvement procedures for data that does not meet the requirements before publication.
- Subjecting datasets to precise classification analysis to ensure they are free from personal or sensitive data, or any content that may cause direct or indirect harm to individuals or the public interest, in line with the state's approved data privacy classification policies.
- Adopting standard technical formats for publication (such as CSV, JSON, XML), ensuring data usability by individuals, developers, and government and private entities in an automated and efficient manner.
- Including comprehensive technical descriptions and accurate metadata with each published dataset, including data source, coverage period, and update mechanism, while clarifying the scope of use and availability rights.
- Developing an updated periodic plan for updating published data according to clear timelines (annual, semi-annual, quarterly), with monitoring of data quality after each update and ensuring the continued accuracy and consistency of available information.
- Ensuring the publication of all open data through the entity's official website, in addition to the UAE National Open Data Platform, using tools and technologies that enable easy data access by users of varying levels of technical knowledge.

10. Data Ownership and Implementation Roles

The Ministry of Sports affirms its full commitment to defining and clearly documenting data ownership responsibilities for each of its available data sources, in alignment with national data governance principles and relevant regulatory requirements.

This commitment is a fundamental element in achieving transparency, ensuring data quality, and activating institutional accountability at all levels within the Ministry of Sports.

To achieve this, the Ministry of Sports has designated a data owner for each data source according to the functional affiliation of each data source.

A data owner has been designated at the level of each department or organizational unit responsible for producing or using a specific data source.

Data owners are charged with the responsibility of making strategic decisions related to data use, ensuring alignment with institutional objectives, determining appropriate sensitivity, privacy, and classification levels, and assigning responsibility for granting access permissions and determining conditions for sharing data with internal or external parties.

In this context, the Ministry of Sports commits to the following:

Appointing data stewards at the organizational unit level, who bear the responsibility of coordinating with the data management team at the Ministry of Sports and contributing to updating and documenting information related to data sources within their jurisdiction.
Holding data stewards accountable for data quality and accuracy, and participating in addressing related challenges, as determined through approved governance mechanisms.
Ensuring data stewards' cooperation with the Data Management Officer as well as data technicians, contributing to improving the level of documentation, classification, and availability, and achieving integration in implementing relevant policies and procedures.
Establishing an official registry that includes all data sources and their approved owners, clarifying each owner's responsibilities, assignment date, and areas of use, while undertaking the necessary steps to update the registry periodically in coordination between the Data Management Officer and the relevant organizational units.
This registry shall be used as a primary reference in audit and accountability processes.

11. Article (Data Subjects' Rights and Legal Basis for Processing)

1. Legal Basis for Processing
Sports data covered by this policy is processed based on one of the following legal bases:
- Execution of an official task or exercise of authority vested in the Ministry of Sports under applicable legislation.
- Compliance with a legal obligation imposed by federal law, ministerial decision, or regulatory bylaw.
- Achievement of a legitimate interest for the Ministry or registered sports entities, provided it does not conflict with the rights and freedoms of data subjects.
- Prior explicit consent from the data subject, in cases required by the nature of the data, particularly health data, sensitive data, or data of minors.
2. Data Subjects' Rights
Any data subject has the right to exercise the following rights:
- Request access to their data and obtain a copy thereof.
- Request correction of inaccurate data or completion of incomplete data.
- Request erasure of data or restriction of its processing when the purpose of collection no longer exists or the retention period has expired.
- Object to data processing in cases permitted by law.
- Request transfer of their data to another entity in accordance with approved technical and regulatory controls.
3. Mechanisms for Exercising Rights
- The Ministry of Sports shall establish an official electronic and/or paper channel for receiving data subjects' requests.
- The Ministry commits to deciding on requests within a period not exceeding thirty (30) days from the date of receiving the request, with reasons stated in case of rejection.
- The data subject has the right to file a grievance with the competent regulatory authority in case of non-response or objection to the request outcome.

12. Article (Data Breach Notification)

Notification Obligation
The Ministry of Sports and all registered sports entities under its jurisdiction are obligated to immediately notify of any breach affecting the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of data subject to the provisions of this policy.
Notifying the Regulatory Authority
- The competent regulatory authority shall be notified within a period not exceeding seventy-two (72) hours from the date of discovering the breach.
- The notification shall include the nature of the breach, categories and number of affected data subjects, potential impacts, and corrective measures taken.
Notifying Data Subjects
- In cases where the breach may cause serious harm to the rights or interests of data subjects, the Ministry or the affected sports entity is obligated to notify data subjects directly and without undue delay.
- The notification shall include a simplified explanation of the nature of the breach, its potential effects, and measures the data subject can take to protect themselves.
Incident Register
- An official register shall be established to document all breaches, reports, and actions taken regarding them.
- This register shall be reviewed periodically within the approved audit and governance plans.

13. Endorsement and Approval

This Data Governance and Management Policy has been reviewed, endorsed, and officially approved by the Senior Management of the Ministry of Sports.

Through this endorsement, Senior Management affirms its institutional commitment to fostering a culture built on sound data governance and ensuring that data management principles are considered one of the strategic pillars across all organizational units, operational processes, and institutional initiatives within the Ministry of Sports.

Senior Management acknowledges that data governance is a core element in supporting business effectiveness, enhancing compliance, and ensuring information integrity and sustainability.

For this purpose, it guarantees the allocation of organizational structures, resources, and mechanisms necessary for implementing this policy and monitoring its execution and periodic review.

The Data Management Officer is responsible for submitting periodic reports to Senior Management that include performance indicators related to data governance and management, the effectiveness of implementing approved policies and procedures, risks affecting data management efficiency, as well as approved corrective actions and preventive measures.

This endorsement embodies the Ministry of Sports' commitment to compliance with national regulatory and legislative requirements, enhancing accountability before regulatory and supervisory authorities, data beneficiaries, and all relevant stakeholders.

It serves as a fundamental pillar in ensuring the sustainability and integration of the data governance system at the Ministry of Sports level.

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United Arab Emirates
Ministry of Sports

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