Knowledge BaseGlossary

Authoritative Source

Definition

Definition
Authoritative Source

The source accepted as correct for a specific attribute or domain, because it sits closest to the business process that creates the information and because a named party is accountable for keeping it accurate. Authority is granted deliberately, and it is bounded to the scope in which that source is genuinely competent.

Expanded Explanation

Three properties make a source authoritative rather than merely convenient. It is proximate: the value is created there as a by-product of real work, such as design release, laboratory testing or supplier declaration, rather than typed in as a copy. It is accountable: a role owns the value and can be asked to justify it. It is controlled: changes follow a defined process that leaves a record.

Authority is therefore attribute-level in most organisations. A supplier portal may be authoritative for a declared recycled content percentage, while being an unreliable source for the commercial description of the same product. A laboratory system may be authoritative for a chemical test result and irrelevant for packaging dimensions. The unit of designation is the attribute or the domain, not the system as a whole.

The concept is closely related to a system of record but is not identical to it. A system of record is the designated system; an authoritative source may also be an organisation, a supplier, a laboratory or a document issued by a notified body. Every system of record is authoritative within its scope, but not every authoritative source is a system inside the enterprise.

Why It Matters

Digital Product Passport data is published to regulators, market surveillance authorities and consumers who cannot inspect internal systems. When a published value is challenged, the defence is not that the value existed in a database; it is that the value came from the source competent to produce it, maintained by an accountable owner, under a controlled change process. Recording authority per attribute is what makes that defence possible.

Common Misconceptions

Common Mistake
The newest value is the authoritative one

Timeliness and authority are separate properties. A recently edited value from an unaccountable source is weaker evidence than an older value from the system designated to produce it.

Common Mistake
Authority applies to whole systems

Systems are rarely authoritative for everything they store. Granting authority attribute by attribute produces a far more accurate map of where trustworthy data actually originates.

See Also

References

About This Article

About This Article
Last Reviewed
2026-08-09
Next Scheduled Review
2027-08-09
Article Version
1.0

tieback Knowledge is a continuously maintained reference library covering Digital Product Passports, product traceability, product compliance and related regulations. Articles are reviewed regularly as legislation, standards and implementation guidance evolve.