3.2 Design Principles of the FDIS Reference Architecture

Return to 3. FDIS Reference Architecture

The Federated Data Interpretation Systems Reference Architecture (FDIS-RA) is shaped by explicit design principles that reflect the nature of the problem domain it addresses: long-lived, regulated data interpretation environments in which meaning, accountability, and comparability must be preserved across time, institutions, tools, and evolving analytical techniques.

These principles govern the structure, scope, and architectural emphasis of FDIS-RA.

The principles are architectural in intent rather than implementation guidance. They do not prescribe:

• Specific technologies
• Products
• Development methodologies
• Deployment models
• Operational procedures
• Vendor tooling environments

Instead, they express the foundational assumptions, constraints, and design commitments that guide how FDIS-RA is defined, evaluated, applied, and realised across diverse regulatory, organisational, and jurisdictional contexts.

Taken together, these principles explain why the architecture is organised as it is and why concerns such as the following are treated as first-class architectural responsibilities:

• Traceability
• Semantic authority
• Governance boundaries
• Separation of interpretive concerns
• Controlled evolution of meaning
• Long-term comparability
• Auditability
• Implementation independence

The architectural mechanisms through which these principles are realised are defined in Section 4.