BDM Architecture Principle 4: Principle: Data is at the center of BDM. Statement: Data is at the center of BDM. BDM embraces Data Management-by-design by building services and processes that support and enable appropriate data access, standards and quality for ESDC clients, partners and staff. BDM advocates leveraging data from an authoritative source. Rationale: Data has a great potential to support and inform better decisions both in service design and continuous improvement and in adjudicating and processing client applications and requests. To realize such potential, data needs to be relevant, reliable and available. Implications: • BDM will strive to enable data driven approach to decision making in service design and continuous improvement . • BDM will enable data-as-a-service approach by enabling access to authoritative sources of data whenever possible. • Data gathered once. • Collecting the same data from the client multiple times for the use in different programs will be avoided. • Transferring and replicating data will be done judiciously and only when necessary for functional or performance reasons. • Proposed data architectures, models and data flows will be presented to BDM-ARC for review.