What is the primary focus of Metadata Management within Data Governance?

The primary focus of Metadata Management within Data Governance is to track data lineage and definitions. This aspect is crucial as it involves understanding where data comes from, how it moves through systems, and how it is transformed along the way. By maintaining detailed metadata, organizations can gain insights into the data's lifecycle, ensuring that data remains trustworthy, reliable, and contextual. This process supports better decision-making and enhances the quality and usability of data across the organization.

Tracking data lineage helps in identifying the impact of changes, validates data accuracy, and assists in compliance efforts by providing a clear map of how data is handled. Furthermore, maintaining definitions ensures that all stakeholders have a common understanding of data elements, which is integral to fostering collaboration and consistency in data usage.

In contrast, while ensuring compliance with regulations, managing data assets, and improving data access speeds are essential components of overall data governance, they do not specifically hone in on the core functions of metadata management. These other aspects are more focused on regulatory adherence, the optimization of data resources, and performance enhancement, rather than the comprehensive tracking and management of data definitions and lineage.