In this episode of The Data Journey, Roland Brown explores the transformation of metadata from forgotten documentation to active intelligence.

Building on Episodes 5 (*Data Quality – The Foundation of Trust*) and 16 (*Data Stewardship – Who Owns Your Data*), he reveals how active metadata becomes the invisible architecture enabling discovery, governance, and automation.

You’ll learn how organisations are automating metadata capture, using lineage and observability to build trust, and treating metadata as a product — not an afterthought.

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### 🔑 Key Takeaways

* Metadata has evolved from static labels to living intelligence.

It acts as the control plane* of modern data architectures.

* Automation and APIs replace manual documentation.

* Context, not content, drives trust and discoverability.

* Organisations must treat metadata as a product with ownership, KPIs, and measurable value.

* The metadata mindset connects people, process, and platform into one feedback loop.

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