Overview — A More Accessible Data Catalog

Data catalogs have existed for a long time, but still remain out of reach for a large number of organizations. This page presents their role, the limitations of existing solutions, and datannur’s proposed approach to make data governance more accessible.

Why a Data Catalog

A data catalog allows organizations to document, structure, and find their datasets. It centralizes essential metadata — content, owners, location, structure, update frequency, sensitivity level — and offers a clear entry point to an information asset that is often dispersed.

Data catalogs are not new. For over ten years, they have been improving data quality, compliance, protection, and reuse. Large companies invest hundreds of thousands of francs in them annually. With increasing regulatory requirements, open data, and AI-related uses, they are becoming an increasingly central tool for serious data governance.

Why Most Organizations Don’t Have One

Because market solutions are too expensive, too cumbersome, or too complex to deploy. High-end catalogs target large enterprises, open-source alternatives often require dedicated infrastructure, and general-purpose tools are insufficient for structuring true data governance.

In practice, many organizations therefore continue to work with spreadsheets, scattered documents, or ad hoc solutions. The consultants and integrators who support them also lack lightweight tools to structure the work, clarify existing data, and help their clients establish more sustainable practices.

Why datannur

datannur was designed to remove the barriers that still prevent most organizations from adopting a real data catalog. It is an open source, lightweight, and sovereign catalog, designed to work without heavy infrastructure and without dependence on a vendor. The tool is free, simple to set up, and usable independently. When the need goes beyond direct adoption, partners can support setup, training, integration, or the structuring of practices.

Concretely, datannur automatically scans various sources — files, databases, folder structures — generates metadata, and builds a structured, interoperable catalog. The interface makes it possible to explore datasets, their variables, their dependencies, and their evolution over time. Metadata remains under the organization’s control, in reusable formats, with the possibility of integrating AI and choosing models according to confidentiality requirements.

For Whom

datannur is aimed at organizations that want to better govern their data without deploying heavy infrastructure: administrations, statistical offices, open data teams, SMEs, NGOs, universities, laboratories, BI/data teams, or public institutions. It gives them a structured, usable, and sustainable catalog while keeping control over their metadata.

The tool can also serve professionals who support these organizations — governance consultants, GDPR experts, integrators, open data specialists, or IT service providers. They can use it for an audit, a quality diagnosis, open data preparation, or support work, while letting the client remain in control of its data and catalog.