Which data quality attribute indicates data is up-to-date and available when needed?

• A. Accuracy
• B. Uniqueness
• C. Data Lake
• D. Timeliness

Answer: (D)

Timeliness is the data quality attribute that captures whether data is current and available when you need it. In decision-making and governance, having data that reflects the latest state is crucial; even if the data is accurate, it won’t help you if it arrives too late or isn’t accessible when a decision point occurs. Timely data enables real-time or near-real-time actions, such as a real-time inventory feed or live dashboard insights, where delays lead to poor decisions.

Accuracy is about how close data is to the true value, which matters for correctness but not necessarily for freshness. Uniqueness ensures there are no duplicates, which is about data quality in terms of repetition, not timing. A Data Lake is a storage repository, not a data quality attribute.