A set of standard values used to validate and categorize other data, such as country codes, province codes, or industry classification codes.
Reference data provides the standard vocabulary for a domain. Province codes (ON, BC, AB), country codes (CA, US, GB), and industry classification codes (NAICS) are all reference data. Mapping your data to standard reference values is a key data standardization technique.
Reference data is managed centrally and shared across systems to ensure consistency.