DIGITALIZATION OF EDUCATION: DATA STRUCTURING AND INTEROPERABILITY CHALLENGES

Abstract

This study is dedicated to a critical analysis and justification of architectural solutions for overcoming the problems of structuring and semantic interoperability of educational data in the context of the digitalization of Ukraine’s education system. The relevance of the topic is determined by the profound fragmentation of the information landscape, caused by the heterogeneity of platforms used (Educational Management Information Systems (EMIS), LMS, e-journals), which leads to the formation of persistent fragmented data repositories, so-called "information silos." The purpose of the work is a comprehensive analysis of the sources of semantic data inconsistencies and the development of scientific and methodological principles for building an integrated educational system. The research establishes that the main obstacle is not technical, but rather the semantic isolation of data, which arises from the lack of a unified National Educational Ontology and standardized metadata vocabularies. This results in the violation of key Data Quality Management (DQM) metrics, specifically accuracy, consistency, and timeliness, which minimizes the analytical value of educational information and prevents the effective implementation of Data-Driven Management. The concept of a Unified National Data Exchange Portal is proposed as a universal architectural intermediary. Utilizing this Hub allows for automatic schema mapping and guarantees cascading data updates, significantly reducing the operational costs associated with data processing and transformation. This transforms data into an economically valuable strategic asset, necessary for the correct formation of objective educational indicators. Furthermore, the critical role of institutional support is emphasized: the introduction of Persistent Identifiers (PID) and the creation of a national regulation for education data governance, which legally establishes DQM procedures and ensures the protection of personal data in the integrated environment. The results of the work have practical significance for educational digitalization policy formation and provide a scientific and methodological foundation for developing technical specifications for integration platforms.