Technology Radar
The Open Data Contract Standard (ODCS) defines data contracts declaratively in YAML, covering a data product's schema, quality expectations and service levels. It’s developed by the Linux Foundation's Bitol project, which graduated in July 2026. Although several competing standards and homegrown formats exist, ODCS has emerged as a leading standard, with the maintainers of Data Contract CLI deprecating DCS in favor of ODCS.
Several of our clients building data meshes and data products are moving to ODCS, often alongside the Open Data Product Standard (ODPS). Interest in data contracts is also growing, partly because their declarative format makes them easier for both humans and AI agents to interpret, review and validate. We’re placing ODCS in Adopt as a sensible default for teams building data products.
