CI-301h · Module 2

Freshness & Currency Standards

3 min read

Every intelligence product has a freshness requirement — the maximum age of data that can appear in the product. A weekly digest should contain no data older than 14 days. A monthly assessment should contain no data older than 45 days. A quarterly review may reference data up to 90 days old for trend analysis. Freshness standards prevent stale data from appearing in products that consumers expect to be current. The standard is enforced during the review stage — data points that exceed the freshness threshold are either updated or removed.

Do This

  • Define freshness thresholds per product type — weekly products need fresher data than quarterly ones
  • Tag every data point with its collection date — freshness is measurable only when dates are tracked
  • Enforce freshness during review — reject data points that exceed the threshold

Avoid This

  • Recycle old data points because they are convenient — stale data in a current product is misleading
  • Apply a single freshness standard across all products — the appropriate threshold varies by product cadence
  • Trust that data is current without checking — stale data enters products silently unless freshness is enforced