> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.conduktor.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Kafka data products and governance

> Build governed Kafka data products with Conduktor: combine self-service ownership, schema enforcement, topic policies, and resource metadata.

## Overview

Conduktor allows you to effectively *create* data products by combining multiple features and functionality.

<Info>
  **From our blog:** [Stop calling your Kafka topics data products](https://conduktor.io/blog/kafka-data-products) Why a raw topic is shared mutable state, and what it takes to wrap one into a real data product.
</Info>

## Ownership and governance

[Self-service](/guide/conduktor-concepts/self-service) provides the foundation:

* Applications define ownership and business context
* Application Instances manage resources (topics, consumer groups, subjects) across environments
* Topic policies enforce configuration standards (retention, partitions)
* Resource labels add business metadata (data-criticality, descriptions, documentation URLs)

## Discovery

Topic Catalog and Application Catalog enable discovery:

* Search topics by name, labels or owning application
* View topic metadata and business context
* Find applications and their owned resources
* Request access to topics owned by other teams

## Quality and validation

[Data quality policies](/guide/conduktor-concepts/data-quality-policies) ensure data meets standards:

* CEL (Common Expression Language) expression rules for business logic validation
* JSON schema validation
* Built-in rules (for example, EnforceAvro for <Tooltip tip="A central repository for managing Kafka message schemas, ensuring compatibility.">schema registry</Tooltip> integration)
* Policy violations are tracked and can block or mark non-compliant data

## Access control and sharing

Control who can access your data products:

* Application Instance Permissions enable controlled sharing between internal teams
* [Partner Zones](/guide/conduktor-concepts/partner-zones) enable secure external data sharing with third parties
* <Tooltip tip="A service account is a non-human identity used by Kafka clients to authenticate and perform actions on resources.">Service accounts</Tooltip> and ACLs (Access Control Lists) enforce access at the Kafka level
* RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) in <Tooltip tip="A user interface for managing and monitoring Kafka infrastructure, supporting Kubernetes deployment.">Console</Tooltip> controls who can manage resources

## Related resources

* [Use Self-service](/guide/use-cases/self-service)
* [Share data externally](/guide/use-cases/third-party-data)
* [Enforce data quality](/guide/use-cases/enforce-data-quality)