---
sourceDocument: Australia Governance, Risk, and Compliance
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/governance-risk-compliance

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia Governance, Risk, and Compliance

ft:clusterId :

    - grc

bundleId :

    - grc

workflow :

    - Technology


---

# Regulatory taxonomy

# Regulatory taxonomy {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated March 12, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 1 minute to read  
Regulatory taxonomy simplifies identifying necessary changes in a customer's regulatory library by enabling algorithms to match incoming regulatory intelligence to existing content using taxonomy terms.

Regulatory intelligence providers deliver regulatory content in different ways. To match incoming content to the regulatory library in Regulatory Change Management, the application uses taxonomy terms. The providers differ in:

* Delivery mode: file-based feeds vs. stream-based feeds.
* Data format: XML, JSON, CSV, and so on.
* Taxonomy information: contextual metadata added to regulatory intelligence, such as geography, sector, or regulatory body.

{#regulatory-taxonomy-overview__ol_s4m_5nf_ndc}  
Note:  
To integrate with any regulatory intelligence provider, a connector is required to ingest the provider's data. You can use connectors from the ServiceNow Store or build your own.

Some examples of taxonomy are as follows.

* Geography: Identifies applicable regions, for example, North America, Paris, or New Delhi.
* Sector: Defines relevant industries, for example, banking, IT, or logistics.
* Regulatory Body: Lists regulatory organizations, for example, NIST, European Central Bank.

{#regulatory-taxonomy-overview__ul_t4m_5nf_ndc}  
Some vendors include additional categories like regulatory themes or topics.  
Note:  
Access to external content requires an end-user license to authorize the credentials granted by technology partners.

## Delivery modes: file-based and stream-based feeds {#regulatory-taxonomy-overview__section_delivery_modes}

File-based feeds
:   The provider delivers regulatory content in files at set intervals, and the content is imported in batches.

Stream-based feeds
:   The provider sends regulatory content continuously as changes occur, and the content is ingested as it arrives.

## Process flow {#regulatory-taxonomy-overview__section_process_flow}

The following steps describe how regulatory intelligence becomes a regulatory alert:

1. A provider delivers regulatory content through a file-based or stream-based feed.
2. A connector ingests the content.
3. Taxonomy terms in the content are mapped to your internal taxonomy.
4. The mapped content appears as a regulatory alert.

{#regulatory-taxonomy-overview__ol_process_flow} Figure 1. Regulatory intelligence lifecycle: Creation of alerts   

## Benefits of mapping taxonomy {#regulatory-taxonomy-overview__section_l3c_d4f_ndc}

Users of Regulatory Change Management often use their own terms for business reasons, creating mismatches between external and internal taxonomies. For example, a vendor may use the term North America while users refer to it as USA and
Canada. Similarly, a vendor may use Singapore while users refer to it as Southeast Asia. To align these differences, administrators must manually map external taxonomy terms to their internal taxonomy. This process is known as taxonomy
mapping. Regulatory Change Management integrates taxonomy-mapping capabilities to support this alignment.
**Related tasks**   

* [Map the taxonomy](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/DwFto2jVC69yKZooePXq7g "Create an internal taxonomy when you are setting up the Regulatory Change Management application. Map the external taxonomy to the internal taxonomy so that the Regulatory Change Management application refers to only one taxonomy.")
* [Manage the taxonomy](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Uuw0v4Ag4gaQ1d3i~Iw2xw "Manage the taxonomy when you are setting up the Regulatory Change Management application in the Compliance Workspace. Create an internal taxonomy and map the internal taxonomy to the external taxonomy so that the Regulatory Change Management application refers to only one taxonomy.")