Made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Data Collaboration Is Hard Like Distributed Computing Is Hard
It is hard to mediate among concrete representations, among data structures with differing schema.
A CSV File That Knows Its Schema and Context
Have you ever given or gotten data as CSV? Are the meanings of the columns always clear?
A JSON File That Knows Its Schema and Context
If you provide JSON, either as files or as API responses, you might be one step away from ensuring that anyone encountering that JSON has a portal to what it means.
A Universal Relation for Data -- One Table and One Table Only
You have a variety of entities, each with a variety of attributes, and each involved in a variety of relationships.