These two options are the best ways to meet the requirement of loading data from an external stage and making it accessible by dashboards with the least amount of coding.
Snowpipe with auto-ingest is a feature that enables continuous and automated data loading from an external stage into a Snowflake table. Snowpipe uses event notifications from the cloud storage service to detect new or modified files in the stage and triggers a COPY INTO command to load the data into the table. Snowpipe is efficient, scalable, and serverless, meaning it does not require any infrastructure or maintenance from the user. Snowpipe also supports loading data from files of any size, as long as they are in a supported format1.
A materialized view on an external table is a feature that enables creating a pre-computed result set from an external table and storing it in Snowflake. A materialized view can improve the performance and efficiency of querying data from an external table, especially for complex queries or dashboards. A materialized view can also support aggregations, joins, and filters on the external table data. A materialized view on an external table is automatically refreshed when the underlying data in the external stage changes, as long as the AUTO_REFRESH parameter is set to true2.
References:
Snowpipe Overview | Snowflake Documentation
Materialized Views on External Tables | Snowflake Documentation

A securable object is an entity to which access can be granted in Snowflake. Securable objects include databases, schemas, tables, views, stages, pipes, functions, procedures, sequences, tasks, streams, roles, warehouses, and shares1.
The Snowflake object hierarchy is a logical structure that organizes the securable objects in a nested manner. The top-most container is the account, which contains all the databases, roles, and warehouses for the customer organization. Each database contains schemas, which in turn contain tables, views, stages, pipes, functions, procedures, sequences, tasks, and streams. Each role can be granted privileges on other roles or securable objects. Each warehouse can be used to execute queries on securable objects2.
Based on the Snowflake object hierarchy, the securable objects that belong directly to a Snowflake account are databases, roles, and warehouses. These objects are created and managed at the account level, and do not depend on any other securable object. The other options are not correct because:
Schemas belong to databases, not to accounts. A schema must be created within an existing database3.
Tables belong to schemas, not to accounts. A table must be created within an existing schema4.
Stages belong to schemas or tables, not to accounts. A stage must be created within an existing schema or table.
References:
1: Overview of Access Control | Snowflake Documentation
2: Securable Objects | Snowflake Documentation
3: CREATE SCHEMA | Snowflake Documentation
4: CREATE TABLE | Snowflake Documentation
[5]: CREATE STAGE | Snowflake Documentation

According to the Snowflake documentation, to create a database from an inbound share, the user's role must have the following privileges:
* The CREATE DATABASE privilege on the current account. This privilege allows the user to create a new database in the account1.
* The IMPORT DATABASE privilege on the share. This privilege allows the user to import a database from the share into the account2. The other privileges listed are not relevant for this requirement. The IMPORT SHARE privilege is used to import a share into the account, not a database3. The IMPORT PRIVILEGES privilege is used to import the privileges granted on the shared objects, not the objects
* themselves2. The CREATE SHARE privilege is used to create a share to provide data to other accounts, not to consume data from other accounts4.
References:
* CREATE DATABASE | Snowflake Documentation
* Importing Data from a Share | Snowflake Documentation
* Importing a Share | Snowflake Documentation
* CREATE SHARE | Snowflake Documentation

Data sharing is a feature that allows Snowflake accounts to share data with each other without the need for data movement or copying1. Data sharing is enabled by creating shares, which are collections of database objects (tables, views, secure views, and secure UDFs) that can be accessed by other accounts, called consumers2.
By default, Snowflake does not allow sharing data from a Business Critical edition account to a non-Business Critical edition account. This is because Business Critical edition offers higher levels of data protection and encryption than other editions, and sharing data with lower editions may compromise the security and compliance of the data3.
However, Snowflake provides the OVERRIDE SHARE RESTRICTIONS global privilege, which allows a user to override the default restriction and share data from a Business Critical edition account to a non-Business Critical edition account. This privilege is granted to the ACCOUNTADMIN role by default, and can be granted to other roles as well4.
To enable data sharing from a Business Critical edition account to an Enterprise edition account, the following steps are required34:
A user in the provider account with the OVERRIDE SHARE RESTRICTIONS privilege must create or alter a share and add the Enterprise edition account as a consumer. The user must also set the share_restrictions parameter to False when adding the consumer. This parameter indicates whether the share is restricted to Business Critical edition accounts only. Setting it to False allows the share to be imported by lower edition accounts.
A user in the consumer account with the IMPORT SHARE privilege must import the share and grant access to the share objects to other roles in the account. The user must also set the share_restrictions parameter to False when importing the share. This parameter indicates whether the consumer account accepts shares from Business Critical edition accounts only. Setting it to False allows the consumer account to import shares from lower edition accounts.
References:
1: Introduction to Secure Data Sharing | Snowflake Documentation
2: Creating Secure Data Shares | Snowflake Documentation
3: Enable Data Share:Business Critical Account to Lower Edition | Medium
4: Enabling sharing from a Business critical account to a non-business ... | Snowflake Documentation

In Snowflake, data sharing capabilities allow a Business Critical edition account to share data with an Enterprise edition consumer account. The ability to share data is contingent upon the role permissions within the provider account. If a user has the necessary role authority (like ACCOUNTADMIN or a role with similar privileges to create or manage shares), they can add an Enterprise edition account as a consumer. This feature enables flexibility in data sharing across different Snowflake account editions, facilitating broader data collaboration and accessibility.References: Snowflake's data sharing documentation and the specifics of edition-based capabilities discussed in SnowPro Advanced: Architect certification materials.