Data Governance: an Essential Framework for Managing Data

In today’s data-driven world, organisations are generating and collecting vast amounts of data on a daily basis. This data is a critical asset that can help organisations make informed decisions, drive innovation, and improve customer experience. With the growing amount of data being generated, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to ensure that data is accurate, secure, and accessible when needed. This is where Data Governance comes into play: a framework that helps organisations manage data as a strategic asset, ensuring that it is secure, compliant, and trustworthy. In this blog, we will take a look at what Data Governance is, why it matters, and how to implement it in your organisation.

What is Data Governance?

Basically, Data Governance is a set of processes that organisations put in place to manage data as a strategic asset. The discipline holds a range of activities, policies, and procedures aimed at ensuring that data is collected, stored, used, and disposed of in a controlled and secure manner. Accordingly, Data Governance helps organisations to…

• Ensure Data Quality: Data Governance includes processes and procedures to ensure that data is accurate, complete, and up to date. This helps organisations to make informed decisions based on reliable data.
• Comply with Data Privacy regulations: Data Governance helps organisations to comply with Data Privacy regulations such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). These regulations require organisations to be transparent about how they collect, store, and use personal data, and to provide individuals with the right to control their data (i.e., the right to erasure). Violating the GDPR can result in significant fines, up to 4% of an organisation’s global annual revenue or €20 million (whichever is greater). Additionally, the organisation may face reputation damage due to negative publicity, and loss of consumer trust. Violating the CCPA can result in fines of up to $7,500 per violation and class action lawsuits brought by impacted consumers.
• Protect Data Security: Data Governance helps organisations to ensure that data is secure and protected from unauthorised access, theft, or loss. This includes implementing security measures such as encryption and access controls.
• Control Data Access & use: Data Governance helps organisations to control who can access and use data, ensuring that it is accessible to those who need it while also protecting sensitive (i.e., personal) information.

Why Does Data Governance Matter?

Data Governance is becoming increasingly important for organisations as they aim to make optimal use of their data assets. Here are some of the key benefits of Data Governance:

• Improved Data Quality: Data Governance helps organisations to ensure that their data is accurate, complete, and up to date, allowing them to make informed decisions based on reliable information.
• Increased efficiency: Data Governance helps organisations to streamline their Data Management processes, reducing duplications, and improving efficiency.
• Better compliance: Data Governance helps organisations to comply with data privacy regulations, reducing the risk of fines and protecting the privacy of their customers.
• Enhanced Data Security: Data Governance helps organisations to protect their data from cyberattacks and other security threats, ensuring that it remains secure and protected.
• Better Data Management: Data Governance helps organisations to effectively manage their data, ensuring that it is stored, used, and disposed of in a controlled and secure manner.

How to Implement Data Governance in Your Organisation?

Implementing Data Governance in your organisation requires a holistic approach that takes various Data Governance elements into account, as well as the interdependencies between them. Here are some steps to help you get started:

1. Define your Data Governance objectives: determine what you hope to achieve with Data Governance in your organisation, whether it is improved Data Quality, compliance with Data Privacy regulations, or better Data Management. This will guide your Data Governance strategy and help ensure that it is aligned with your organisation’s goals.
2. Assess current Data Management practices: review your current Data Management practices and identify any areas for improvement. This will provide insight into where your organisation needs to focus its Data Governance efforts on.
3. Form a Data Governance committee: establish a cross-functional committee to oversee and manage Data Governance efforts. This committee should be made up of representatives from different departments, such as IT, legal, and business units.
4. Develop Data Management policies and procedures: create comprehensive Data Management policies and procedures that address all aspects of Data Governance, including data collection, storage, use, and disposal, as well as security, privacy, and compliance.
5. Implement and monitor: implement the Data Governance framework, including the policies and procedures, and monitor its effectiveness. Continuously review and adjust as needed to ensure that the framework remains aligned with your organisation’s goals and evolving Data Management needs.

In conclusion, Data Governance is a critical framework for managing data as a strategic asset. It helps organisations to ensure Data Quality, comply with Data Privacy regulations, protect Data Security, and control Data Access and use. By following the steps outlined in this blog, organisations can implement Data Governance in a way that meets their specific needs and helps them to make the most of their Data Assets.