Data Governance Matters

We’ve come a long way, baby.

Back in 2003, when I started the Data Governance Institute, a Google search on the term “data governance” yielded just 67 hits. I could count on one hand the number of people I could call to have a passionate discussion about this obscure subject. But look at the difference seven years can make. Now, it’s not a question of whether organizations need data governance.  Duh. Do they have data that flows across multiple systems and processes? Of course. Do they want rules to specify how the  data should be structured, shared, accessed, and used? Of course. Do they want controls to enforce those rules? Of course. Do they want clear rules of engagement that show how stakeholders make decisions about those rules and controls? Of course. Now, in 2010, it’s a given that organizations of a certain size want and need some form of formal data governance.

Now, the question is more about how much governance, and what form it should take. The focus is on making it actionable. The concern is about demonstrating value. The skill is in avoiding bureaucracies and bottlenecks. The vision is seemlessly embedding governance into projects, processes, and practices.

In 2010, I predict we will see new emphasis on folding governance into business processes and on highlighting the governance steps hidden within data management practices. We’ll see a new attitude toward accountability, as it becomes acknowledged that just most business roles have fiduciary, administrative, and security responsibilities, so do they contain stewardship and governance responsibilities. 

And we’ll see new opportunities to bring clarity and understanding about governance to our stakeholders. I think we should take advantage of these opportunities. We should create ”teachable moments” out of news stories and events in our work lives. I’ll start.

Hey everyone. You know how everyone’s talking about the way President Obama tore into twenty high-level officials about their inability to connect data points and avoid the attempted Christmas day airline bombing? You know how the press is using the word “silos” to describe the collections of unconnected data that held the clues about the bomber? Here’s our chance! Let’s remind everyone that good intelligence - good analysis of good information - takes more than a new policy. The data has to be shaped and structured and standardized in certain ways to be shareable. And that doesn’t happen on its own - it happens as a result of the rules and controls that are part of data governance. But its not enough for the data to be in a shareable format. The groups that manage that data have to agree on processes and practices for sharing it and resolving any issues about the data - another part of data governance. Here’s the bottom line, world. Good data governance alone won’t result in good intelligence. But you’re not gonna get good intelligence without good data governance. So here’s what Obama needs to tell the intelligence community: Keep on managing all those silos of data - they need it. But start applying better governance to the extended data environment. Lives depend on it.