Data Governance | by Lojan Kamalathasan
“Data Governance” may not sound like the most interesting topic ever, but it is actually pretty important. Nowadays all industries are relying heavily on data to drive their operations and decision-making. The explosion in the amount of data and the increasing use of cloud computing and other advanced technologies are making it challenging for organisations to manage their data effectively, this means the need for good data governance strategies is needed now more than ever.
What do gardening and Data Governance have in common? We’re in Summer. A fitting way to explain Data Governance is to think of it like taking care of a garden. As a garden needs to be tended to and maintained to ensure it grows healthy and strong, data governance involves managing data to ensure it is healthy and useful for the organisation.
Just as a gardener carefully selects which plants to grow, how much water and sunlight they need, and when to harvest them, data governance involves creating policies and procedures that dictate how data is collected, stored, processed, and shared.
Just as a gardener needs to protect their garden from pests and diseases, data governance involves protecting data from unauthorised access, theft, and misuse. This might involve implementing access controls and permissions, using encryption and other security measures to protect data from cyber threats, and defining data quality standards to ensure that data is accurate and complete.
Just as a gardener needs to regularly monitor and maintain their garden to keep it healthy, data governance involves regularly reviewing and updating policies and procedures to ensure they remain relevant and effective.
Right now, you may be feeling guilty about how much you’ve neglected your garden or you may have a much better understanding of what data governance is. If it’s not the latter then here’s a summary, data governance is where you carefully manage and maintain the data, protect it from threats, and regularly review and update it to ensure it remains healthy and useful for the organisation.
One of the best things about data governance is that it can be implemented in different ways depending on the needs of the organisation. Whether you're a big company with lots of departments or a small business with just a handful of employees, there are data governance strategies that will work for you.
5 strategies to ensure good Data Governance
- Create a Data Governance Framework: A data governance framework is a set of policies, procedures, and guidelines that describe how data is managed within the organisation. It should include a clear definition of roles and responsibilities, data ownership, and data lifecycle management. This framework should not be developed by only those that use data but collaboratively with input from stakeholders across the whole organisation.
- Set up Data Quality Standards: Setting up Data quality standards will ensure that all data meets a level of quality which can be deemed useful and reliable. Establishing data quality standards is imperative in certifying that data is accurate, complete, consistent, unique, and timely. These standards will be set alongside the organisation's goals and objectives and need to be monitored frequently to ensure they are met and up to date.
- Put into effect Data Security and Privacy Measures: By having effective data security and privacy measures you safeguard your data from unauthorised access, use or disclosure. There are a variety of ways to implement security and privacy measures, these range from using encryption, access control, monitoring, and auditing tools. The level of security implemented will be directly proportional to the level of risk associated with the data.
- Promote a Data-Driven Culture: A data-driven culture should be one where data is not avoided but seen as an asset that can be utilised to drive decision-making and improvement. To foster a data-driven culture, organisations should provide training and education to employees on how to use data effectively and encourage data literacy across the organisation.
- Regularly Monitor and Evaluate Data Governance Processes: Monitoring and evaluating data governance processes is critical for ensuring that they are effective and are meeting the organisation's goals and objectives. Regularly reviewing data governance policies and procedures can help identify areas for improvement and ensure that the organisation is staying up to date with best practices and evolving regulatory requirements.
By implementing these tactics, you can make sure that data is properly managed, secured, and used in a manner that is consistent with your company’s goals and regulations. So, get out there, start questioning and challenge what strategies your company uses for Data Governance. It’s never too late because sooner or later we all have to tend to our garden.
Lojan Kamalathasan is a Data Fellowship coach at Multiverse.