What is Data Governance and Why is it Critical for your Organization?

BDO in the Boardroom

Key Takeaways:

• The NEED: Data governance programs exist to manage change in data assets overtime.
• The WHAT: Data is an intangible asset that is constantly evolving and has a host of characteristics that make it difficult to manage compared to traditional assets.
• THE WAKE-UP CALL: When surveyed, 95% of respondents felt data governance programs were unsuccessful.
• The PITFALLS: Poor data governance stems from: poor data quality, lack of enforcement of policies and procedures; and data security and privacy practice that don’t evolve with hacker sophistication.
• The HOW:

- Board directors should be asking corporate management the following:

- Does the company have a data governance program?

- Is the data governance program working? How do you know?

- What assistance does the data governance program need from the board?

• Directors should encourage management to decompose data governance problems into smaller initiatives and ask for stratification of data governance decision-making so that people at the right level are making decisions about data.

Resources:

• Data Privacy and Governance Checklist for the Board