What is Data Governance?

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Data governance is the framework that establishes policies and procedures for an organization to manage data to ensure proper security, access, and usage.  

Why Data Governance? 5 Key Reasons: 

1. It helps to eliminate data silos across different departments to improve effectiveness and transparency throughout the data lifecycle. 
2. A data governance program sets the standards for data accuracy, reliability, integrity, and security. 
3. Data governance helps a company protect intellectual property and ensure compliance with applicable legal, regulatory, and industry requirements. 
4. Data governance is an ongoing process and not a one-time project.  It includes documented policies and procedures that are integrated into the training of employees who handle data. 
5. A data governance program should include a set of metrics to periodically check the effectiveness of the governance framework for accuracy, integrity, access, and security of the data assets.   
   

Who is Involved in Data Governance?

Data governance establishes roles and responsibilities to ensure data is handled properly while being collected, stored, manipulated, and accessed.  Roles typically included in a data governance program include a Chief Data Officer (CDO), data governance committee, data governance manager and team, data owners, and data stewards.  

• The Chief Data Officer (CDO) has authority over the data governance process and setting the data strategy and policies for the company.  
• The data governance committee is comprised of individuals from across different areas of the company or data domains, and support establishing and maintaining the policies and procedures.  The committee often includes data owners and data stewards.  

• The data governance manager and team set the policies and procedures for the management of data and oversee the tools used in the data governance process.  
• Data owners are individuals that have authority over a specific domain or type of data to authorize change and management of the data.  
• Data stewards oversee the quality of the data, ensuring the accuracy and integrity for data consumers.  

Data governance is an essential component of the long-term success of a successful data strategy. When properly implemented in tandem, Data Strategy and Governance can be the key to achieving key organizational objectives.