Data-Driven Compliance: Data Governance Culture

Compliance refers to aligning processes and operations with regulatory requirements. These operations, usually oriented by strategy, are driven by the prevailing culture. In one way or another, organizations should invest in culture to meet compliance targets. A question arises about the culture to adopt or encourage within the organization. One answer would be data culture, where evidence and data are prioritized over other factors. However, with regulations evolving rapidly, organizations should move beyond data culture and focus on developing a Data Governance Culture. This cultural shift frames how people adhere to data governance processes. In 2021, Wavestone revealed that only 24% of enterprises have established a data culture [1], let alone a data governance culture, leaving many businesses exposed to various risks. This article delves into the vital points of Data Governance Culture for ensuring data-driven compliance.

Data Literacy

According to Mario Kazakoff, a senior lecturer at MIT Sloan School, “Data literacy has always been a requirement in successful organizations. It’s just that data illiteracy is more obvious now — or data illiteracy just causes more damage now than it used to” [2]. This statement underlines the colossal impact of data literacy on achieving organizational objectives. In practical terms, data literacy integrates reading data (understanding data and its representations), working with data (consuming, generating, and managing data), analyzing data, and arguing with data (conveying information with the support of data) [3].

Besides being an integral part of the company vision, data literacy necessitates Leadership engagement. With the main stakeholders involved, Organizations can assess their data literacy through a baseline of data-related knowledge and skills. Afterward, they can design tailored training plans to address the specific needs of each role, as each requires a certain level of data literacy. Therefore, companies can empower collaborators to think critically and make informed decisions using data.?

Data Ownership

The US Department of Health and Human Services defines data ownership as the possession of and responsibility for information. [4] This concept of data ownership precisely outlines the responsibilities of accessing and managing data assets. Contrary to the common opinion, data assets “belong” to the enterprise but should be “owned” by entities tasked with determining and overseeing access and management, ensuring a structured and reliable approach. This distinction underscores that, despite being organizational assets, data assets require assigned custodians to handle their utilization and safeguard their integrity. Henceforth, a data governance culture founded on data ownership will clarify the authority managing data access and address challenges for data-related decision-making. Thus, processes and data access can be more effectively controlled and regulated.

Data Democratization

In a 2020 survey, MicroStrategy revealed a striking contrast: only 3% of employees tasked with utilizing data for business decisions could access and apply it within seconds, while a staggering 60% required hours or even days. [5] This considerable time investment can significantly repress innovation when compounded over long periods, highlighting the criticality of data democratization. Democratizing data dismantles data silos and empowers swift and regulated data access. Likewise, this cultural axis encompasses both technical and organizational aspects. Organizations should examine the current data architecture to pinpoint bottlenecks and areas for better tools and increased access. Then, they must transition to the data architecture mostly aligned with their business prerequisites [6]. Next, they should institute an adaptive data governance model founded on data ownership and role-based access control. Ultimately, they should integrate user-friendly tools for data consumption and promote the self-service model into their data assets.?

Thriving for compliance, organizations are giving top priority to data platform enhancements and data governance strategy. By doing so, they inadvertently overlook their most invaluable assets: Humans. These individuals serve as the very backbone of their enterprises, playing a direct role in ensuring compliance. So, instead of focusing solely on technical aspects, organizations should foster a robust data governance culture that keeps stakeholders aligned with regulations. This data governance culture should start by elevating the data literacy of these stakeholders, pushing forward data ownership, and ultimately democratizing data. Data governance culture sits in the middle of the data-driven compliance picture, along with data architecture and?data governance strategy, which we will tackle as our next topic.

References

[1]? “Big Data and AI Executive Survey 2021” —NewVantage Partners, a Wavestone company

[2]?“How to build data literacy in your company” —MIT Sloan

[3]?“Approaches to Building Big Data Literacy”—Catherine D'Ignazio & Rahul Bhargava|MIT

[4]?“Data Ownership” —US Department of Health and Human Services

[5]?“2020 Global State of Enterprise Analytics” —MicroStrategy

[6]?“Data-Driven Compliance: Data Architecture” —Oussama Kiassi

Further readings

“Data for Good Exchange 2015” —Bloomberg

“Data-Driven Compliance: Data Architecture” —Oussama Kiassi

“Data Management at Scale, 2nd Edition” —O’Reilly

“The Enterprise Data Catalog” —O’Reilly

“Data Governance: The Definitive Guide” —O’Reilly