Data governance is "a framework of processes aimed at defining and managing the quality, consistency, usability, security, preservation, and availability of information with the primary focus on cross-functional, cross-departmental, and/or cross-divisional concerns of information management.”
Master Data Management and Data Governance, Alex Berson and Larry Dubov
Guiding Principles
- Data is owned by the university – it does not belong to any specific unit.
- Data is a university asset that should be leveraged, managed, and protected, and its governance is a shared institutional responsibility.
- Data should be corrected at the source system when possible.
- Data quality enforcement and improvement is ultimately the responsibility of the system owners.
- Data stewards should determine approaches for remediation and ensure remediation task assignments are completed in a timeline consistent with university priorities.
Five Areas of Data Governance
PRIORITIZE
- Aligning data governance priorities with university strategic objectives
DEFINE & DOCUMENT
- Identify core data
- Standardize definitions/terms
- Document assumptions, source system, logic applied, etc.
CERTIFY
- Formal certification process
- Data Quality Scorecards
- Remediation
CHANGE CONTROL
- Change evaluation process
- Communication channel & notifications
SECURITY/ACCESS
- Data available to appropriate user at appropriate summarization level
- Obscuring data for small sample sizes
- Prevention of accidental or intentional data breach