What I’ve done

The answer should be a firm yes, but first let me explain why it is often a definite no. Assessment scores are amongst the dirtiest data you can collect, with most methodologies being entirely qualitative Completing the assessment may give you a grade or a level, but other than printing it out and sticking it on the wall, what do you do with it? The HEDIIP programme originally envisaged publishing a data maturity assessment across the HE sector. My view was without a framework for that assessment to operate in, the cost of collection was not commensurate to the value we [...]

What is it? A business glossary is a cornerstone of any successful data governance framework. It underpins much of the effort to assess, track and improve the data asset. A properly formed glossary is the foundation for driving up the utility of data. It does this by generating trust in that data because we know what it means, and the quality at which it is held. It is therefore an institution wide, agreed business view of the most important data and where it is used. As such, it's a key tool for data stewards and owners to move data out of [...]

Alex has worked with over fifty UK universities, most of the sector agencies including University and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) and a host of practitioners in the Higher Education (HE) sector. Alex designed and developed the HEDIIP data capability framework, led the team to create the HESA in-year collection model and designed both a sector level and a HESA instance of a best practice data governance approach; and is currently working with universities to develop and implement their Data Governance frameworks, How long have you been working in [...]

Sourced from the ever wonderful memegenerator.com … probably extremely frustrated. And, frankly on some kind of list, double underlined for wanton neologism and crimes against innocent nouns. There's a nebulous link between that frustration, and the argument I'll be advancing about Excel. Specifically, its widespread use as a records management system is symptomatic not causal. Context is everything here; Excel is clearly brilliant at what it's designed to do. From 20 cells to budget a weekly shop to complex multi-page epics forecasting global sales. Unfortunately, it's even more successful at what it wasn't designed for - a repository for [...]

We need to talk about Colin. Data Governance is a damaged brand, apparently. The first word is mostly thought of as someone else’s problem while the second acts as an axiomatic proxy for tedious bureaucratic processes. If perception is indeed truth, the obvious solution is a vigorous re-brand to catch the zeitgeist of whatever is exercising those holding budgets and organisation priorities. This is exactly the same conversation we had – and are still having – around the value of Enterprise Architecture. Both suffer from definitional drift and a patchy history of visible delivery. The temptation [...]

I’ve been asked whether there’s a similar data governance service to those offered in finance and IT.  The concept of a fractional IT or Finance director is well established, but I don’t know of anything formal within the Data Governance space.  I  would consider a number of my professional colleagues and myself to already offer this service, but we’ve never called it that.  So it seemed sensible to try and rough out what that might be and how it might operate. I’m very interested to get feedback and questions on whether this makes sense and/or there would be a demand for [...]

Why should data be treated as an asset? Data is often promoted as an institutional asset. Such statements do not pass even cursory examination when comparing the rigour, accountability and governance of other assets such as finance, staff and estates. These assets are well understood by most in the institution and accountable to a responsible officer. Each has defined and persistent resources to maintain them, professional qualifications to underpin them and roles/responsibilities to ensure they are deployed in support of the organisational objectives – both operationally and strategically. The data ‘asset’ clearly has few of these attributes. Data Governance is [...]