What I've done Archives - Leigh Partnership

Data Myths and what to do about them

By Alex Leigh|2021-04-09T13:08:17+01:00April 9th, 2021|What I've done|

A couple of weeks ago Nicola Askham and I posed a question on LinkedIn: "What are the most common Data Myths you hear?'. 6000+ views and a hundred odd comments later suggests this is something worth investigating further. While it felt a bit like group therapy, there is a serious side to myths around data. Firstly they exist- that's a problem because they often confuse or obfuscate the narrative that data really is an organisational wide asset, and must be managed as such. Secondly, they endure- so even the most compelling or nuanced arguments are blocked by a unshiftable ideology around [...]

Data Strategy and Governance – your questions answered

By Alex Leigh|2021-01-07T16:09:33+00:00January 7th, 2021|What I've done|

In the last of our 2020 webinars, Nicola and I collected a list of the questions we are asked the most, and made an attempt to answer then all. The video below has those and some questions from attendees on the day. You'll need to click into the blog entry to see the video panel. Wordpress doesn't show it on the preview. Who knows why! And because it was very close to Christmas, you'll see both of us have appropriate themed jumpers :) https://youtu.be/1DB_57sVDCM This year, we'll be running free "Masterclass' sessions going deeper into specific data strategy and [...]

Putting the Data Strategy to work

By Alex Leigh|2020-10-19T10:12:04+01:00October 19th, 2020|What I've done|

So much work on Data Strategies is wasted when they fail to launch. There are many reasons for this - and we'll get back to some of those in a later post - but the one I see the most often is the lack of any framework to 'land' the strategy on. In this masterclass, Nicola and I set out a pragmatic model for implementing Data Governance in support of a strategy. We discuss what needs to go into a framework, why there is no single framework for every organisation and the importance of leading with culture. We finish with an [...]

Why do I need a data strategy?

By Alex Leigh|2020-09-18T14:41:18+01:00September 18th, 2020|What I've done|

Nicola Askham and I are running a series of webinars charting the path to a sustainable data culture. I really enjoy working with Nicola as we share the same passion for pragmatic and aligned data governance, while bringing different skills and experiences to that goal. In this second webinar, we discuss what a data strategy is and why you might need one. It's 30 minutes long including some excellent Q&A at the end. I hope to be launching a public Data Strategy course that builds on much of this content later this year. More details coming very soon. In the meantime, [...]

Data Sharing Agreements – what, why and how.

By Alex Leigh|2020-08-21T14:53:24+01:00August 21st, 2020|What I've done|

What are data sharing agreements and where do they fit in a Data Governance framework? On first analysis, it’s not obvious that they do! However, they are relevant when we consider the scope of that framework. The production, manipulation and use of data outside of our organisations are often forgotten when considering data quality. We focus on internal ingress points which are mostly controlled through our own stewards and producers. This can be a dangerous assumption as external data is far more common than we might think. It fits into two distinct areas: Additional data sets. These are often paid-for datasets which augment [...]

Webinar: Data is your GPS

By Alex Leigh|2020-07-31T10:16:10+01:00July 31st, 2020|What I've done|

Nicola Askham and I recorded this pre-lockdown. We only finally found time to publish it now! It is the first of five webinars taking you from the Business Case for Data Governance, through the development and operationalisation of a data strategy, and finishing on how to make Data as an asset sustainable. Data as your GPS https://datapromedia.wistia.com/medias/6kt27nnc6p The next one 'How to create a pragmatic data strategy' will be a slightly different format, but hopefully just as informative. Due to be released end August 2020.

Data Governance Network – Maturity assessment

By Alex Leigh|2020-07-24T10:54:26+01:00July 24th, 2020|What I've done|

Who are the DGN and why are we running an assessment. The Data Governance Network (DGN) is made up of practitioners from over 30 UK universities. It is primarily a support network to develop and share good practice in relation to data management and governance for the HE sector. It has become clear that in order to provide this support we need to understand where the sector currently is in terms of its capabilities around the management and governance of data. By understanding this we can target the development of tools, techniques and associated guidance to increase our mutual data capability [...]

Watch: Data-Driven Decision Making for Unprecedented Times

By Alex Leigh|2020-07-22T11:33:37+01:00July 22nd, 2020|What I've done|

This is the recording of the webinar and the lively Q&A hosted July 15,2020. Thanks to my friends at Waterstons for co-creating and delivering the content. They also did all the hosting, so all I did was virtually turn up and - initially - forget to unmute my Mic :) We've had great feedback from the attendees so I hope you enjoy our views on what's changed and how to take advantage of it.

Virtual Learnings

By Alex Leigh|2020-07-17T12:10:03+01:00July 17th, 2020|What I've done|

There are many ways to develop a Data Strategy. I don't pretend to have 'the best way', but I do know - from long experience - what works and what doesn't. This was somewhat thrown into turmoil when COVID-19 enforced virtual working. Since then I'm close to completing my second virtual strategy delivery, and will soon be starting a third. I was asked by my latest client to summarise the differences/challenges/opportunities of creating Data Strategies through virtual delivery. I thought it would be useful to share what I feel are the key points.: Engagement: virtual breakouts, voting, time for discussions, etc. [...]

Data Driven decisions in a changing world – Webinar 16th July.

By Alex Leigh|2020-07-08T09:35:14+01:00July 8th, 2020|What I've done|

I'm co-hosting a one hour webinar with my friends and colleagues from Waterstons It's based on feedback from our clients on gaining clarity on what to measure, and how to make best use of the outputs of those measurements. Sign up here: https://www.waterstons.com/events/data-driven-decision-making-in-unprecedented-times A litte more context below. Universities are an eclectic mix of cutting-edge research, world changing-innovation and centuries old tradition. Ultra-modern, glass-plated campuses can mask communities that are slow to embrace change. “We’ve always done it like that” and “we tried that in the last transformation programme and it didn’t work” echoes down corridors while world class scientists recreate [...]

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