Example Data Governance Charter

Example Data Governance Charter

Introduction

Data Governance encompasses the people, processes, and information technology required to create consistent and proper handling of data and understanding of information across the organisation, ignoring the boundaries created by organisational structures.

The Data Governance Charter sets out the broad expectations for implementing Data Governance. Data Governance is a key driver of an Enterprise approach to Information Management.

This Charter forms part of the overall Data Governance framework. Further strategic papers, supporting the implementation and ongoing management of Data Governance, will be developed as part of this Charter.

The Data Governance Charter provides:

• Vision encapsulating the aspirational view of what Data Governance will mean for the organisation.
• Mission Statement highlighting the main purpose of Data Governance
• Capabilities that are required to develop Data Governance and Information Management competencies across the organisation
• Responsibilities in implementing and managing Data Governance

Vision

The vision for Data Governance is:

• Information is treated as an enterprise-wide asset and is readily available to support evidence-based decision-making and informed action.

Mission Statement

The mission for Data Governance is:

• To undertake a leadership role in the creation, implementation and oversight of the enterprise-wide information and data management goals, standards, practices and processes aligned with the goals of the organisation
• To provide expert advice and support in relation to all aspects of Information and Data Governance including Data Ownership, Data Protection, Data Privacy, Information Usage, Classification and Retention
• To promote Data Governance at an executive and senior management level.

Capabilities

Organisational capabilities required to deliver the vision and mission statement for Data Goverance include:

Policies

• Appropriate protocols for Data Governance and Information Management are established in the form of best-practice policies, guidelines, procedures and standards.

Processes

• Data Governance and Information Management processes are explicitly defined and documented.

People

• All staff understand and have an awareness of Information Management language and principles.
• Relevant staff have the necessary Information and Data Management skills to fulfil their role and to maximise value of information to the organisation.
• Users are skilled in using available information in the context of doing their job, based on risk intelligence and informed action.

Information Asset Management

• An organisational approach that puts rigour and structure around deriving maximum value from the collections of related information.
• Identifying the organisation’s information assets is an entry point to understanding the business context(s) for that information, enabling drill-through to multiple business processes which are all supported by same information asset.

Metadata Management

• A co-ordinated approach for data and information definitions and also for business rules.

Master Data Management

• Uniform approach for co-ordinating and integrating the models, workflows and detailed data records for commonly held reference data.

Data Quality Management

• A co-ordinated approach for defining, measuring and improving the quality of data, ensuring its fitness-for-purpose and alignment with the business needs that it serves.

Information Management Systems and Infrastructure

• Implementation of necessary Information and Communication Technology infrastructure to support the end-to-end information lifecycle, Data Governance processes and business information needs.

Role and Responsibilities for Data Governance Function

In support of achieving the Data Governance Vision and Mission Statement, the Data Governance Function is tasked with the following duties:

• Coach the organisation’s management team in the value and implications of information.
• Drive initiatives to improve and assure the business value of information assets in terms of quality, efficiency, usability and interpretation
• Define, develop and support the operation of an Information Asset Management plan and associated Information Management processes, which align data and information with the key business processes that use each asset.
• Define, establish and operate a robust Information Management program that will deliver sustainable enterprise-wide Information Service capabilities across the organisation in collaboration with Business Domain Owners, enabling information to be exploited as a strategic asset for evidence-based decision making
• Develop organisational policy describing how information should be treated and how ownership responsibilities and accountabilities can be established and monitored.
• Direct, manage and facilitate the Information and Data Governance structures to optimise the exploitation of data and compliance to corporate and regulatory requirements in consultation with Senior Management, business unit representatives and other stakeholders.
• Identify data owners and stewards and implement ownership responsibilities as corporate policy. In time, policy is to cover all data and information that is shared or of significant value (both “structured” and “unstructured”, including requirements for document and records management).
• Together with IT, develop an Information Management Strategy and Roadmap that defines the management, policies and processes for the entire lifecycle of all of the organisation’s information assets, from capture at the source through to ultimate disposal. Include processes for data security, access, storage, classification and retention.
• Establish a Data Quality Framework of policies, processes, quality measures, information standards and requirements
• Establish and operate the Information Requirements Catalogue and Plan, and set priorities for associated data governance activities
• Establish and operate Information Management Benefits Matrix for tracking identification and realisation of business benefit opportunities arising from the provision and use of better quality information
• Identify and establish an effective cross faculty & divisional team to drive the organisation’s Data Governance practices
• Define, agree and communicate the roles and responsibilities of Business Data Owners, Data Quality Managers, and Data Steward. Define responsibilities at each level and identify appropriate Business Domain Owners, Business Data Owners, Data Quality Managers and Data Stewards in each area and at each level to incorporate into the Data Governance Team.
• Motivate and lead the Data Governance Team to build an effective Data Management Framework tailored to the needs of the organisation.
• Work with Data Managers, Data Stewards and technical staff to implement data cleansing plans and participate in the root cause analyses of data quality issues.
• Drive organisational and behavioural change as it relates to the use of data
• Provide stakeholders with guidance, standards and consultation to enable stakeholders to develop common and accepted data definitions for all shared data,
• Together with IT function, develop an Enterprise Information Model that incorporates common practices for the consistent definition of data terms, business rules and taxonomies, with a common method for storage and retrieval of common data definitions
• Define, establish and support the operation of metadata management, business glossary and information modelling practices which drive shared communication and understanding of information meaning and improved trust and integrity for information.
• Define, establish and support the operation of Master Data Management (MDM) methods, processes and practices, which assure integrity of the definitive core reference data sets used in common across the organisation.
• Craft Service Level Agreements with relevant staff members to underpin governance practices and expectations and ensure data are collected, stored, shared and reported accurately and according to the needs of the organisation.
• Provide a programme of training and support for staff members who interact with data and information (including entry and review, business usage, analysis and insight and technical stewardship).
• Develop robust Information and Data Management practices that facilitate compliance with regulations and are understood and accepted by stakeholders
• Recognise areas where existing practices require change or where new ones need to be developed to ensure Data Governance objectives are met
• Ensure that relevant stakeholders are kept fully informed of the changes introduced by the Data Governance framework and encourage them to champion the changes in their areas of influence
• Establish effective communication channels with Business Domain Owners, data owners and stewards to facilitate exchange of ideas that build continuous improvement in data governance and management practices across the organisation
• Seek out programme, process and technological improvements/innovations that will:
• foster improved data quality and reporting
• balance access to information with the need for security of data
• eliminate redundancies and create consistency
• improve the reliability, accuracy, and confidence in information
• Drive explicit understanding of the value to be derived from the organisation’s information holdings.
• Ensure the consistent implementation of best practice for Information Management and data quality through benchmarking, business process improvement, and customer feedback.