Data Governance Goals and Principles

About Data Governance
Goals and Principles for Data Governance

For an expanded page on setting goals and principles see:
Guidance by Gwen - Setting Goals and Principles for Data Governance
See also: Guidance by Gwen - Establishing Focus

Typical universal goals of a Data Governance Program:

Enable better decision-making
Reduce operational friction
Protect the needs of data stakeholders
Train management and staff to adopt common approaches to data issues
Build standard, repeatable processes
Reduce costs and increase effectiveness through coordination of efforts
Ensure transparency of processes

You proably have other goals, depending on the focus of your program.

Universal Data Governance Principles:

Here are Data Governance Guiding Principles from the Data Governance Institute.

Integrity
Data Governance participants will practice integrity with their dealings with each other; they will be truthful and forthcoming when discussing drivers, constraints, options, and impacts for data-related decisions.
Transparency
Data Governance and Stewardship processes will exhibit transparency; it should be clear to all participants and auditors how and when data-related decisions and controls were introduced into the processes.
Auditability
Data-related decisions, processes, and controls subject to Data Governace will be auditable; they will be accompanied by documentation to support compliance-based and operational auditing requirements.
Accountability
Data Governance will define accountabilities for cross-functional data-related decisions, processes, and controls.
Stewardship
Data Governance will define accountabilities for stewardship activities that are the responsibilities of individual contributors, as well as accountabilities for groups of Data Stewards.
Checks-and-Balances
Data Governance will define accountabilities in a manner that introduces checks-and-balances between business and technology teams as well as between those who create/collect information, those who manage it, those who use it, and those who introduce standards and compliance requirements.
Standardization
Data Governance will introduce and support standardization of enterprise data.
Change Management
Data Governance will support proactive and reactive Change Management activities for reference data values and the structure/use of master data and metadata.

These principles are imbued in all successful Data Governance and Stewardship programs, processes, and projects. They are the principles that help stakeholders come together to resolve the types of data-related conflicts that are inherent in every organization.

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