Understanding data governance

Data governance, in an enterprise context, is a data management concept that aims to ensure a high level of data quality throughout the complete life cycle of the data.

The data governance concept can be extended to several focus areas. Enterprises typically focus on topics such as data usability, availability, security, and integrity. This includes any required processes that need to be followed during the different stages of the data life cycle, such as data stewardship, which ensures that the quality of the data is always up to a high standard, and other activities that ensure the data is accessible and available for all consuming applications and entities.

Data governance aims to do the following:

• Increase consistency and confidence in data-driven decisions. This, in turn, enables better decision-making capabilities across the enterprise.
• Break down data silos.
• Ensure that the right data is used for the right purposes. This is...