VIDEO | US Immigrations & Customs Enforcement Asst. Director: Data Governance Gives Better Situational Awareness

(US and Canada) Kenneth Clarke, Assistant Director at U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), speaks with John Filipek, Senior Manager of Public Sector Inside Federal Sales at SHI, in a video interview about the importance and dimensions of data quality and the benefits of data governance.

Sharing his approach to ensuring data cleanliness, Clarke says that data quality is an outcome of good data governance. He mentions various aspects of data quality as prescribed by DAMA International. They are:

• Uniqueness — Making sure that nothing is recorded more than once.
• Accuracy — Describing the thing, object, or event.
• Consistency — Avoiding variations in describing the same object or event.
• Completeness —Trying to get to 100% depiction of the object or event.
• Timeliness — Representing the event or the object in real-time.
• Validity — Conforming to some level of syntax, formats, type, and range of data.

When asked how often his team gets together to discuss the framework, Clarke says that the virtual environments allow meetings at a moment's notice. He maintains, however, that it's essential to refrain from over-meeting and use good collaborative tools instead. Clarke suggests everyone can meet monthly or so based on the agenda items.

Continuing, he discusses the benefits of data governance, noting that it provides better situational awareness and helps avoid surprises. Clark stresses that it has to be done collaboratively with full participation, bringing together the business owners, the compliance organizations, and the information technology organizations.

Clarke opines that the key drivers for collective action are trust and reciprocity. It also promotes a common culture and relationship across the parties involved.

In conclusion, he adds that good data governance also puts in a process to get things right every time.

CDO Magazine appreciates Kenneth Clarke for sharing his insights and data success stories with our global community.

See more from Kenneth Clarke

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