VIDEO | Data Governance Investments Bring Great Rewards — CDO Today CEO

(US and Canada) Salema Rice, CEO of CDO Today, speaks with Eleanor Treharne Jones, CEO of Kensu, in a video interview about the importance of building a data governance framework, data management, data observability, assessing data quality risk factors, and key tips on how Chief Data Officers can adopt the hub-and-spoke model and produce results with precision and accuracy.

Rice begins by stating that it is not always easy to convince people to invest in data governance, however, its rewards are great. She discusses the difficulty of selling the idea of data governance to those outside of financial services, noting the time commitment and investments. With the increased usage of generative AI, it is crucial to know that the data being produced by this technology is trustworthy, she adds.

Next, Rice states that building a data governance framework in the early days of financial services made this process less challenging. Data governance makes it possible to build a single version of the truth, in which areas such as data use, unauthorized access, and curation can be monitored.

Further, Rice emphasizes the importance of mastering data, such as metadata, reference data, and data quality in creating a comprehensive view and ensuring data observability. Additionally, she suggests her mentees build models based on logs and metrics to illustrate the importance of data governance and the cost of poor data quality. Rice stresses the need for data governance, performance metrics, and quality control to ensure customer confidence and precision in models.

Moving forward, she asserts that while chatbots, GPT, and similar technologies can be fun and exciting, one should fact-check everything before making organizational decisions. Additionally, she suggests considering different risk factors regarding data quality. Rice affirms that the owner of the entry data should be responsible for the quality of the data. Then, she recommends the organization set an acceptable data quality range depending on the type of problem.

It is also essential for the team to consider the time and dollar cost associated with data quality. According to Rice, the Chief Data Officer must be a change agent for the organization to be truly data-driven. Furthermore, she highlights the importance of Chief Data Officers working in a hub-and-spoke model to ensure data quality across all functional layers. She states that embedding quality metrics in each functional layer along with risk factors is critical for understanding the data.

Rice ensures that the hub and spoke model makes it convenient to assess the risk factors and trust in the data while providing a more holistic view of the data, including who is using it, why, and what the outcome will look like.

Speaking about the role of Chief Data Officers, she recommends they focus on building data products and showcase the value of data used in the product to customers. In conclusion, Rice states that by mastering this hub-and-spoke model, Chief Data Officers can be well-prepared to present the data story in 2023.

CDO Magazine appreciates Salema Rice for sharing her insights with our global community.

See more from Salema Rice 

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