VIDEO | Grant Thornton UK Head of Data, RegTech & Digital Advisory: There's a Lot More Work To Be Done in Data Management

(Europe) Niresh Rajah, Managing Director, Head of Data, RegTech, & Digital Advisory Practice at Grant Thornton UK, speaks with Jason Masker, Field Chief Technology Officer, Stratascale (an SHI company), in a video interview about data space trends, the importance of data management, and the focus on ESG.

Highlighting critical trends in the data space, Rajah mentions:

• Data strategy in the digital context to better serve and digitally engage customers.

• Investing in data foundations for managing legacy data.

• ESG reporting and disclosures.

• Integrating various ecosystem partners to create solutions for the future.

Regarding key drivers and the state of data management understanding, Rajah says they differ across businesses and industry sectors. He explains that due to strict regulations, banking may be slightly ahead of the curve. For example, key drivers and data management for industries like pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, and retail differ depending on the following reasons:

• Competitive position — Some organizations leverage data management more as they see the value of having better customer data.

• Sustainability — Oil and gas are driven by sustainability.

• Regulations — Pharmaceuticals invest in data market practices because it is a heavily regulated industry.

Next, he cites two reasons behind the improvement in understanding data management: 

• Concepts like data catalog and master data management bring data fabric to the forefront.

• Chief data officers are becoming savvier in articulating the importance of data management.

Rajah maintains, however, that the data management space requires much more work. 

When asked why data management is so important to organizations, he highlights the following reasons: 

• Data volume today is significantly higher compared to previous years.

• The progress of digitalization makes it only possible to service customers with data.

• Risk and regulatory reporting require data management.

Continuing, Rajah discusses three reasons behind focusing on the ESG data strategy:

• Firms need well-curated data to make regulatory disclosures. It is important to collect, measure, QA, and integrate data to achieve the targets. A lot of data is only available externally.

• An ESG data model and taxonomy are fundamental for the source and volume of external data.

• Visualizing and providing access to customers, investors, stakeholders, and data audit platforms is essential.

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

See more from Niresh Rajah

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