VIDEO | World Vision International CDO: Data Does Not Govern Itself; People Do

(US and Canada) Subodh Kumar, Chief Data Officer, World Vision International, speaks with Savio Rodrigues, VP-Client Membership, Trianz, and CDO Magazine Editorial Board Member, about data governance, addressing data quality issues, challenges of building a governance framework, and World Vision’s participation in data governance.

Kumar states that the Chief Data Officer role starts with the primary question of how to improve data quality. He adds that data governance is the first step towards that, and data quality is an outcome of effective data governance.

He considers data a business imperative and not an IT initiative. Hence, Kumar feels that addressing the issue of data quality is a business role in which building data literacy plays an important part. It is fundamental to figure out the why, what, and how aspects concerning data usage for better data governance.

Creation of acquisition pieces without consulting data people leads to a massive challenge, he says. Kumar mentions that to save governance from failing, creating a stewardship program within data governance is critical. The role of the data steward is to define data and the quality parameters that ensure data quality, he maintains.

He affirms that with an effective data stewardship program, data standards and business processes for acquisition become clear. Hence, World Vision has built a domain-specific stewardship program that falls under the purview of the data governance council.

He advises future data practitioners to use a human-centered approach to data governance. He adds that data enthusiasts can learn with resources and literature available online to build skills. Additionally, having business acumen is of utmost importance, regardless of the industry, Kumar notes.

Data governance is relatively new for humanitarian industries, he asserts. World Vision is in the initial stage of implementing data governance. He suggests C-suite meetings to launch the data governance program and build a data governance council. Kumar mentions organizing a global data summit that will include their staff worldwide, representing different functions.

Finally, Kumar speaks about the softer side of data governance that comprises the data governance framework, policies, data privacy, security, and data breach, which demand special attention. Although there is still much to do in this realm, Kumar remains hopeful about the current progress.