Data Governance vs. Data Management: Unpacking the Origins of Differing Perspectives

Data Governance vs. Data Management: Unpacking the Origins of Differing Perspectives

- by Irina Steenbeek, Expert in Data Management

For five years, I’ve investigated the different approaches to defining the concepts of data, information, and data governance versus management. I have presented the results of these analyses in my books and a series of articles. The series “Data Management & Governance 101” and “DAMA-DMBOK2 vs. DCAM2.2” explored the differences in how these concepts are defined across different industry guidelines. The “Choosing Data Management IT Tools” series highlighted mismatches in how various IT vendors define data governance and management.

This month, I delivered a workshop at the DG&IQ and AIGOV conference in Washington, hosted by Dataversity, where I once again encountered significant differences in participants’ interpretations of data governance and management. Several years ago, I worked to align these definitions within our community. However, I have realized that achieving this goal is a “mission impossible.”

As a result, I now focus on raising awareness within the data management community by showcasing these varying perspectives. I offer my clients just one piece of advice on this matter: “Align the definitions within your organization to ensure everyone speaks the same language.” This is crucial because we still speak a Babylonian language of conflicting terminologies across the global data management community.

The first articles of this series discuss the differences between the definitions of “data” and “information” depending on the context.

Read further: https://datacrossroads.nl/2024/12/24/data-vs-information-foundations-of-the-debate/