<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
term	O
used	O
on	O
both	O
a	O
macro	O
and	O
a	O
micro	O
level	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
former	O
is	O
a	O
political	O
concept	O
and	O
forms	O
part	O
of	O
international	O
relations	O
and	O
Internet	O
governance	O
;	O
the	O
latter	O
is	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
concept	O
and	O
forms	O
part	O
of	O
corporate	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
macro	O
level	O
,	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
refers	O
to	O
the	O
governing	O
of	O
cross-border	O
data	O
flows	O
by	O
countries	O
,	O
and	O
hence	O
is	O
more	O
precisely	O
called	O
international	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Here	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
concept	O
concerning	O
the	O
capability	O
that	O
enables	O
an	O
organization	O
to	O
ensure	O
that	O
high	O
data	O
quality	O
exists	O
throughout	O
the	O
complete	O
lifecycle	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
,	O
and	O
data	O
controls	O
are	O
implemented	O
that	O
support	O
business	O
objectives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
key	O
focus	O
areas	O
of	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
include	O
availability	O
,	O
usability	O
,	O
consistency	O
,	O
data	O
integrity	O
and	O
data	B-General_Concept
security	I-General_Concept
,	O
standard	O
compliance	O
and	O
includes	O
establishing	O
processes	O
to	O
ensure	O
effective	O
data	B-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
throughout	O
the	O
enterprise	O
such	O
as	O
accountability	O
for	O
the	O
adverse	O
effects	O
of	O
poor	O
data	O
quality	O
and	O
ensuring	O
that	O
the	O
data	O
which	O
an	O
enterprise	O
has	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
entire	O
organization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
data	O
steward	O
is	O
a	O
role	O
that	O
ensures	O
that	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
processes	O
are	O
followed	O
and	O
that	O
guidelines	O
are	O
enforced	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
recommending	O
improvements	O
to	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
processes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
encompasses	O
the	O
people	O
,	O
processes	O
,	O
and	O
information	B-General_Concept
technology	I-General_Concept
required	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
consistent	O
and	O
proper	O
handling	O
of	O
an	O
organization	O
's	O
data	O
across	O
the	O
business	O
enterprise	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
provides	O
all	O
data	B-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
practices	O
with	O
the	O
necessary	O
foundation	O
,	O
strategy	O
,	O
and	O
structure	O
needed	O
to	O
ensure	O
that	O
data	O
is	O
managed	O
as	O
an	O
asset	O
and	O
transformed	O
into	O
meaningful	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
goals	O
are	O
realized	O
by	O
the	O
implementation	O
of	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
programs	O
,	O
or	O
initiatives	O
using	O
change	B-Application
management	I-Application
techniques	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
initiatives	O
can	O
be	O
driven	O
by	O
a	O
desire	O
to	O
improve	O
data	O
quality	O
,	O
they	O
are	O
more	O
often	O
driven	O
by	O
C-level	O
leaders	O
responding	O
to	O
external	O
regulations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
proliferation	O
of	O
regulations	O
and	O
standards	O
creates	O
challenges	O
for	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
professionals	O
,	O
particularly	O
when	O
multiple	O
regulations	O
overlap	O
the	O
data	O
being	O
managed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Organizations	O
often	O
launch	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
initiatives	O
to	O
address	O
these	O
challenges	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
initiatives	O
improve	O
quality	O
of	O
data	O
by	O
assigning	O
a	O
team	O
responsible	O
for	O
data	O
's	O
accuracy	O
,	O
completeness	O
,	O
consistency	O
,	O
timeliness	O
,	O
validity	O
,	O
and	O
uniqueness	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
team	O
usually	O
employs	O
some	O
form	O
of	O
methodology	O
for	O
tracking	O
and	O
improving	O
enterprise	O
data	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Six	O
Sigma	O
,	O
and	O
tools	O
for	O
data	B-General_Concept
mapping	I-General_Concept
,	O
profiling	B-General_Concept
,	O
cleansing	O
,	O
and	O
monitoring	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
initiatives	O
may	O
be	O
aimed	O
at	O
achieving	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
objectives	O
including	O
offering	O
better	O
visibility	O
to	O
internal	O
and	O
external	O
customers	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
supply	O
chain	O
management	O
)	O
,	O
compliance	O
with	O
regulatory	O
law	O
,	O
improving	O
operations	O
after	O
rapid	O
company	O
growth	O
or	O
corporate	O
mergers	O
,	O
or	O
to	O
aid	O
the	O
efficiency	O
of	O
enterprise	O
knowledge	O
workers	O
by	O
reducing	O
confusion	O
and	O
error	O
and	O
increasing	O
their	O
scope	O
of	O
knowledge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
initiatives	O
are	O
also	O
inspired	O
by	O
past	O
attempts	O
to	O
fix	O
information	O
quality	O
at	O
the	O
departmental	O
level	O
,	O
leading	O
to	O
incongruent	O
and	O
redundant	O
data	O
quality	O
processes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
setting	O
up	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
practice	O
or	O
corporate	O
data	O
authority	O
(	O
individual	O
or	O
area	O
responsible	O
for	O
determining	O
how	O
to	O
proceed	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
best	O
interest	O
of	O
the	O
business	O
,	O
when	O
a	O
data	O
issue	O
arises	O
)	O
,	O
these	O
problems	O
can	O
be	O
mitigated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Implementation	O
of	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
initiative	O
may	O
vary	O
in	O
scope	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
origin	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initial	O
scope	O
of	O
an	O
implementation	O
can	O
vary	O
greatly	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
from	O
review	O
of	O
a	O
one-off	O
IT	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
to	O
a	O
cross-organization	O
initiative	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Leaders	O
of	O
successful	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
programs	O
declared	O
in	O
December	O
2006	O
at	O
the	O
Data	B-General_Concept
Governance	I-General_Concept
Conference	O
in	O
Orlando	O
,	O
FL	O
,	O
that	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
is	O
between	O
80	O
and	O
95	O
percent	O
communication.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
That	O
stated	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
a	O
given	O
that	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
objectives	O
of	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
program	O
must	O
be	O
accomplished	O
with	O
appropriate	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
