The need in Enterprise Data Governance is to identify, develop, and structure organizational goals, governance practices, roles, and responsibilities for maximizing the earned benefits from those efforts. Global enterprises can no longer afford to procrastinate on possible Data Quality control approaches; they have to act now. In fact, Gartner warned that by the end of 2016, 20 percent of CIOs may lose their jobs if they fail to implement a successful framework for Data Governance in their organization. The global community is finally waking up to the urgent need of the day – the formation of Data Committees and Stewardships to aid in the implementation of Data Governance and Data Quality in their organizations.

As the Enterprise Data Management ecosystem continues to evolve, it is extremely important that the existing Data Governance practices also rapidly evolve, so that organizations can remain competitive. Thus, modern governance policies and rules have to be framed such so that they remain aligned with overall business goals. Once the overall Data Governance goals are conceptualized, then the organizations can implement technologies to support those goals and objectives.
Infosys on Effective Data Governance shares the following data-related statistics:

• The size of global data will measure a staggering 40 zettabytes by 2020
• Structured data is growing at the rate of 40% every year
• Content, which includes all types of data including structured and unstructured is growing at a steady rate of about 80% annually
• Data generated from machines will increase by 15 times by 2020

Given the above figures, it is perhaps already too late to just be starting to worry about Data Quality and Data Governance. Gartner has predicted that 50 percent of global organizations will hire a Chief Data Officer (CDO) by 2017. These individuals will be fully responsible for overseeing Data Quality and Data Governance, among other roles.

Based on the available industry literature and by following current business trends, we have made the following 2017 predictions for Data Quality and Data Governance:

1. Formation of Data Stewardship/ Data Standards Groups: A large majority of global enterprises will divert their resources and attention to the formation of Data Governance Councils and Committees in 2017. The manifold duties and responsibilities of these teams will be to assess data assets across silos, on-premise, and Cloud repositories; define the key drivers of Data Quality & Governance; frame goals and policies for effective management of Data Quality; and implement business-aligned strategies for Master Data Management (MDM).

The author of The Future of Data Governance: How the Analysts Got It Right  has pointed out that the following aspects of Data Governance will be the core of Data Stewardship:

• Metadata Management in MDM
• Data security and authentication
• Setting of Data Quality rules and policies
• Data Integration

2. Recruitment of Chief Data Officer (CDO): This Gartner news flash predicts that 25 percent of global organizations are on their way to acquiring a CDO by next year. In highly regulated industries like healthcare or banking, this recruitment figure may be as high as 50 percent. According to Gartner, poor Data Quality takes a heavy financial toll ($13.5 million) on organizations every year. Thus, it is imperative that businesses worldwide take Data Governance seriously. The CDO will be chiefly responsible for implementing and monitoring stringent Data Governance policies at all levels. The CDO is viewed not just as a person who governs information, but also one who advocates the “value” of information.

3. Transformational Data Governance in Asia: According to Top 10 Predictions on Digital Transformation, about 66 percent of Asia-based CIOs will develop a Data Governance framework in 2017 to leverage enterprise data as a competitive strategy. In this scenario, Data Governance will be exploited for gaining a business edge. IDC had indicated this 2017 trend in global businesses in 2016 Top 10 Predictions.

4. Increased Data Governance in healthcare: In IDC Releases Top 10 Predictions for Healthcare, the author suggests that by 2017, surgeons will depend on “computer assisted” methods to plan and conduct at least 50 percent of the complex surgeries, which indicate the rising importance of Data Quality and Data Governance in clinical data.
5. More integrated approach to Data Quality Management: Oracle provides an insightful white paper on this topic titled All the Ingredients for Success: Data Governance, Data Quality and Master Data Management. This paper compares three distinct Data Quality management approach – Data Quality independently, Data Quality as first step in MDM, and Data Quality during MDM implementation stage. Members of Data Quality and Governance teams will find this paper an invaluable source of guidance.
   

6. Data Governance for the Cloud: 2017 may witness a sea change so far as Data Governance for Cloud is concerned. The rising growth of Cloud BI and Analytics is bound to leave its impact on Data Management for Cloud platforms. In fact, many Cloud SaaS providers have now included Data Quality tools are gaining in popularity.

7. Emergence of Data Governance policies on mobile and social platforms: With the explosive growth and usage of mobile and social platforms, it is necessary for global business operators to now turn their attention to stringent Data Governance policies on these networks. Without the proper framing and implementation of good governance, mobile and social data can easily get out of control. Again, Data Stewardship teams can play a key role in monitoring Data Governance policy violations in these networks

8. Increased use of Data Quality tools in Big Data:What in 2016 was only a business concern will turn into a full-fledged preoccupation in 2017. During the coming year, businesses will pay close attention to the high volumes of consumer data slipping through the security cracks, and invest in premium Data Quality tools to protect their business reputation.

2017 Data Governance Conferences

While the readers are pondering over 2017 predictions for Data Quality and Data Governance, they may find the following information useful. Both conference offer many different elements concerning Data Governance and Data Quality:

• The Data Governance And Information Quality Conference: To be held in San Diego, California in June 2017 will have Data Governance tracks to discuss issues like Data Stewardship and Big Data Governance, and MDM.
• 21st Annual Enterprise Data World (EDW) Conference: In Atlanta, Georgia in April 2017. The conference focuses on a range of different topics, and numerous tracks that specifically include Data Quality and Data Governance.