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II-44 Guide for Target-Setting and Data Management
Needs based on the primary job functions of the audience, within the organization, i.e.,
senior, mid-level managers, business data stewards, IT data stewards, users of data, and
providers of data; and
Needs of data programs to support job functions within specific business areas.
· Step 2--Evaluate the recommendations made for addressing the critical needs, by business
area.
· Step 3--Prioritize the data program needs by business area.
· Step 4--Prioritize data program needs across the organization, including the most critical
needs identified by the assessment instrument. The prioritization process also includes the fol-
lowing additional criteria:
Is the data program used to support performance measures and targets?
Is the program used to meet Federal or state mandates?
Is the program used to support more than one business area?
What are the known and anticipated risks to the agency associated with lack of access to
data from the data program?
A prioritization matrix should be developed similar to the following example, to identify the
top five data programs in terms of these criteria.
Used to
Support One or
Value Ranking More Defined Risk Level
(Essential, Addresses Key Used To Meet Business Associated
Data Helpful, Not Performance Federal Used To Meet Emphasis With Data
Program Needed) Measures Mandate State Mandate Areas Program
Program A
Program B
Program C
...
Program Z
· Step 5--Prepare a proposed action plan for addressing the needs of the top prioritized data
programs.
· Step 6--Submit the plan to senior management for consideration.
Compiling and analyzing results for each data program at the agency helps to facilitate an
enterprise gap analysis process, which ultimately is used to develop a data action plan to address
data program needs across the agency.
2.4 Establish Data Governance Programs
This section addresses techniques for accomplishing the following success factors:
· Establish, update, and enforce polices and procedures to govern data management.
· Implement a Data Governance Board or Council to address issues related to development,
implementation and use of data programs which are critical to supporting business functions.
· Clearly identify the roles/responsibilities of the staff responsible for supporting critical data
systems using a Data Governance Manual or other means.
· Communicate with stakeholders to sustain support for various programs. Continue to pro-
vide outreach to all communities of interest to ensure that all needs are addressed.
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Guide for Data Management II-45
· Manage data as an asset in the organization, through policies governing the collection, main-
tenance, and use of data.
· Develop a business terminology dictionary to align the use of business terms commonly used
throughout an organization. This is particularly helpful to staff such as IT professionals who
are often responsible for developing applications to meet business needs.
· Use data standards to do the following:
Facilitate establishing targets and measures which meet agency goals;
Reduce the cost of multiple data collection efforts and maintenance of duplicate databases.
Strive to collect data once and use it many times; and
Facilitate consistent reporting of information.
Developing a foundation for data management traditionally relied on policies, standards, and
procedures established by an IT division or office. More recently, transportation agencies have
instituted a data governing council or board, comprised of senior level managers. This board is
generally responsible for establishing the policies and procedures that shall be used in the collec-
tion and use of data and information, across the organization, and in support of the agency mis-
sion and goals.
The governance board is supported by work groups or work teams whose responsibilities
include the following:
· Providing assistance to the governing board in recommending the development of data prod-
ucts to meet business needs;
· Recommending procedures to the governing board for standards and procedures regarding
collection, maintenance, and use of data programs and products within the agency; and
· Recommending the technology tools that may be used to support data management at the
agency.
The framework in which the governing board and the work teams operate is known as the
Data Governance framework. Data governance provides the structure in which a data manage-
ment program functions. There are a series of steps involved in developing and implementing
data governance within the organization.
Step 1--Develop a Data Governance Model
An agency should develop a data governance model that best suits the needs of the agency.
There is no single data governance framework that meets the needs of every organization. There
is flexibility allowed in how the data governance model is used and over what period of time it
is implemented. Some agencies have found it beneficial to start with governance on a limited
scale, for a particular office or division, while other agencies decide to develop governance on an
enterprise level.
Develop a Data Governance Model that fits the needs and size of the agency.
A standard data governance model is shown in Figure 2.4.
The participants within the data governance model all have vital roles in supporting the data
governance framework for the organization. More detail and examples related to data gover-
nance models is found in Section 4.3 of Volume 1.
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II-46 Guide for Target-Setting and Data Management
Strategic Vision, Mission,
Goals for Data
Data
Division(s) Mission(s)
Governance
and Goals
Board
Data Steward Agency Data Programs Data Users and
and Custodians Stakeholders
Figure 2.4. Standard data governance model.
Step 2--Determine Roles and Responsibilities
Each transportation agency should select the roles and responsibilities for data governance
that best suits the needs of the organization. Some of the roles may be combined, depending
upon the scale of data governance used at the agency. These roles include the following:
· Data Governance Board or Council--Serves as the primary governing body for the manage-
ment of data systems. This governing body is usually comprised of senior level managers who
have authority to establish policies for the management of data and information on behalf of
the agency.
· Data Stewards--Individuals responsible for ensuring that the data which is collected, main-
tained, and used in the agency is managed according to policies established by the data gov-
ernance board or council.
· Data Stewardship--Data stewardship is defined as "the formalization of accountability for
the management of data resources." Data stewardship also can be defined from three perspec-
tives, similar to the three levels or perspectives of data governance for the agency. The three
levels of stewardship can be summarized as follows:
Strategic enterprise level--Data Council;
Tactical level--Data domains or subject matter experts; and
Operational level--Data definers, data producers, data users.
· Data Owners--Individuals from the business side of the agency that are responsible for estab-
lishing the business requirements for the use of the data in their business area of the agency.
They also may approve access to data applications supported by their business area.
· Data Custodians--Individuals responsible for the technical support of the data applications,
including maintaining data dictionaries, data models, and back-up and recovery procedures
for databases.
· Data Architects--Individuals who define business requirements for data storage and access
services and work closely with IT staff to assist with translation of these business requirements
into technology requirements (VDOT Data Business Plan, June, 2008).
· Data Users or Communities of Interest--The group of persons or offices who share a com-
mon interest as users of a particular data program. These can include persons both internal
and external to the agency. The Communities of Interest serve a vital role in any data gover-
nance framework by providing a focus for communicating business needs which are sup-
ported by data programs.
