TALKING BUSINESS
Data
governance
regulations
are an
opportunity
rather than
a challenge
for SA
organisations
Data protection
regulation is likely to
continue evolving,
and a clear view of
how data moves
across the business
will be critical to
staying on top of
change, explains
Dragan Petkovic,
Security Product
Leader ECEMEA at
Oracle South Africa.
28
INTELLIGENTCIO
W
hen Tim Berners-Lee
declared data to be the
“new raw material of the
21st century” back in 2011, he was
perfectly describing the direction many
economies were heading in – from
industry to insights and intelligence.
be acknowledged, but recorded and
accounted for. Data-rich businesses are
being acquired not for what they do, but
for what they know, while exchanges
trading in data have become profitable
businesses in their own right, in the
same way as exchanges that trade in
metals, currencies and more.
But in the six years since, data has defied
the economic principles that many
commodities adhere to: unlike other
raw materials, the more plentiful the
data the more valuable it becomes. It is
coveted like precious metals and valued
accordingly for its power to drive the
insights that help transform businesses. Just as a business’s finances are
carefully recorded, detailed, audited and
regulated, the recognition of data is
reaching a similar point of maturity. The
financial good governance of a business
is inextricably linked to its value, and the
same can be said of data governance.
The data a company owns can help it
to cut costs, open up new markets and
identify new business; it can make the
difference between taking the lead
or seeing rivals overtake it. As such,
data has a value that shouldn’t just Now, the uses of data have reached
such a level of value to businesses that
it is becoming subject to more stringent
standards and controls to safeguard
its value and availability, which also
ensures its responsible usage.
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