CIO opinion
diagnose areas of improvement and assess
how these problems can be solved.
These audits can lead to the discovery of
other deep-rooted problems – for instance,
a lack of understanding on how to actually
integrate data into daily tasks, or having
insufficient technology and tools in place.
Such information is vital in any data
transformation, as without identifying a
starting point, organisations will not know
how to improve or identify the steps they
need to prioritise moving forward.
While this approach gives businesses a
micro-level view of their data structure,
it is also important to have a high-level
macro view. Mapping the data supply
chain (tracking the path of every data
set, allowing leaders to answer questions
like who owns the data, who consumes it,
what decisions they make with it) helps
businesses paint the bigger picture and
provide context on how individual data use
fits in with the wider organisation.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Building data literacy
Offering training and other support
resources is key to building data literacy in
an organisation and for integrating data into
existing business processes. Visibility and
education must be provided across all vital
areas such as data cleaning, management,
visualisation, business intelligence,
catalogues and data governance. Without
this, employees will not only fail to
understand how to use data, but also lose
the curiosity and drive to learn how data
could benefit them in the future.
Understanding employees’ backgrounds
and explaining data to them in relevant
terms can help leaders overcome this
obstacle. Psychology shows that people
learn by assimilation and accommodation
(proven by decades of research in cognitive
development), therefore understanding
existing mindsets will be key to making
education effective and introducing
new information.
It may be helpful to avoid complicated
technical jargon, as this may alienate the
average data consumer – rather, leaders
can reframe data terms in the business
language employees are familiar with.
While this may require a tailored approach,
it will help to demystify data and build a
more inclusive environment.
Not all employees need to transform into
experienced data scientists overnight –
data culture simply means that people can
understand how to leverage data and glean
new opportunities and knowledge from it.
This is becoming crucial as customers’ data
provides a wealth of knowledge into their
wants and needs.
Businesses must have the right processes in
place to transform those data insights into
action, as data culture and data success go
hand-in-hand. No matter how well-crafted or
advanced a data strategy is, it will block its
own success without a data culture and data
citizens to execute it. n
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