Data governance is the collection of clearly defined policies, procedures, standards, processes, roles, and responsibilities that ensure the effective and efficient use of data in enabling an organization to achieve its goals. Essentially, an effective data governance strategy defines who can take what action, upon what data, in what situations, and using what methods.
Business drivers will shape the structure of an organization's data governance program, which will in turn inform the strategic, tactical, and operational roles and responsibilities required to carefully control the capture, storage, maintenance, consumption, and destruction of the data across the enterprise. For example, if a business driver in your data governance strategy is to ensure compliance with data privacy regulations, client data will need to be managed securely as it flows through your business. Retention requirements (i.e., history of who changed what information, when and how long you retain client data before destroying it) will be defined to ensure compliance with relevant government regulations, such as the
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
