Dec 17, 2023 2 min read Data Governance

How does AWS enable Data Governance?

Data governance is the collection of policies, processes, and systems that organizations use to ensure the quality and appropriate handling of their data throughout its lifecycle for the purpose of generating business value.

What is Data Governance?

Data governance establishes robust control over data and related processes, through implementation of data standards that enhance the data's quality, making it more trustworthy and useful.

Key challenges with Data Governance.

Data is growing like a weed/multiplying like rabbits (on Viagara?)/<insert analogy of choice>. Due to this burst of data activity leading to growth in the size and variety of data sources:

Data systems have to monitor for data quality changes constantly.
Data systems can become siloed and in a hurry.
Users can be skeptical about trusting the veracity and quality of the data they have used.
Complying with data regulations becomes harder.

Three Core Pillars of Good Data Governance.

Curate the right data for the right reason; Know the intent and meaning hidden inside your data and, of course, secure it at rest or in motion.

A strong Data Governance approach requires Curation of the data sources, Literacy about the data and the hidden intent in it and a means to Secure it.

Curation.

Webster defines curation as

the act or process of selecting and bringing together people or groups for a specific purpose.

Data Curation involves data collection, validation, transformation, storage, preservation, and dissemination.

Literacy.

We have all been bitten by the data bug. It was considered important in the past but now, with AI and Advanced Analytics becoming so important, there is, what can aptly be called a data roid rage. With increasing volumes of data, it is becoming difficult to know the what and why of collecting it, and thus, being able to intelligently explain the magic hidden in the 1's and 0's is very important.

Security.

Data security and privacy are par for the course now. PHI, PII and other private data can be maliciously used and, it is therefore incumbent upon the business to put safeguards in place to avoid such outcomes.

AWS Services for Establishing Data Governance.

I write to remember, and if, in the process, I can help someone learn about Containers, Orchestration (Docker Compose, Kubernetes), GitOps, DevSecOps, VR/AR, Architecture, and Data Management, that is just icing on the cake.