Newsletter - May 2025

Dear Data People

We’re celebrating a BIG milestone…

And invite you to celebrate with us.

Yes, it’s been a long time in the planning and building but our sparkly new website has finally landed.

We hope you’ve enjoyed exploring it and discovering better functionality, easier navigation, a fabulous library of resources and past events. 

If you have any feedback we’d love to hear from you!

Top Picks from Recent Weeks

Random Acts of Data Governance

"Random acts of data governance" is a phrase that’s surfaced more than once in our community (often with a knowing smile or a sigh of frustration…)

And as Malcolm Hawker suggests, behind the random acts lies a serious challenge: how do we ensure that governance activity is value-driven? 

Data governance efforts are often well-intentioned, BUT it can feel disconnected from what really matters to the business. Policies are implemented and frameworks created yet there is no clear link to customer outcomes, operational value, or risk mitigation, for example. 

So, the result often found is governance becomes performative rather than transformative. 

We agree with Malcolm - three areas definitely deserve more attention in data strategies:

Find out more..

Imposing Order on Data

For years, the idea of successful data was simple: if you could impose enough order, useful knowledge would follow.

But that assumption no longer holds in the world of AI.

Dr. Sebastian Wernicke suggests that today’s large language models and generative AI don’t learn from clean tables of information. Instead, they thrive on sprawling, messy collections of unstructured content, where richness, diversity, and context matter far more than neatness.

And this creates a new reality: successful AI doesn't demand stricter order. It demands deeper understanding. 

Rather than pouring energy into tightly polishing datasets, forward-thinking organisations are recognising that metadata is the real foundation for AI success. Metadata must capture the full story behind the data: where it came from, who created it, how credible it is, and under what conditions it can be used.

Read more...

Data Marketplaces vs. Internal Data Sharing?

We've all experienced the ease of online marketplaces for shopping, but how does that translate to data? 

In our latest article we take a deep dive into how data marketplaces work, the challenges surrounding internal data sharing, and what organisations can learn from different marketplace models. 

Dive in to discover how to unlock the potential of your data and break down those silos 🔓

Curious

Human Centred Data Strategy

A data strategy is more than just a stack of tools. ⚒️

As Sebastian Hewing 🚀reminds us, a data strategy, in its true form, is a human-centred system - and it’s designed to create value.

The 9 steps laid out by Sebastian reflect something many data professionals learn the hard way: dashboards and pipelines cannot replace trust in the professional, reactive systems or outcomes which are not relevant to the organisation.

Here are some ideas which stood out:

🔍 "Start with a human, not a tool."

Data teams are frequently tasked with delivering technical solutions before fully understanding the business challenges they aim to address. A successful strategy begins with meaningful conversations, empathy, and a genuine understanding of stakeholder needs.

Find Out More

Open Webinar

Crossing the Streams: The increasingly irrelevant distinction between structured and unstructured data

In this webinar Daragh will discuss the increasingly irrelevant distinctions between structured and unstructured data and what that means in practice for organisations. He will take delegates through a potted (and irreverent) history tour of how we came to be where we are, will walk through a case study example of what this means in practice, and what it means when we consider it through the DMBOK lens.

Register here

Why adaptability is mission-critical in a modern data strategy.

In today's dynamic business environment, organisations must continually evolve their strategies in order to remain competitive and thrive. Data is crucial for this adaptability, but only if it's integrated into the core of the data strategy.

In TODAY’s interactive webinar, authors Jason Foster and Barry Green, will draw from their book Data Means Business, and discuss how to embed adaptability into your data strategy, fostering organisational responsiveness.

Click here to register

Did you Miss…

Any of our recent webinars?

Each of our webinars addresses a specific aspect of data management or the challenges and opportunities facing us data practitioners. They’re hugely popular and valuable so, if you didn’t catch them all,  why not take a look at our fantastic archive here DAMA UK - Past Public Events