Data Strategy Template

This template is an amalgam of many different projects, and is therefore

appropriately anonymised. However, it is for internal use only and not to be
copied, redistributed or repurposed without permission.

CONTENTS

Contents........................................................................................................................................ 1
Our vision for data......................................................................................................................... 3
Context...................................................................................................................................... 3
Details........................................................................................................................................ 3
Context...................................................................................................................................... 3
Section 1: Defining the business context.......................................................................................5
Section 2: Defining business success...........................................................................................6
Section 3: Defining business capabilities.......................................................................................7
Delivering data governance.......................................................................................................7
Defining data architecture.......................................................................................................... 7
Implementing data management...............................................................................................8
Implementing business intelligence (BI).....................................................................................8
Section 4: Data principles.............................................................................................................. 9
Draft Data Principles.................................................................................................................. 9
Information is a valued asset.....................................................................................................9
Information is managed............................................................................................................. 9
Information is fit for purpose......................................................................................................9
Information is standardised and linkable..................................................................................10
Information is reused............................................................................................................... 10
Information is accessible..........................................................................................................11
Shared sector information is published....................................................................................11
Section 5: Delivering data governance........................................................................................12
Section 6: Defining data architecture...........................................................................................14
Corporate data model..............................................................................................................14
Conceptual data model............................................................................................................ 14
Logical data model................................................................................................................... 14
Physical data model................................................................................................................. 14
Business glossary/data dictionary............................................................................................15
Architectural Governance........................................................................................................15

Page 1 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
Section 7: Implementing data management................................................................................16
Information Lifecycle Management (ILM).................................................................................16
Master Data Management (MDM)............................................................................................16
Data quality.............................................................................................................................. 16
Section 8: Implementing business intelligence............................................................................17
Section 9: Organisation and culture............................................................................................18
Organisation............................................................................................................................ 18
Data governance and control...................................................................................................18
Data management...................................................................................................................18
Culture..................................................................................................................................... 18

Page 2 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
OUR VISION FOR DATA

CONTEXT

[To include]
- what the institution does
- why data is a vital to the success of this
o What is collected
o What is processed
o What is presented
o Etc.
- How data must be managed as an asset
o Value
o Governance
o Outputs
o Opportunities

[Much of this content is generated in the toolkit process]

DETAILS

[Sample]

Basics – doing the things right. Governance/best practice for the operational data. Regulatory
and legal obligations. Support for efficiencies and better decision making

Culture – Doing the right things. Exploiting the opportunities of doing the things right. Institutional
wide view of value/power data and education of responsibilities. How to drive culture to see
services as data driven activities and look to build on owned data with external sources.

Opportunity – How the vision will support the aspirations/public strategy of the institution. Why it’s
important to link the two. What might that look like.

CONTEXT

[Sample]

“This Data Strategy provides the foundation for achieving our vision for data. It defines the
relationships between data and the business context in which we operate, the outcomes we aim
to achieve from successful implementation of the strategy, and the capabilities and culture we
need to develop to realise these outcomes”

It will provide this through:

 Delivering data governance

 Defining data architecture
 Implementing data management
 Implementing business intelligence

Page 3 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
“This strategy will inform the development and implementation strategy programme and projects
and investment decisions including IT infrastructure. It will inform the development of new
products and services and operational planning, decision-making and delivery across the
business. More specifically, the strategy provides the foundation for the development and
implementation of a range of underpinning data and information policies and procedures.”

Page 4 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
SECTION 1: DEFINING THE BUSINESS CONTEXT

This Data Strategy should be an enabler for the corporate Strategy.

[List Strategy/Aspirations here –use objectives tab to help]

[Now list how a data strategy would support this. Begin with something like this]
An effective Data Strategy helps to exploit new opportunities to generate income, minimise risks
from competitors, and ultimately thrive in different and diversifying education and HE markets.

[Add detail. Objectives/benefits links work well here]

Page 5 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
SECTION 2: DEFINING BUSINESS SUCCESS

[What does success look like, sample text could include]

“To achieve this aim we govern and manage our data using a defined set of policies and
procedures based on pragmatic standards and best practice. We develop a consolidated data
model and use proven data architecture and external data standards. We manage our data
effectively in integrated data repositories collecting data items only once, maintaining them in
only one place, and making them available for use in multiple applications across the business
and beyond – providing all customers with “a single version of the truth”.

Successful implementation of the Data Strategy enables us to deliver benefits to our customers
and the business by:”

[List of benefits as defined in the process. Always around either ‘reducing the cost of processing
data’ or ‘increasing the value of data we hold/link’]

[Summary could include]

“The realisation of the benefits in the Data Strategy is dependent on the effective alignment of
data governance and management with technology and IT infrastructure development, coupled
with a clear articulation of business needs.”

Page 6 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
SECTION 3: DEFINING BUSINESS CAPABILITIES

[Sample]

We realise our vision for data through a four layer model:

Data
Data Governance Management

Principles

Data Business
Architecture Intelligence

DELIVERING DATA GOVERNANCE

We implement a standardised approach to data governance, based on external standards and

best practice, which is integrated into the wider institutional framework.

This is based on a set of data principles aligned to our corporate objectives.

Adopting a standardised approach to data governance provides a defined accountability

framework, policies and procedures. It creates the functions of Senior Information Risk Owner,
Head of Data Governance, and Data Steward and places responsibility for the ownership of data
assets with the part of the business best placed to take decisions about the collection,
management, use and disposal of the data asset, and to identify and manage the risks
associated with each data asset.

To deliver this new data governance framework we develop and grow data governance and data
management knowledge and skills within the business.

DEFINING DATA ARCHITECTURE

Page 7 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
We implement a consistent view of the organisations data landscape by developing and
implementing a consolidated data model using industry standard approaches. We establish a
common vocabulary and set of data definitions and standards (aligned to external standards) to
create a clearly understood “single version of the truth” with regards our data assets.

We use a standard architectural approach in line with IT strategy and/or roadmaps, including
standards, principles and models.

IMPLEMENTING DATA MANAGEMENT

We implement an exemplary approach to data management, given the organisational imperative

to excel in this area. The three core capabilities developed and implemented are:
 Information Lifecycle Management (ILM)
 Master Data Management (MDM)
 Measuring and improving data quality

These capabilities support better data integration, data management and quality and will be
realised through the introduction of policies, processes and automated tools. Performance is
measured by a set of metrics and KPIs to determine the quality of data assets.

IMPLEMENTING BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE (BI)

[This may not be relevant for every intuition but it’s important to consider at a distinct theme not
part of standard data management activity – lots of specialist skills and a reasonable level of data
maturity required. It is also absolutely tied in with visible data governance activity]
We can introduce a BI environment which gives the institution the capability to use its data for
operational monitoring and reporting, impact assessment and better evaluation of change
requests, whilst also providing opportunities to offer our customers and stakeholders better data
products and services around decision support.

A BI environment can provide near real-time and historical data underpinned by a range of BI
and analytical tools. This is based on industry best practice and can be supported by the
establishment of a virtual BI competency centre in the business.

Page 8 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
SECTION 4: DATA PRINCIPLES

[Samples taken/modified from the Cabinet Office Data Standards work. These would need to be
cut down but are included for completeness]

DRAFT DATA PRINCIPLES

 Original source ‘Government Design Principles’ for 2012 – published by the Cabinet Office
 Note ‘Information’ is used rather than ‘Data’ to shape the principle around the value of the data
 This is a generic set of principles, suggested context and focus for your organisation are highlighted in
[]
 Items in italics are those I consider to be the most important part of the principle.

INFORMATION IS A VALUED ASSET

 Information should be understood and valued as much – and sometimes more - as other
organisational assets such as buildings, people or money. [Add your own most valuable balance sheet
assets here if they are different]
 This principle is the foundation for what follows and highlights the need for information to be valued in
the same way as these other types of asset. It is important to note that the full value of information lies
not just in its original purpose but in its potential to be reused for other purposes.

INFORMATION IS MANAGED

 Information should be managed – stored, protected and exploited – according to its value.
 Information owners/stewards [these may not be how these roles are named in your organisation] need
to consider the whole lifecycle of the information, from identification of need, creation, quality
assurance, maintenance, reuse and ultimately to archiving or destruction once the information has
ceased to be useful. [consider this in the context of architectural debt]
 A range of best practices need to be in place, for example to ensure appropriate availability and
integrity, avoid loss and ensure continuity across technology upgrades. It is particularly important that
personal data is adequately protected. [Focus on your primary datasets / transaction data]
 Information also needs to be governed as it moves through its lifecycle, for example to make sure it’s
always clear who is responsible for it [this is the heart of information asset ownership. Ensure your
organisation has a plan to implement this based on your current or new structure] and to comply with
relevant legislation and regulation. The consistent assessment and ownership of these information
risks is another important consideration when managing data and information. [This is where you
should highlight your data governance function]
 The organisational culture must support best practice in information management, and make sure
everyone responsible for processing these business assets is professionally qualified and
appropriately skilled. This principle therefore also includes the processes, roles, responsibilities,
training, and organisational structure and culture needed to ensure the effective and efficient use of
information. [These are the four dimensions of the assessment and are all equally important. Consider
how your organisation will make progress on all these front to support this principle]

INFORMATION IS FIT FOR PURPOSE

 Information must be good quality and fit for both its primary purpose and potential secondary/tertiary
uses. It will not always be possible for the owner/originator to foresee these addition uses, so it is
important that the quality of the information is communicated consistently so future users can decide if
it is suitable. [This is the value of data architecture/shared models/shared business vocab/reference
data/taxonomy/etc]
 Quality includes factors such as accuracy, validity, reliability, timeliness, relevance and completeness

Page 9 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
[Consider what is most important for the operational datasets, don’t try and create quality factors that
have no value]. The quality of information should also be regularly monitored to ensure that they at
least meet the levels that have been assessed as necessary
 for their purposes [do not set Quality metrics you are not able/willing to monitor AND intervene on
breach]
 This principle doesn’t require information to be perfect, only that it is the right quality for its intended
use and that its quality characteristics are pragmatic, appropriate and transparent

INFORMATION IS STANDARDISED AND LINKABLE

 Standardisation is important for structured information such as dataset definitions, and unstructured
information such as Meta and reference data applied to documents. [There will be many more
opportunities for exploiting information if it is available in standardised and linkable forms.]
 Standardisation within an organisation is important for staff to fully exploit the information; if an
organisation uses widely accepted open standards [the HEDIIP Data Landscape will form part of these
open standards but also consider industry/sector wide initiatives] it will unlock even more value
 Standardisation is important both for the way information is recorded and in the way concepts are
defined:
o Format, eg date always being entered as dd-mm-yyyy
o Content, eg forename, surname, address, etc.
o Concepts, eg defining roles such as student, course, module, certificate, etc
 [Even further value can be unlocked if information can be linked. A good example is document
references and citations that allow the reader to draw on a wealth of associated information (this is the
basis of the ‘world wide web’). A similar concept can be applied to structured data, based on an
understanding of the relationships between items and the use of consistent identifiers to reference
authoritative sources (the basis of the ‘semantic web’). For example, tagging funding information with
an authoritative code for the organisation involved would allow it to be unambiguously linked with
details of the organisation itself and third-party information about that organisation]

INFORMATION IS REUSED

o Information is even more valuable if it can be used more than once or for more than one purpose. A
good data steward will proactively look for opportunities for reuse. These could include:
o Internal reuse – making the most of information for its primary purpose and identifying
secondary uses. For example, operational data can sometimes be reused to support
performance improvement or research [student data with absolutely everything else. Student
data is the ‘operational hub’ but has many forms of reuse. This principle MUST be applied
early on. If not a lack of reconciliation is the outcome]
o External reuse – sharing information with other organisations, either within the sector or with
private businesses and individuals [Collections, Student Experience, etc. are obvious
candidates here]
o Holding master reference data – ensuring an organisation’s data is the only authoritative
source for business information (eg an authoritative list of organisation codes), which is
nominated, maintained and promoted as such. [This is difficult across the sector but will in
some way be addressed by the landscape. JACS was a classic example held by UCAS but
this eventually became unsustainable. HESA codes are another]
o Whilst this principle strongly encourages reuse, it is important to appreciate that reuse does require a
careful risk-based judgment to be made with regard to exploiting versus protecting information, as well
as consideration to the costs and benefits involved [some reuse scenarios do not make technical or
economic sense, but the principle should be applied and only discarded if this is clearly the case]
o Information which initially appears unsuitable may be reusable if it can be reformatted. For example,
operational information that identifies individuals can be ‘anonymised’ or aggregated and then be of
wider value. Also, in cases where the partner organisation is known beforehand, concerns over

Page 10 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
security or privacy can sometimes be mitigated by means of negotiation, joint-working and data-
sharing agreements [this can be applied to internal data sharing agreements as well]

INFORMATION IS ACCESSIBLE

o Individuals and organisations must be able to access information about themselves, along with an
explanation of how that information is used by others. This may be either on request or, preferably, by
making it available by default. In effect, such information should be considered as belonging to the
individual, although entrusted to the care of a public body [This should match the FOI/DP policies of
the organisation, however it is more than just compliance, see below]
o This principle goes beyond minimum legal requirements. It advocates a proactive approach which
makes it easy for individuals to access information about themselves, without having to make a
request and even when access is not mandated in legislation. This might be achieved, for example, by
making it securely available online. Information owners need to consider how this can work in practice,
to enable users to view information and perform transactions, for example correcting inaccuracies.
[Much of the data collected is self certified and that may be the quality metric. Making information
accessible has mutual benefits for the individual and the organisation]
o Clearly the desire to publish information does need to be balanced against constraints which may
prevent this. Exclusions would include, for example, legally privileged information, information that is
required to maintain security and information that is competitively sensitive.

SHARED SECTOR INFORMATION IS PUBLISHED

o This principle goes beyond adhering to minimum legal / regulatory requirements and advocates a
proactive approach to presenting, formatting and promoting information in useful formats for wider
consumption, without it needing to be specifically requested or mandated in legislation. [This principle
is in line with the HEDIIP new landscape/shared sector language]
o Consider the different channels available to publish information to the public. This includes internal
publication processes, the use of publication hubs and relationships with third-party ‘information
intermediaries’ such as commercial / academic publishers.
o The benefits of publishing information should be balanced against possible risks and sensitivities, such
as information which could compromise individuals’ privacy, commercial and legally privileged
information, and information that is required to maintain security.

Page 11 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
SECTION 5: DELIVERING DATA GOVERNANCE

[Sample]

Data governance provides the policies, procedures, functions, and the roles and responsibilities
that are needed to support data architecture, data management and business intelligence in the
institution.

Specifically this includes:

 ensure data is secure and well managed, and risks to the organisation are contained
 prevent and correct errors in data
 measure data quality and provide a framework for data quality improvement that is
monitored and assessed
 define the standards to document data and its usage within institution

[Sample governance model]

The main governance body is the Data Governing Board (including any Information Security
Forum). It is responsible for direction and decision-making in support of data governance.

On a day-to-day basis the Data Governance Office is responsible for implementation of data
governance and data assurance.

Page 12 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
The main governance functions include:

 Executive accountable officer for data – includes the role of senior information risk owner
and is ultimately accountable for the security and quality of data
 Information asset owner – accountable and responsible for data governance and data
management for information within each business unit, ensuring all policies and
procedures are implemented and data quality initiatives are implemented
 Data steward – responsible for the application of data governance, data management and
data quality plans on behalf of information assets owners within each business unit

Page 13 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
SECTION 6: DEFINING DATA ARCHITECTURE

[Sample]

The data architecture is a key enabler in implementing data management and business
intelligence.

The data architecture is based on an enterprise model including:

 enterprise data architecture model

 corporate data model consisting of:
o conceptual data model
o logical data model
o physical data model
 business glossary/data dictionary
 data flow model
 master data/metadata definitions

[Note some of these functions may be based in other areas, especially the reference
data/physical layer models. Virtual Data Architecture groups are a possibility but need managing
with care]

CORPORATE DATA MODEL

The corporate data model is developed and maintained pragmatically, as attempting to create a
complete model in one go is an onerous and complex process.

CONCEPTUAL DATA MODEL

The conceptual data model is an unambiguous view of the organisation that provides a high level
technology independent view of the key institutional data assets and represents a complete view
of the data landscape.

LOGICAL DATA MODEL

The logical data model provides a more detailed technology independent view of the data
landscape, and is maintained by the business to capture the data requirements for business
processes to gain a full understanding of the organisation’s data. The logical model is constantly
evolving due to new and changing requirements and is developed on an ‘as needed’ basis to
prioritise requirements and resources to meet business objectives. A detailed and consistent
data model is the basis for the physical model.

PHYSICAL DATA MODEL

The physical data model provides a detailed and unambiguous definition of how data is stored
within the institutions systems. Similar to the logical model, physical models are developed on an
‘as needed’ basis to deliver the business objectives, and are used to generate the data
definitions needed to create and maintain the physical data repositories.

Page 14 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
The enterprise model is documented using recognised industry standards and using a set of
appropriate modelling tools.
BUSINESS GLOSSARY/DATA DICTIONARY

Deploying a common set of data definitions across the organisation is a critical component in
ensuring data quality, maintaining the integrity of data, reducing the cost of cleaning data and
reducing the complexity of data integration by keeping the duplication of data to a minimum.

The benefits of detailing the data architecture are:

1. It provides an unambiguous view of the data in the institution that can be used to
determine the impact on the organisation resulting from changes to the data. It can
be used to define cost, effort and business benefit to ensure changes are affordable
and architecturally sound

2. It provides a view of data that can be used to determine business risk in terms of:
 impact on service due to loss of parts of the data infrastructure
 impact on information lifecycle management (ILM) from data change, with
particular reference to interfaces (both internal and external) between
systems
 risk resulting from data quality issues
 risk from external threats, i.e. security

3. It aids interoperability with our key suppliers and customers of data

ARCHITECTURAL GOVERNANCE

Data changes can have organisation wide impacts and therefore are governed by the wider
architecture group; all data changes will be aligned to the enterprise model.

The following key principles are adhered to in developing and maintaining this model:

 data is documented in the enterprise model

 data conforms to the institution ILM process
 data duplication is kept to a minimum
 all data has a responsible data owner who is responsible for quality and conformance of
data

All data in transit (all internal and external interfaces) is subject to data governance and data
quality policies.

Page 15 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
SECTION 7: IMPLEMENTING DATA MANAGEMENT

[Sample]

The key areas included in data management are:

 an Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) process

 data quality (DQ)
 master data management (MDM)

Data management is supported by the data architecture and data governance.

INFORMATION LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT (ILM)

The ILM capability covers the policies and procedures that support data quality, data logistics
and data integration covering the following five stages:

 creation or acquisition of data

 distribution
 usage
 maintenance
 retention, archiving, disposal

MASTER DATA MANAGEMENT (MDM)

The MDM capability provides the policies, procedures and solutions to manage and maintain
master data within the ILM, and ensure that consistent versions of the same data are used
throughout the institution. The processes within MDM include:

 capture and de-duplication of data

 conflict resolution
 distribution of master data.

DATA QUALITY

A capability is provided that monitors and measures the quality of data as it is captured and
transformed by the institutions processes and is supported by automated toolsets where
appropriate.

The key capabilities provided by data quality management are:

 measuring data quality

 maintaining data integrity
 data cleansing
 minimising data duplication

The core capabilities are delivered by a small team of people who also have responsibility to
manage and administer the enterprise data architecture and corporate data models.

Page 16 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
SECTION 8: IMPLEMENTING BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

[Sample]

The deployment of a BI environment provides the institution with a consistent, trustworthy and
appropriate capability to support the needs of its internal and external customers.

Business intelligence is supported by data governance, data architecture and data management
and is a key contributor to data quality in its own right by delivering the ‘single version of the
truth’.

[Need to add details of any BI Strategy here]

Page 17 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.
SECTION 9: ORGANISATION AND CULTURE

[Sample]

ORGANISATION

Two core organisational functions deliver the Data Strategy:

 Data governance and control

 Data management

DATA GOVERNANCE AND CONTROL

Data governance comprises the data governance “organisation”, plus policies, procedures,
processes and standards. [List all parties and reference Data Governance Charter]

Compliance with data governance is a corporate as well as individual responsibility and

compliance is monitored and evaluated in the first instance through the Data Governing Board
and in turn through the corporate governance framework.

DATA MANAGEMENT

To ensure that the institution is successful in delivering timely, robust, consistent, high-quality
data it has the organisational capability to develop and maintain data assets in line with
governance policies, procedures and standards.

Responsibility for the ownership and management of individual data assets is delegated to the
appropriate business function, who are supported by data stewards. In addition, the data
management team supports data quality through data management and master data
management capabilities.

CULTURE

Our data assets are at the heart of the business. We aim to unlock the power of the data assets
by engendering more understanding within the business about how data can be employed to
improve operational performance, evaluate options and make better sustainable decisions.

It is essential that everyone who works for the institution understands their responsibilities for
maintaining the integrity and quality of our data assets, complying with data legislation and
regulations, and keeping the data assets safe and secure.

Training covering data protection, information security and Freedom of Information forms a
mandatory part of the induction programme for all institution staff and contractors and refresher
training and communications are undertaken regularly.

Page 18 of 18
Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England at 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
Registered No. 02766993. Registered Charity No. 1039709. Certified to ISO 27001. The members are Universities UK and GuildHE.