The Reluctant Data Owners

The implementation of a campus-wide Data Management System created a new demand for data reports. Top management assigned the functional units the responsibilities to collect data at the points of transaction, and the functional managers became responsible for the proper release of the data for approved usage. The new responsibility was added without additional resources, and most functional units delegated the tasks to the lowest level staff members. The functional units continued to use paper-based data collection instruments and relied on low-cost staff for data entry. There were minimal guidelines for data quality assurance and the accuracy of the resulting database was questionable.

The new responsibility as owners of functional data took managers by surprise. Many managers hesitated to release data for the fear of giving out inaccurate data and the possible violation of information privacy when the data ended up in the wrong hands. Managers would release data only with the explicit instructions from top management. As a result, only a privileged few were able to have access to the database.

After years and the assertive effort of a budget planner, functional managers finally agreed to certify a version of the database as "official data," but there was no mechanism to ensure the credibility of the database in the long-term. Different versions of "official data" existed under various circumstances, and there was a lack of interest within the organization to ensure data integrity.

Challenge Two: There is a need for the clear definitions of data ownership, and responsibilities for data acquisition, data quality control, and data distribution. This is especially challenging in cultural environment where the political attributes of information interfere with the communicative value of information.