Organisations collect more data than ever, from transaction systems, field surveys, sensors and digital services, yet many still struggle to answer a basic question consistently: which figure is correct? Poor governance leads to duplicated records, failed audits, privacy breaches and analytics that no one believes. Good governance, by contrast, gives leaders a shared version of the truth and lets teams reuse data safely.

This programme presents proven practices in a sequence that mirrors implementation. Participants first define why governance is needed for their institution and secure sponsorship, then build the operating model: council, domains, owners, custodians and stewards. They learn to write policies, standards and decision rights, to document critical data elements, and to align governance with data protection obligations and records rules. A central block addresses data quality, from profiling and measurement to remediation and prevention at the point of capture.

Participants also look at metadata management, cataloguing tools, lineage, master data and access controls, and consider how to embed stewardship in daily roles rather than treating it as an extra task. Teaching is workshop-based, with templates, profiling exercises and a case organisation that participants help to govern. Everyone completes a roadmap with quick wins, a stewardship role description and a quality scorecard they can adapt on return.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Build the business case and secure sponsorship for a data governance programme.
• Design an operating model with councils, owners, custodians and stewards.
• Write data policies, standards and decision rights suited to their organisation.
• Profile data and define measurable quality rules across key dimensions.
• Manage issues from detection to root cause remediation.
• Document metadata, business glossaries and lineage in a catalogue.
• Apply access, retention and privacy controls consistently.
• Assess governance maturity and plan a phased roadmap.

The course is designed for professionals who create, manage or depend on organisational data, including:

• Data managers and chief data officers
• Business intelligence and data analysts
• Database and data warehouse administrators
• Records, information and knowledge managers
• Internal auditors and compliance officers
• Monitoring, evaluation and statistics officers
• ERP and core banking system owners
• Data protection officers

Participants leave with:

• A governance charter and role descriptions for owners and stewards.
• A starter data policy and standards set.
• A data quality rule library and scorecard layout.
• A business glossary and catalogue entry template.
• A prioritised roadmap with quick wins and milestones.
• A maturity self-assessment they can repeat each year.

Delivery is practical and template-driven, combining:

• Expert-led walkthroughs of each knowledge area
• A case organisation whose data problems participants diagnose together
• Profiling labs on sample extracts
• Template workshops for charters, policies and scorecards
• Group review of each participant's roadmap

A CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion, issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy, recognises participants who attend all sessions and complete the governance exercises.