Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Data governance (DG) is a developing field that has garnered significant attention in recent years. DG includes persons accountable for data quality (the stewards), policies and processes related to data collection, management, storage, security, and reporting, regulatory compliance, and the information technology platforms and support that ensure efficient infrastructure. Higher education institutions are increasingly prioritising digital governance as we enter a stringent financial landscape that emphasises performance metrics, objectives, cost reduction, and accountability. Effective DG can help universities manage their institutional data by establishing frameworks, accountabilities, policies, procedures, guidelines and processes that leverage technology tools. In universities, data management issues regarding their information systems are a common problem, leading to erroneous and inconsistent data that hampers the effectiveness of these institutions. Insufficient handling of data content, records administration, quality, care, and governance contributes to these data management challenges. Additionally, previous studies have shown that many universities struggle to derive value from their data assets. This study attempts to bridge the gap by exploring the literature, common standards, comparative frameworks, challenges, and critical success factors pertaining to DG practices. By so doing, it provides a suggested data governance framework (DGF) drawn from the literature which focuses on elements of data governance to meet the objectives of the study. This research adopted a mixed-methods approach with a design science research methodology to gain a deep understanding of the subject area. Data collection involved a DG maturity assessment questionnaire and a focus group with key staff to determine the current level of data governance at Nelson Mandela University. Outputs from the data collections instruments were analysed and provide input to the model and the final DGF. This DGF aims to effectively guide, control, and manage the university’s DG efforts, mitigating risks, promoting effective data trust and management. This can aid universities to work towards ensuring that data is accurate, reliable, and consistent.,Thesis (MPhil) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, School of Information Technology, 2025
Author: van Leeve, Garreth
Language: English
Topic: Data Quality and Management
Subfield: Information Systems
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7220794679