Responsibilities of Data Owners

Data owners have 3 key responsibilities.

First, accuracy of data.

Data owners reside in business. Their teams enter data into applications. Complete and accurate data are important for building reliable data for consumption. Otherwise, garbage-in, garbage-out.

Second, up-to-date data.

Time-sensitive information requires frequent updates. For example, delivery of goods by vendors. It is important for stores to know when the next delivery date is as inventory runs low.

Data owners need to ensure their teams are diligent in keeping time-sensitive information up-to-date.

Third, access to data.

Data owners identify who needs to use the data and for what purpose. What a customer service rep needs to access is very different from what an account manager needs. This is particularly important with sensitive data. So data owners need to specify the extent of access by different users.

These 3 responsibilities ensure that data quality is maintained so users have reliable data they can trust for decision making.