Start here: your data governance learning path
Everything on this site, in the order to learn it. Seven stages from the basics to certification, each with a few articles, tools and simulators that build on the last.
There is a lot on this site, and it is sorted by kind: articles, tools, simulators. That helps if you know what you are looking for. This page is for when you don't. It puts the same content in the order I would teach it, from what governance is to running it in a real organisation.
Follow it from the top, or use "Where should I start?" to jump to the stage that fits you. Every step opens the full page. Your progress is saved in this browser, so you can stop and come back to the same place.
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Stage 1 of 7Stage complete
The basics
What you'll learn: What data governance is, what it is not, and the vocabulary everyone else on the site assumes.
- Article Introduction to the Basics of a Data Governance Program The six building blocks every governance programme is made of. 8 min read
- Article What Data Governance Is and What It Is Not: 5 Common Misconceptions Five misconceptions that derail programmes before they start. 8 min read
- Article Data Governance vs. Data Management: Key Differences & Real Examples Where governance ends and management begins, with real examples. 9 min read
- Reference Glossary Plain definitions of the terms you will meet from here on. Keep it open.
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Stage 2 of 7Stage complete
Why it matters
What you'll learn: The business case: why organisations invest in governance, and how to put a number on bad data.
- Article The Evolution of Data in Companies: Why the Time for Data Governance is Now How companies got from spreadsheets to dashboard overload, and why now. 5 min read
- Article Why Do Companies Implement Data Governance? Reactive vs. Proactive Strategies Reactive versus proactive: the two reasons programmes get started. 6 min read
- Article Why Data Quality is a Business Imperative: The Hidden ROI of Clean Data The hidden return on clean data, in terms a business sponsor recognises. 5 min read
- Free tool Cost of bad data calculator Estimate what your data problems cost per year, with a method you can defend.
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Stage 3 of 7Stage complete
Where are you?
What you'll learn: How to diagnose your starting point before deciding what to fix first.
- Article Identifying and Addressing Data Pain Points: The First Step in Data Governance Find the pain points that will earn your programme its first sponsor. 9 min read
- Article Charting Your Course: The Essential Guide to Data Governance Maturity Assessments What a maturity assessment measures, and how to read the result. 6 min read
- Free tool Maturity assessment Score your own organisation and get a report of where to start.
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Stage 4 of 7Stage complete
Build the foundations
What you'll learn: The pillars, roles and operating model that turn governance from a policy into a routine.
- Framework The pillars of data governance The framework this site is built on, based on DAMA, pillar by pillar.
- Article Why Data Governance Is All About People, Process, Technology… and Data Why people and process come before any tool. 8 min read
- Article Who Owns the Data? Bridging the Accountability Gap in Modern Governance Owners, stewards and custodians: closing the accountability gap. 5 min read
- Article Building a Data Governance Operating Model That People Actually Use Who decides what, on what evidence, by when. 6 min read
- Free tool Templates Ready-made templates for policies, roles and processes.
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Stage 5 of 7Stage complete
Practise
What you'll learn: Make real governance decisions in safe scenarios and see how your choices compare.
- Simulator Day-to-day governance The everyday calls a governance lead makes, one scenario at a time.
- Simulator Who owns this data? Untangle ownership disputes between departments.
- Simulator Data literacy Test how well you read, question and explain data.
- Simulator What the public runs show What everyone else got wrong, and the lessons in it.
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Stage 6 of 7Stage complete
Make it stick
What you'll learn: Culture, literacy and change management: what keeps a programme alive after launch.
- Article The Overlooked Chapter: Why Change Management Is the Key to Data Governance Success Why change management decides whether governance is adopted. 6 min read
- Article Unlocking True Data-Driven Potential: Why Data Literacy Rules Governance Data literacy as the multiplier on everything else. 8 min read
- Article From Data Tyranny to Data Democracy: Making Data Work for Everyone Opening data up to everyone without losing control of it. 6 min read
- Community Confession Wall Read the anonymous stories of real data teams, and share your own.
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Stage 7 of 7Stage complete
Go further
What you'll learn: AI governance, the CDMP certification, and ready-to-use playbooks for your programme.
- Article Responsible AI Starts with Data Governance What responsible AI asks of your data before it asks of your models. 6 min read
- Free tool Playbooks Step-by-step playbooks for data governance and AI governance.
- Simulator CDMP exam practice Practice questions in the style of the DAMA CDMP exam.
When you want guidance from a person
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