who is a data steward?

The data steward role emerged in the early 2000s as organizations grappled with the explosion of digital information. As data became a strategic asset, concerns arose about its quality, security, and compliance with regulations. Enter the data steward: a champion tasked with overseeing the well-being of an organization's data assets.

Popularity for this role soared with the rise of data governance initiatives and the implementation of stricter data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Data stewards became crucial in navigating the complexities of data management, ensuring data accuracy, accessibility, and responsible usage.

Their responsibilities are multifaceted, encompassing everything from defining data ownership and access controls to managing data quality and ensuring adherence to data governance policies. They act as a bridge between technical and business teams, translating data needs into actionable plans and ensuring data is used effectively to drive informed decision-making.

Data stewards play a critical role in ensuring the quality, security, and responsible use of data within an organization. Their work could revolve around multiple areas, such as:

One, data governance and policy.

Here, a data steward would be involved in defining and enforcing data governance policies, collaborating with stakeholders, monitoring compliance, etc.

Two, data quality and management.

The data steward could be actively working on defining data standards & formats, monitoring data quality, and ensuring proper documentation takes place for data origin, transformation, as well as usage to maintain traceability and accountability.

Three, data security and access control.

A data steward’s role would require defining and enforcing data access controls, implementing security measures, and staying updated on data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, etc. They would work in tandem with other teams to ensure the right data security measures are implemented across the organization.

Last and most importantly, communication and collaboration.

Data stewards act as an important liaison between the technical and the business teams, acting as a bridge between the technical aspects of data management and the business needs of different departments. They are responsible for promoting data literacy in the organization. Their contributions play a critical role in enabling data-driven decision-making in the organization since they are responsible for translating data insights into actionable plans for various data functions.