Inés Jiménez Jiménez

Data management is key to business competitiveness, and data governance is a fundamental element for building trust, driving innovation, and creating value. It's not just about collecting information, but about establishing principles, rules, and roles that ensure its quality, integrity, and security across the entire organization. When properly governed, data becomes a strategic asset that drives decision-making, fosters collaboration, and enables the company to evolve into a system where information flows and sustains the entire organizational ecosystem. The organization as a living organism: data and systems in balance Systems thinking is a way of understanding reality as an interconnected whole, where each part influences the whole and vice versa. It encourages us to see reality not as a sum of isolated parts, but as a set of interdependent, connected components. Instead of tackling problems in a linear or isolated way, this approach seeks to understand the dynamics, flows, and relationships that keep a complex system running. An excellent example of a complex system is the human body. It doesn't behave like a machine made up of separate parts, but rather as a living, adaptive, coordinated, and resilient system in which each organ performs a specific function, yet all are interrelated: blood, for example, transports oxygen, nutrients, and information; veins and arteries enable this flow; the immune system protects against external threats, while metabolism regulates balance and energy availability. Systems thinking teaches us that, in an organization, balance and interconnection between all parts are essential for its health and resilience. All of this happens in dynamic balance: when one part of the body fails, others try to compensate—but that balance can only be maintained up to a point. If blood stops circulating, if information doesn't reach its destination, if the immune system doesn't respond... the entire organism is affected. The company as an interconnected system: the vital flow of data A company operates in a similar way. It's not just a group of people, departments, goals, tools, or systems. In this analogy: Functional areas are the organs that perform specific tasks. Processes are the veins that connect decisions, people, and technology. Data is the blood that brings the system to life: it flows, nourishes, and alerts. Leadership and control systems act as the brain. And Cyber Security, operations, or compliance play the immune system's role, maintaining business integrity and continuity. When we see the company as a system, we understand that data is not a by-product, but a strategic asset. Without data flowing reliably through well-defined processes, the business organism loses its ability to respond and make clear decisions. Applying systems thinking helps us understand that a local decision can have global effects, that visible symptoms often have invisible causes, and that a system's health depends on balance—not on perfection in each part. Data is not a by-product, but the strategic asset that brings life and purpose to the business system. Data governance: key to organizational health Just as a blood test reveals the state of the body’s health, data reveals the state of the business. But for this information to be useful, it must be governed rigorously. Data governance is the framework that ensures the data we manage is reliable, secure, accessible, and valuable for business management. Data governance is the set of processes, policies, roles, and technologies that ensure data is managed consistently, efficiently, and securely throughout the organization. It's not just about 'monitoring' or 'limiting', but about structuring, contextualizing, facilitating reuse, and—above all—ensuring the value of data throughout its entire lifecycle: from the moment it is generated to when it's consumed for decision-making. It travels through the system while also following its own journey: from information to knowledge. One of the reference frameworks is the one proposed by DAMA (Data Management Association International), an approach that allows data to be tackled in a structured and cross-functional way, helping different areas to speak a common language when it comes to sharing, consuming, or protecting data. Two key roles: Data Owner and Data Steward For this model to work, it is essential to define who does what. Two fundamental roles are: The Data Owner is ultimately responsible for a dataset: defines how it is used, authorizes its sharing, and ensures it complies with internal and external (regulatory, legal, and ethical) policies. The Data Steward ensures the data’s quality, definition, and consistency. They handle day-to-day tasks: identifying errors, applying validation rules, maintaining metadata, and collaborating with other areas to ensure the data is useful. A Data Steward may be someone from a functional team who, although not in BI, has deep knowledge of their area’s data and validates it regularly. Data governance is not just about control—it's the foundation that ensures data is reliable, useful, and value-generating across the organization. Data governance, a key pillar for Telefónica Tech At Telefónica Tech, data governance is a fundamental pillar: we manage critical and massive data, which demands a structured and rigorous approach. Our priority is to establish clear processes and roles that ensure the quality, integrity, and security of information at all levels of the organization. This fosters cross-functional collaboration and guarantees that every piece of data is reliable, accessible, and secure—supporting strategic decision-making and delivering value to both clients and the company. This cross-cutting and responsible vision makes data management part of our way of working, driving trust, innovation, and operational excellence. Some key aspects that support this approach include: We manage massive volumes of critical data. We operate in sectors where trust, traceability, and information protection are essential. Our services require well-defined and governed data to deliver real value. We aim for every decision to be backed by reliable, accessible, and secure data. Our commitment to data is not a one-off project, but a way of working, with responsibility, efficiency, and future vision. The goal is clear: to improve decisions, reduce risk, accelerate innovation, and increase the value we deliver to our clients and the entire organization. Applying a solid model, with clear roles and a collaborative approach (not just from the Business Intelligence team—data is everyone's responsibility) is what will enable us to keep leading with purpose and impact. ■ At Telefónica Tech, we help you implement a Data Governance Office to drive knowledge and innovation in your business. Find out more → AI & Data From suspicion to trust: the real journey to better Data Governance May 20, 2025