Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2023. Read them in this 15th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Data Literacy Will Become Essential to Accelerating Business Value for Enterprises
By Lori Witzel, Director of Research for
Analytics and Data Management at TIBCO
The struggle to turn data into business value
is real, and enterprises that can't make the shift will lag further behind
their competition. Although Chief Data Officers (CDOs) and data leaders
rightfully focus on the technologies that support getting value from data, such
as master data management and data virtualization, there's another area where
their leadership is vital. In 2023, data literacy will become essential in
accelerating business value for enterprises, and more technologists will begin
to lead in the "people" facet of the data value chain.
Why data literacy is imperative
Without at least a baseline level of data
literacy across business users, the most robust data management solutions won't
enable data teams to extract full value from enterprise data effectively. According to a top analyst firm, data literate
workers have an understanding of data sources and constructs, the analytical
methods and techniques applied, and the ability to describe the use case,
application, and resulting value.
As we look to the new year, data leaders will
shift their focus towards data literacy to sharpen their organization's
competitive edge. Leaders will understand that the journey to data value
requires enabling business users to use data for decision making, helping
enterprises to meet their goals.
Data
literacy will accelerate business value in the following ways:
- Organization-wide
efficiency: Having more data literate business users, in combination with governed
access, will enable democratized, self-service insights, conserving valuable
analyst and data scientist time.
- More contributors
unlocking data value: Data monetization efforts, whether direct or indirect,
will benefit when more employees are data literate and can assist in ways
specific to the enterprise's initiatives.
- More capacity across the
organization: Building a culture of data literacy will enable more employees to
contribute to solving the toughest problems the organization may face.
- More competitive advantage. By enabling more
data-driven value, efficiency, capacity, and satisfaction, enterprises will be
better positioned to outperform the competition.
The
challenge: lead for data literacy, or lag behind competition in 2023
To
begin driving business value, CDOs should become the executive sponsors for
organization-wide data literacy initiatives. While CDOs often focus on the
technologies and processes needed to turn data into a competitive advantage,
the future of business value acceleration in 2023 will depend on CDO leadership
to drive data literacy throughout their organization. With executive
sponsorship of data literacy training programs, CDOs can actively address
existing skill gaps and ensure employees feel more empowered to make positive,
high-impact contributions at work.
Increasing enterprises' employee engagement
and value through data will be an increasing priority in 2023. The ongoing
volatility in supply chains will continue to drive "big bet" changes in
strategy like reshoring. The ongoing competition for talent will continue to
test organizational agility in strategies reliant on data science. And all
changes in strategy will require data-driven decisions. Data literacy, in
combination with data-focused Centers of Excellence, will lay the groundwork
for a true digital transformation-not just in technologies, but in an
enterprise's people.
This democratization of data in the service of
greater agility means that governed data access can empower everyone in the
enterprise to spark new insights and capitalize on new trends. With increasing
levels of data literacy, more people can take that data and turn insights into
actionable data-driven decisions. As executive sponsors for data literacy
initiatives, CDOs can provide the enterprise with a deeper understanding of how
data can help the business meet its goals. Their leadership will also help to
ensure that data literacy initiatives aren't siloed in the journey toward more
data value.
Enterprises have access to more data than ever
before. As enterprises refocus their strategies during these challenging times,
and as the business world seeks ever more value from data, it will be
imperative for business and technical leaders to double down on data literacy.
Organizations that embrace data literacy, leading from the top through CDOs in
2023, will have what it takes to thrive in a rapidly changing, competitive
market.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lori Witzel, Director
of Research for Analytics and Data Management at TIBCO
Lori Witzel is Director of Research for Data Management and Analytics at TIBCO. She develops and shares perspectives on improving business outcomes through digital transformation, human-centered artificial intelligence, and data literacy. Providing guidance for business people on topical issues such as AI regulation, trust and transparency, and sustainability, she helps customers get more value from data while managing risk. Lori collaborates with partners and others within and beyond TIBCO as part of TIBCO’s global thought leadership team.