Data Stewardship

The comprehensive management of data assets to ensure quality, usability, security, and compliance throughout the data lifecycle. Data stewardship encompasses establishing data governance structures, defining data ownership and accountability, implementing quality management processes, maintaining data documentation and metadata, ensuring regulatory compliance, managing data access and security, and promoting appropriate data use. Effective stewardship requires cross-functional collaboration between business units, IT, legal, compliance, and security teams. For privacy compliance, data stewardship includes maintaining data inventories, documenting processing activities, ensuring data accuracy, implementing retention policies, managing third-party relationships, and facilitating data subject rights. Data stewardship programs typically include governance frameworks, defined roles and responsibilities, policies and standards, training and awareness, monitoring and metrics, and continuous improvement processes. Strong data stewardship creates organizational culture where data is treated as valuable asset requiring responsible management.