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Data Governance Fundamentals

A Practical Guide to Managing Data as a Strategic Asset

This book is 100% completeLast updated on 2026-05-26
Jan-Willem Middelburg

Most organisations know their data is a problem. Few know how to fix it. Data Governance Fundamentals gives you the complete framework — built around the EBDF and aligned to the DASCIN certification - to build governance that actually works: not governance on paper, but governance in the data itself.

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About

About

About the Book

Data is one of the most strategically significant assets an organisation possesses. It is also one of the most consistently ungoverned. The consequences - regulatory sanctions, unreliable decisions, failed analytics investments, and the quiet erosion of trust in data across the organisation - are well documented. The solution is data governance. Not as a compliance exercise, but as a genuine organisational capability built on authority, accountability, and principled practice.

Data Governance Fundamentals is the authoritative study companion for the DASCIN Data Governance Fundamentals certification, the industry's foundational qualification for data governance professionals. Built around the Enterprise Big Data Framework (EBDF) - the same framework that underpins the DASCIN examination — this book provides a rigorous, end-to-end treatment of every component of the framework: from the leadership and governance structures that provide authority, through the standards, policies, and processes that translate that authority into practice, to the nine observable data management properties that governance must produce in the data itself.

What distinguishes this book from a generic introduction to data governance is its depth of argument. Rather than cataloguing concepts and definitions, each chapter builds a case: why each governance component matters, how it fails in practice, what the organisational and human dynamics of its implementation look like, and how it connects to the components above and below it in the EBDF architecture. The result is a book that prepares readers not just to recall governance principles under exam conditions, but to reason about governance problems with the analytical confidence that the DASCIN examination - and real governance practice - demands.

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About the Author

Jan-Willem Middelburg

Jan-Willem Middelburg is a Dutch entrepreneur and author with a passion for technology and innovation. He is the CEO and co-founder of Cybiant, a global technology that company that helps to create a more sustainable world through analytics, big data and automation. He is also President and Chief Examiner of the Enterprise Big Data Framework, an independent organization dedicated to upskilling individuals with expertise in Big Data. In partnership with APMG-International, the Enterprise Big Data Framework offers vendor-neutral certifications for individuals.

Contents

Table of Contents

Foreword

1. What Is Data Governance?

  1. 1.1 Data as an Organisational Asset
  2. 1.2 The Cost of Poor Data Governance
  3. 1.3 Governance, Management, and Stewardship
  4. 1.4 The Key Drivers of Data Governance
  5. 1.5 The Evolution of Data Governance
  6. 1.6 Chapter Review Questions

2. The Enterprise Big Data Framework Governance System

  1. 2.1 Why Governance Frameworks Matter
  2. 2.2 The Enterprise Big Data Framework: An Overview
  3. 2.3 Leadership and Governance Capability
  4. 2.4 Data Governance Capability
  5. 2.5 Data Management Capability
  6. 2.6 How the Three Layers Interact
  7. 2.7 The EBDF and the DASCIN Certification Pathway
  8. 2.8 Chapter Review Questions

3. Data Strategy and Governance Vision

  1. 3.1 Data Strategy and Organisational Strategy
  2. 3.2 Articulating the Governance Vision
  3. 3.3 The Data Governance Charter
  4. 3.4 Governance Maturity Models
  5. 3.5 Building the Business Case for Data Governance
  6. 3.6 From Strategy to Roadmap
  7. 3.7 Chapter Review Questions

4. Roles, Responsibilities, and Data Stewardship

  1. 4.1 Why Human Accountability is the Foundation of Governance
  2. 4.2 The Governance Role Landscape
  3. 4.3 The Data Governance Council
  4. 4.4 Data Ownership: The Business Accountability Imperative
  5. 4.5 Data Stewardship in Practice
  6. 4.6 RACI Frameworks and Accountability Documentation
  7. 4.7 Building and Sustaining the Stewardship Network
  8. 4.8 Chapter Review Questions

5. Legal and Regulatory Compliance

  1. 5.1 The Regulatory Landscape for Data
  2. 5.2 Translating Regulation into Governance Obligations
  3. 5.3 Data Classification for Compliance
  4. 5.4 The Data Protection Officer in the Governance System
  5. 5.5 Privacy by Design and Data Subject Rights
  6. 5.6 Audit Readiness and Regulatory Horizon Management
  7. 5.7 Chapter Review Questions

6. Data Risk Management

  1. 6.1 Data Risk: Scope and Significance
  2. 6.2 Categories of Data Risk
  3. 6.3 Risk Assessment: Identifying and Evaluating Data Risk
  4. 6.4 The Data Risk Register
  5. 6.5 Risk Appetite and Tolerance
  6. 6.6 Data Risk and Enterprise Risk Management
  7. 6.7 From Risk Assessment to Governance Action
  8. 6.8 Chapter Review Questions

7. Data Standards

  1. 7.1 What Data Standards Are — and What They Are Not
  2. 7.2 The Taxonomy of Data Standards
  3. 7.3 The Data Standards Lifecycle
  4. 7.4 The Business Glossary
  5. 7.5 Standards Enforcement
  6. 7.6 Standards and Interoperability
  7. 7.7 Chapter Review Questions

8. Data Policies

  1. 8.1 Policies, Standards, and Processes: Clarifying the Relationships
  2. 8.2 The Policy Hierarchy
  3. 8.3 Core Data Policy Types
  4. 8.4 The Data Policy Lifecycle
  5. 8.5 Policy Communication and Organisational Culture
  6. 8.6 Policy Proportionality and the Exception Process
  7. 8.7 Chapter Review Questions

9. Data Governance Processes

  1. 9.1 What Governance Processes Are and Why They Matter
  2. 9.2 A Taxonomy of Governance Processes
  3. 9.3 The Governance Meeting Cadence and Decision-Making Process
  4. 9.4 The Escalation Framework
  5. 9.5 Data Asset Onboarding
  6. 9.6 Change Management for Data
  7. 9.7 The Data Quality Issue Resolution Process
  8. 9.8 Performance Review and Continuous Improvement
  9. 9.9 Chapter Review Questions

10. Data Quality: Accuracy, Consistency, and Integrity

  1. 10.1 Data Quality as a Governance Outcome
  2. 10.2 The Data Quality Dimensions Framework
  3. 10.3 Data Accuracy
  4. 10.4 Data Consistency
  5. 10.5 Data Integrity
  6. 10.6 Measuring and Monitoring Data Quality
  7. 10.7 Chapter Review Questions

11. Data Security and Confidentiality

  1. 11.1 Security and Confidentiality as Governance Properties
  2. 11.2 Classification as the Foundation of Security Governance
  3. 11.3 The Access Control Framework
  4. 11.4 Technical Security Controls as Governance Instruments
  5. 11.5 Insider Risk and the Organisational Dimension of Confidentiality
  6. 11.6 Data Breach Response as a Governance Process
  7. 11.7 Third-Party Security Obligations
  8. 11.8 Chapter Review Questions

12. Data Privacy, Auditability, Accessibility, and Availability

  1. 12.1 The Four Properties as a Governance System
  2. 12.2 Data Privacy
  3. 12.3 Data Auditability
  4. 12.4 Data Accessibility
  5. 12.5 Data Availability
  6. 12.6 The Four Properties in Systemic Balance
  7. 12.7 Chapter Review Questions

13. Implementing a Data Governance Programme

  1. 13.1 The Three Distinctive Challenges of Governance Implementation
  2. 13.2 Establishing the Foundation: What Must Come First
  3. 13.3 A Phased Implementation Model
  4. 13.4 Common Failure Modes and How to Prevent Them
  5. 13.5 Change Management and Stakeholder Engagement
  6. 13.6 Building and Sustaining the Governance Operating Rhythm
  7. 13.7 Measuring Implementation Success
  8. 13.8 Chapter Review Questions

14. Data Governance Tools and Technologies

  1. 14.1 The Role of Technology in Data Governance
  2. 14.2 The Governance Toolscape: Categories and Functions
  3. 14.3 The Data Catalogue in Depth
  4. 14.4 Selecting and Sequencing Tool Investments
  5. 14.5 Tool Integration and the Governance Toolstack
  6. 14.6 AI-Assisted Governance
  7. 14.7 Avoiding Tool-First Governance: A Summary Principle
  8. 14.8 Chapter Review Questions

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