5 Pillars for Democratizing Data at Your Organization

Lessons from digital native companies.

November 24, 2023

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Many companies have made becoming data-driven a goal, and yet many traditional organizations are still struggling to democratize data beyond the data experts. The authors state that companies must adopt a new management paradigm to truly democratize data, and offer 5 pillars to create a “data democracy”: 1) Broaden data access by rolling-out data catalogs and marketplaces, 2) stimulate the generation of data-driven insights through self-service, 3) level up data literacy with specific curricula for personas or role families, 4) advance data practices by creating communities, and 5) promote data through various corporate communication channels.

Becoming “data-driven” has been a north star for most companies, and those who have not yet managed to infuse data into their organization’s cultural DNA, preventing its use at scale, are now lagging behind their competitors — and the disparity is growing. However, integrating and leveraging data from all corners of the organization is no easy feat, as even digital natives such as Airbnb, Netflix, Uber, and the like have struggled since it isn’t possible to have a data scientist in every room.

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Hippolyte Lefebvre is a researcher at the Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC) at the University of Lausanne and at the Competence Center for Corporate Data Quality. His work, featured at international conferences, helps companies to create more value from their data by democratizing it beyond the data experts community.

Christine Legner is a Professor of Information Systems at the Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC), University of Lausanne. She is the co-founder and academic director of the Competence Center for Corporate Data Quality where she and her research team collaborate directly with industry experts to develop concepts, tools and methods that advance the field and practices of data management.

Elizabeth A. Teracino, Ph.D., is a senior researcher and advisor in data, digital and sustainability transformations at the Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC) at the University of Lausanne and at the Competence Center for Corporate Data Quality.