Data Governance

Data governance is a term used on both a macro and a micro level. The former is a political concept and
forms part of international relations and Internet governance; the latter is a data management concept
and forms part of corporate data governance.

Macro level
On the macro level, data governance refers to the governing of cross-border data flows by countries, and
hence is more precisely called international data governance. This new[when?] field consists of "norms,
principles and rules governing various types of data."

There have been several international groups established by research organizations that aim to grant
access to their data. These groups that enable an exchange of data are, as a result, exposed to domestic
and international legal interpretations that ultimately decide how data is used. However, as of 2023, there
are no international laws or agreements specifically focused on data protection.

Micro level
Here the focus is on an individual company. Here data governance is a data management concept
concerning the capability that enables an organization to ensure that high data quality exists throughout
the complete lifecycle of the data, and data controls are implemented that support business objectives.
The key focus areas of data governance include availability, usability, consistency, data integrity and data
security, and standards compliance. The practice also includes establishing processes to ensure effective
data management throughout the enterprise, such as accountability for the adverse effects of poor data
quality, and ensuring that the data which an enterprise has can be used by the entire organization.