New NFP Promotes Responsible Data
4 October 2016 at 4:55 pm
A national Not for Profit association has been launched to promote the responsible use of data, effective governance and management to help safeguard Australia’s fast-growing digital economy.
Data Governance Australia (DGA), established by the Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA), has been tasked with establishing best practice industry standards and benchmarks around the collection, use and management of data in Australia.
It aims to provide education, thought leadership and advocacy services to its members to promote and foster understanding of how data can be used responsibly to drive innovation and competitive advantage while complying with all regulatory requirements.
Former ACCC chair and current Monash Business School professor Graeme Samuel, who will chair the institute alongside 12 founding board members, said advances in data technology and capabilities had transformed the way Australian businesses use, store and manage data over the last decade.
“Used effectively and managed responsibly, data can drive innovation, revenue growth and customer experience,” Samuel said.
“However, in a world of almost infinite data storage and use, it is incumbent upon all sectors of industry to ensure that stringent self-regulation and best-practice is applied to retain consumer confidence and avoid heavy-handed federal regulation.”
DGA will work with the country’s biggest corporations and leaders in the data space, including Qantas, Woolworths, Coles, Westpac and Sentre Group (Westfield), to advocate for best practice, help shape regulatory framework and provide training courses, accreditation and knowledge sharing.
In a joint statement, ADMA CEO Jodie Sangster, and DGA GM Murray Hyde said: “Data is driving whole of business strategies, not just media and marketing, and so the timing is right to launch an association to serve the whole spectrum of Australian business and not just their marketing function.”
We have launched! DGA Chair, @GraemeSamuel speaking at our launch event this morning in Melbourne. pic.twitter.com/hkcezNkfkJ
— DGA (@DataGovAus) October 3, 2016
Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis, who officially opened the institute at a breakfast panel in Melbourne on Tuesday, said he welcomed the opportunity for strengthening Victoria’s data capabilities and further cementing the state’s reputation as a hub for cyber security.
“Not only will increasing our data capabilities boost our growing expertise in cyber security, it will help safeguard our fast-growing digital economy and be a significant economic driver for Victoria in years to come,” Dalidakis said.
“These agencies will boost jobs across the state and cement our reputation as Australia’s tech leader, building data-driven infrastructure and running activities across the country from Victoria.”
Dalidakis said the Andrews government had also worked with ADMA to bring the headquarters of Australia’s national representative body for analytics professionals, the Institute for Analytics Professionals Australia (IAPA), to Melbourne along with their national conference, which will be held in Melbourne for the first time this week.
It forms part of the government’s push to strengthen the state’s capabilities in relation to data analytics, governance and security.
Victoria is leading the nation in cyber security initiatives with the announcement of the new Oceania Cyber Security Centre which will collaborate with Oxford University’s Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre (GCSCC) and Data61, the digital research arm of the CSIRO, all collocating in Melbourne’s Docklands.
