Data stewardship is the set of activities that ensure data-related work is performed according to policies and practices as established through governance.
Data stewardship falls under the umbrella of data governance. But whereas data governance establishes high-level policies for protecting data against loss, corruption, theft, or misuse, data stewardship focuses on making sure those policies are followed for a function, department, or even a set of data itself.
Data stewardship is a team effort, and the roles are unique yet interdependent. The three distinct roles are data custodians, data stewards, and data trustees.
Data Custodians
Our “data custodians” (e.g., analysts) are responsible for enforcing the rules and decisions established for data by the “data stewards.” This includes ensuring:
- Data is only collected, generated, used or stored for legitimate University business needs or as required by law;
- Individuals are granted access to data based on principle of Least Privilege;
- All individuals granted access to data are aware of the applicable laws, policies, standards and regulations to which the data is subject;
- Data is marked appropriately based on its classification;
- Processes are established and documented to maintain data Integrity; and
- Appropriate safeguards are in place to secure the data based on its classification.
Data Stewards
"Data stewards” (e.g., directors) make decisions and are held accountable for data in their functional areas. Data stewards are responsible for the following within their functional areas:
- Classifying data appropriately;
- Creating functional definitions and usage guidelines based on legitimate business needs or as required by law;
- Creating standards and guidelines to support appropriate data use, data quality, and management procedures;
- Identifying Data Custodians for designated functional areas;
- Ensuring data is secured appropriately based on its classification;
- Reviewing the data at least every three years and re-classifying any records as necessary to comply with law; and
- Identifying a data retention schedule and ensuring secure destruction when it has reached the end of its retention period.
Data Trustees
Our “data trustees” (e.g., vice presidents) are accountable for managing, protecting and ensuring the integrity and usefulness of University data and for upholding policies and laws applicable to WVU data. They also:
- Serve on the data governance steering committee;
- Possess decision rights for enacting governance policies;
- Define goals, rules and policies for the program; and
- Approve, fund and prioritize projects to address data and analytics needs.