Fundamentals of Data Quality

Michael Scofield

Wednesday, April 7, 2004

Networking @ 5:45; Business @ 6:45; Program @ 7:00 PM

Countrywide, 2900 Madera, Simi Valley, CA 93065

Data and information is an important, albeit intangible asset of every enterprise. The value of that asset is seldom realized in normal business operation. And the value is undermined by bad data quality. Indeed, low quality data could have a variety of negative consequences on the enterprise. This presentation will look at some of the essential issues of data quality: how it is defined, what are some of the causes of low quality data, how it can be detected and measured, and how an enterprise may respond in correcting the situation. Data quality is not a technical issue; it is a business issue. So some IT-oriented personalities may not be good at understanding the business meaning and consequence of data. What is required is a cynical, curious individual who is oriented towards the data (not the technology) and the business described by the data. We will look at how the logical data architecture of the business is an essential component to defining the data; without accurate definition, we cannot understand the meaning and hence the quality of data. We will also look at some simple techniques to do data profiling and data quality assessment, employing the query tools your organization may already have available.

Michael Scofield is Assistant Professor, Health Information Management at Loma Linda University. He is a popular lecturer on topics of data quality assessment and data warehouse design. He has spoken in conferences and professional meetings in over 56 cities in the U.S. and overseas. His popularity comes from his clear and simple graphic examples, and his use of humor in making the topic come to life. His articles on data management have been published in various journals including Data Management Review, InformationWeek, The Database Newsletter, the IBI Systems Journal, and others. He also has humor published in the LA Times and other journals.