Build Data Skills That Grow Careers and Transform Organizations

Thomas Frisendal is an experienced data professional with more than 35 years on the IT vendor side and since 1995 as an independent consultant. He has worked with databases and data modeling since the late 70s; since 1995 primarily on data warehouse projects. Today he works mostly with data architecture, graph data modeling and knowledge graphs. He is an active reader, writer and speaker.He provides consulting, reviews, and recommendations to data-driven projects: Data Architecture, Data Modeling for Graphs (and SQL),Metadata recycling into graph data models, Business concept modelsDatabase technologies, not least graph databases.

Prashanth Southekal is the Managing Principal of DBP-Institute (www.dbp-institute.com), a Data Analytics consulting and education firm. He has consulted for over 50 organizations including P&G, GE, Shell, Apple, SAS, and SAP and solved problems that are at the intersection of data, technology, and business productivity. Apart from his consulting assignments, he is an Analytics Advisor for SAS-Institute (Western Canada), Evalueserve (Switzerland) and Grihasoft (India).Mr. Southekal is the author of 2 books: Data for Business Performance and Analytics Best Practices. Apart from his consulting pursuits he is an Adjunct faculty of Data Analytics at University of Calgary (Calgary, Canada) and IE Business School (Madrid, Spain). He has a PhD from ESC Lille (FR) and MBA from Kellogg School of Management (US).

Kelle O’Neal is the Founder and CEO of First San Francisco Partners, an information management consulting firm. She is a veteran industry leader and accomplished advisor, as well as a noted speaker, author and trainer. Kelle is passionate about helping organizations realize the business value of data — and empowering them to derive insights that can improve operational efficiency and decision-making, generate new revenue and mitigate risk and fraud. Her strong background in customer relationship management, enterprise software and systems integration uniquely positions her to excel in helping organizations of all sizes and complexities successfully execute on Data Governance, Organizational Change Management, Master Data Management, Data Insights and Analytics and other information management initiatives.

Asha Saxena is a strategic, innovative leader with a proven track record of building successful data management businesses for the last 25 years. With a strong academic background, creative problem-solving skills, and an effective management style, Saxena has been instrumental in building business models for success. She is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, where she teaches graduate classes on health care consulting, entrepreneurship, and Big Data Analytics. She has served a four-year term as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Columbia Business School.

Danette McGilvray is president and principal of Granite Falls Consulting; a firm that helps organizations increase their success by addressing the information quality and data governance aspects of their business efforts. From strategy to implementation with a focus on bottom-line results, Danette helps organizations enhance the value of their information assets by naturally incorporating information quality management into the business. She also emphasizes communication and the human aspect of information quality and governance.

Robert S. Seiner is the President and Principal of KIK Consulting & Educational Services, a data and information management consultancy that he started in 2002. Seiner is a recognized industry thought-leader, has consulted with and educated many notable organizations nationally and globally, and is known for his unique approach to implementing data governance.

Dave Wells is an experienced Data Management professional who works in multiple roles as an architect, educator, and author. As an architect he provides advisory consulting and reviews and defines frameworks and design patterns for Data Management Architecture. As an educator he is the Director of Education and an instructor at eLearningCurve. As an analyst he contributes articles and blogs regularly at eckerson.com about Data Management, Analytics, and related topics. More than forty years of information systems experience combined with over ten years of business management give him a unique perspective about the connections among business, information, data, and technology. Knowledge sharing and skills building are Dave’s passions, carried out through consulting, speaking, teaching, and writing.

Deborah L. McGuinness is the Tetherless World Senior Constellation Chair and Professor of Computer, Cognitive, and Web Sciences at RPI. She is also the founding director of the Web Science Research Center and the CEO of McGuinness Associates Consulting. Deborah has been recognized with awards as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for contributions to the Semantic Web, knowledge representation, and reasoning environments and as the recipient of the Robert Engelmore award from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) for leadership in Semantic Web research and in bridging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and eScience, significant contributions to deployed AI applications, and extensive service to the AI community. Deborah leads a number of large, diverse data-intensive resource efforts and her team is creating next-generation ontology-enabled research infrastructure for work in large interdisciplinary settings. Prior to joining RPI, Deborah was the acting director of the Knowledge Systems, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and Senior Research Scientist in the Computer Science Department of Stanford University, and prior to that she was at AT&T Bell Laboratories. Deborah consults with numerous large corporations as well as emerging startup companies wishing to plan, develop, deploy, and maintain semantic web and/or AI applications. Some areas of recent work include: Data Science, next-generation health advisors, ontology design and evolution environments, semantically enabled virtual observatories, semantic integration of scientific data, context-aware mobile applications, search, e-commerce, configuration, and supply chain management. Deborah holds a Bachelor of Math and Computer Science from Duke University, a Master of Computer Science from University of California at Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Rutgers University.

Donna Burbank, is a recognized industry expert in information management with over 20 years of experience in Data Management, Metadata Management, and enterprise architecture. She currently is Managing Director of Global Data Strategy Ltd, an international Data Management consulting company. Her background is multi-faceted across consulting, product development, product management, brand strategy, marketing, and business leadership.Donna has extensive experience in metadata management, beginning her metadata career as an international consultant for the PLATINUM metadata repository. After working as a Metadata Consultant for many years, she moved to a Product Management role with the CA Metadata Repository solutions, defining product direction based on customer & market needs. As the Director of Product Management at Embarcadero Technologies, she was responsible for the creation of a repository-driven, Metadata-driven Data Modeling solution that encompassed both data and process modeling. Donna has also worked for many years with the CA erwin solution as the VP of Product Marketing for Data Modeling. Active in industry organizations, Donna was a part of the review committee for the Object Management Group’s Information Management Metamodel (IMM) and a member of the OMG’s Finalization Taskforce for the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN). In all of these roles, metadata is a key component.Donna has worked with dozens of Fortune 500 companies worldwide in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa and speaks regularly at industry conferences. She has co-authored several books including: Data Modeling for the Business, Data Modeling Made Simple with ERwin Data Modeler, and was a contributor to Metadata Solutions.

Ms. Kendall is a Partner in Thematix Partners LLC, and graduate-level lecturer in computer science, focused on Data Management, Data Governance, knowledge representation, and decisioning systems. Her consulting practice includes business and information architecture, knowledge representation strategies, and ontology design, development, and training for clients in financial services, government, manufacturing, media, pharmaceutical, and retail domains.Recent projects have focused on use of ontologies to drive natural language processing, machine learning, interoperability, and other knowledge graph-based applications. Elisa represents knowledge representation, ontology, information architecture, and data management concerns on the Object Management Group (OMG)’s Architecture Board, is a member of the OMG’s Board of Directors, and is a co-editor and contributor to a number of OMG standards, including lead ontologist of the Financial Industry Business Ontology (FIBO). She is also member of the Technical Oversight Board and participates in the OAGi Industrial Ontology Foundry (IOF), developing standardized ontologies for manufacturing, and is OMG’s liaison to the ISO Metadata Standards working group (ISO JTC 1 SC32). She holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science from UCLA, and an A.M in Linguistics from Stanford University.

Frank Cerwin is the Managing Principal of Data Mastery Inc. Frank has planned, designed, and led development and support of successful customer, product, employee, and location MDM programs in the financial services, global quick service restaurant, and retail pharmacy industries. He has served as the global director of data services at major Fortune 500 companies. Frank’s holistic approach to Master Data Management developed thru extensive experience in enterprise data architecture, data governance, database administration, enterprise application integration (EAI), application development, disaster recovery, and security over a 40+ year career. From the insights gained, Frank developed a distinctive MDM framework and operating model called the Master Data Optimized Marketplace Ecosystem (MasterDOME), a proven self-sustaining MDM program. Frank often presents data management related topics at national conferences and data association chapter meetings.

Christopher Bradley is an Information Strategist and trainer with Data Management Advisors Ltd. He has spent 40 years in the forefront of the Information Management field, with leading organizations in Information Strategy, Data Governance, Data Quality, Information Assurance, Master Data Management, Metadata Management, Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence. He has developed education programs for organizations internationally and regularly delivers training and mentoring.He is the VP for Professional Development for DAMA International, past President of DAMA UK, a primary Data Management Body of Knowledge (DMBoK 2) author. In April 2016 he became the inaugural CDMP Fellow and received the DAMA lifetime professional achievement award. He is an author and examiner for the CDMP, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Consulting (now IC), a Fellow of the BCS, member of several ISO Data Management Committees (8000, 27001, 55000), a member of the MPO, and SME Director of the DM Board. Chris assists organizations to improve their information capabilities, helping make the business case to establish an Enterprise Information Strategy and introduce information practices with realistic, workable Data Quality, Data Governance, and Business Processes. He is frequently engaged to evangelise Information Management and Data Governance messages to executive management worldwide, introduce Data Governance and new business processes for Information Management and to deliver training and mentoring across the critical Information Management disciplines. Data Management Advisors is a strategic Information Management, Enterprise Architecture consulting and training firm based in Bath (UK) with Industry recognized Partners and associates in the UK, Europe, USA, Middle East and Australia. Chris is also an Advisory Board Member for FIT Strategy, a data management and consulting training firm based in Italy with clients in UK and Europe.

Becky is a senior enterprise information management consultant at FSFP who focuses on helping people and organizations understand and improve their performance. She has extensive experience with institutional analysis, change management, and organizational development, engaging and empowering leaders to develop and execute enterprise data strategies.

Gretchen is a principal enterprise information management consultant at FSFP. Gretchen has decades of experience bridging the business, technical, strategy and implementation facets of Data Management. She is passionate about helping organizations make concrete progress toward business-centric Data Management practices and enabling clients ongoing success through education and mentoring.Her specialties include data governance, data stewardship, data definition/metadata, data migration, strategy and planning, master data management, meeting facilitation, data quality, and business intelligence.

Dr. Irina Steenbeek is a Data Management practitioner with more than 11 years of experience. The key areas of her professional expertise are the Data Management maturity assessment, implementation of Data Management frameworks, and data lineage. Irina has practical experience in software implementation such as ERP and DWH/BI, management consultation, financial and business controls, and data science. Through the years, she has worked for global institutions as well as large- and medium-sized organizations in different sectors, including but not limited to financial institutions, professional services, and IT companies. In 2016, she founded Data Crossroads - a training and coaching services enterprise in Data Management. Data Crossroads focuses on assisting companies in improving their decision-making by setting up an effective Data Management framework that fits-for-purpose the company business goals and resources. Irina is a strong believer that the success of Data Management initiatives is based on the combination of a pragmatic approach and clear and transparent methodology. She has shared her approach and implementation experience by publishing The“Orange” Data Management Framework, The Data Management Toolkit, The Data Management Cookbook, and Data Lineage from a Business Perspective. She is also the author of various white papers and articles on the topic of Data Management.

Jeremy Taylor is an author, consultant, and speaker based in Bangalore, India. As a consultant, he helps organizations navigate avoiding artificial intelligence (AI) pitfalls. Jeremy gained hands-on experience across a range of industries at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and has undergone training as a business analyst (BA). He is currently working towards achieving the highest level of BA certification – the CBAP (certified business analysis professional) certificate. Jeremy’s skillset is a unique blend of IT and business management. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration (BBA) and a master’s degree in international business, as well as a number of IT certifications. Jeremy has a solid infrastructure background in systems administration, architecture, cloud, hybrid, and network infrastructure experience. He is a Microsoft certified trainer and a Microsoft certified solutions expert in SharePoint. He draws deeply from his Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Office 365, and Azure knowledge, gained from the Microsoft certified solutions master (MCSM) SharePoint training at Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., facilities.Jeremy is also the Principal Consultant at Irish Taylor, a global technology consulting company.

John Ladley is a highly experienced advisor and advocate for organizations looking for sustainable value from information and data. His experience and knowledge is balanced between treating data as an essential component of modern business and economies, and the practical solution of business problems. John’s books are the authoritative sources for Data and Information Management and Data Governance. He is a recognized authority and speaker on enterprise information management; including data monetization, information and data architectures, data governance, MDM, data quality, BI and Analytics, data warehouse and knowledge management. John has extensive experience across many industries and is currently examining the role of the Chief Data Officer and assisting several organizations with data strategies and data governance.

Meet Mark Horseman, a seasoned professional who has embarked on a remarkable journey of growth and expertise in the realm of Data Management and Data Governance. With his roots tracing back to an intern role as he pursued his Computer Science Degree, Mark's ascent through the ranks has been marked by his unwavering dedication and exceptional abilities.From his early days as an intern, Mark's trajectory led him to ascend the ranks, culminating in his role as a Manager at prominent organizations including AMA (Alberta Motor Association), NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology), and Vecima Networks. Through these diverse roles, he has etched a path as a stalwart in Data Quality, Master Data Management, and Data Governance.Ever eager to evolve in the dynamic data landscape, Mark has consistently sought knowledge on the latest trends in Information Management. His wealth of experience has earned him recognition as a sought-after speaker at prestigious conferences. He's presented illuminating sessions on Data Governance at the esteemed DATAVERSITY© Enterprise Data World conference, and has actively participated in discussions on cutting-edge topics such as cloud-based analytics, AI, and crowd-sourced open data analysis at other events.In recent years, Mark's focus has centered on elevating Data Quality and Data Governance practices at both AMA and NAIT. Demonstrating his exceptional leadership, he's skillfully guided diverse enterprise to execute Data Governance initiatives that have not only refined the data culture but also nurtured data-centric decision-making.Mark's journey is a testament to his unyielding commitment, profound expertise, and the transformative influence he wields in the realm of Data Management and Governance. His legacy continues to shape the landscape he navigates, and his passion for knowledge and innovation remains an inspiration to all who cross paths with him.

David Plotkin is the Wells Fargo Data Governance Competency Center Manager in Enterprise Data and Analytics. His duties include championing and implementing Data Governance principles and processes at the enterprise level, managing development in the Metadata tool set (Collibra and Ab Initio), and coordinating the efforts of various projects to use and generate Metadata. He has worked with Data Governance, Data Modeling, Metadata and Data Quality for over 30 years, is a popular speaker at DAMA chapter events and conferences, and the author of the book Data Stewardship, An Actionable Guide to Effective Data Management and Data Governance.

Dr. Thomas C. Redman, “the Data Doc,” is the President of Data Quality Solutions. He is among the few able to combine a visionary’s view of the data landscape with deep expertise in data quality, data science, and analytics. Tom helps leaders and companies understand their most important issues and opportunities in the data, chart a courses, and build the organizational capabilities they need to execute. From start-ups to enormous multinationals; from senior executives and Chief Data Officers to people in the middle, struggling to get something started; Tom helps build data-driven futures. Dozens of companies have benefited from his advice.Tom may be the world’s most passionate advocate for data quality. His Harvard Business Review article, “Data’s Credibility Problem” (December, 2013) laid bare the opportunity, and Getting in Front on Data (Technics, 2016) showed companies how to build the organizational capabilities they need to make improvements. He published The Real Work of Data Science (Wiley, 2019), with Ron Kenett, to help data scientists become more effective. Finally, earlier Tom developed keen insights into the nature of data in organizations and formulated the first comprehensive approach to “competing with data.” Taken together, these enable organizations to treat data as assets of virtually unlimited potential. Tom’s book, Data Driven (Harvard Business School Press, 2008) is still the most important in this space.He has written dozens of articles for Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal and MIT Sloan Management Review. He has two patents.

Ted Hills is an author, speaker, educator, and data architecture consultant, helping businesses combine strategic goals with the latest data management technologies to produce solid results in realistic timeframes. Ted is both an advanced theorist and a committed pragmatist, with grounding in software and systems development. His book, NoSQL and SQL Data Modeling, promises to change how we represent data, moving from the rigid, prescriptive world of SQL databases to the more fluid domains of Big Data and NoSQL databases. Ted has led multiple projects in data warehousing, metadata management, data modeling, ontology, natural-language processing, reference data management, data distribution and integration. Ted’s deep experience in multiple industries and knowledge of new and established technologies give him perspective and insight into how an organization can maximize its existing investments while leveraging new technologies

Thomas Frisendal is an experienced data professional with more than 35 years on the IT vendor side and since 1995 as an independent consultant. He has worked with databases and data modeling since the late 70s; since 1995 primarily on data warehouse projects. Today he works mostly with data architecture, graph data modeling and knowledge graphs. He is an active reader, writer and speaker.He provides consulting, reviews, and recommendations to data-driven projects: Data Architecture, Data Modeling for Graphs (and SQL),Metadata recycling into graph data models, Business concept modelsDatabase technologies, not least graph databases.