In the digital age, data is the cornerstone of the enterprise, and with great data comes great responsibility - especially in a world of growing data privacy regulations and ever-increasing data breaches. At the core of this responsibility is an often overlooked yet critical area of data management - the need to proactively identify, assess, and manage data risks effectively across the organization.

Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1735 that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” While he was referring to fire prevention for the city of Philadelphia, his adage has since been extended to the world of prevention science - and in today's digital age, an ounce of data risk assessment can easily be worth avoiding the many, many pounds of costly and impactful data catastrophes.

The DAMA Data Management Body of Knowledge, 2nd edition (DAMA-DMBOK2) is a comprehensive guide of best practices, standards, and methods for managing data across the data lifecycle. This valuable resource can also be used as a standard for conducting a data risk assessment by:

• Assessing each Knowledge Area (chapter) to identify best practices
• Using the Context Diagram and other rubrics to identify useful categories for organizing best practices
• Comparing best practices to current data management processes to identify gaps, deficiencies, and other potential risks
• Mapping identified risks to threats/vulnerabilities and compiling a risk summary
• Applying a scoring rubric based on impact and likelihood to calculate risk scores
• Defining risk tolerance levels, mitigation strategies, and priorities
• Publishing all this to a formal risk registry to foster transparency and track progress

By the end of this session, you will be equipped with the knowledge and steps - and a simple process you can apply to any Knowledge Area - to bolster your organization's data defenses and talk "data risk" with your leadership team so they can better navigate the complexities of managing data risks in an ever-changing world.

Speaker: Jimm Johnson

Jimm Johnson is the Senior Manager of Data Governance at HireRight (the leading global background screening solution provider), where he is helping build their enterprise data governance program. Prior to that, he was at Scripps Health (one of the largest integrated health systems in San Diego), launching their data governance program in tandem with the company's electronic health record (EHR) and revenue cycle platform implementation and to support their enterprise analytics strategy and elevate data literacy capabilities. Jimm has over 25 years of DG, EDW/BI, analytics, and IT experience across the banking, health care, health insurance, pharmaceutical, and restaurant industries.