Navigating the Age of Information

“The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.”, Socrates stated roughly 2,500 years ago. Today, this quote might be even more relevant as we are constantly lacking understanding and context of different concepts - both business and technical. This also well encapsulates my exitement towards semantic and organizational interoperability. How do we get, not only IT but also human related, systems to understand each other? And how can this understanding help us to better navigate in the ocean of information. This problem will not be fixed by any cool technology, although there is also innovations required from that end, but it requires significant behavioural change as well. My background on this theme is a combination of practical experience and academics. I have been involved in various data/information management related disciplines such as integrations, MDM, data governance, data strategy and maybe the most interesting for me personally, metadata management and data catalogs. My academic background started from studies around master's studies on information and knowledge management and continues on doctoral studies regarding interoperability in information management where my goal is to understand how different systems (IT and people related) could understand each other more efficiently. ❔ How do we ensure efficient data supply chains to ensure that data producers and data consumers are well aligned? ❔How do we connect business, data and system layers to build a digital twin of an organization? ❔How do we get rid of technology focus and start from identifying the actual problem? These are some of the key questions I am currently seeking wisdom on. And luckily, there are plenty of great minds and mentors helping on the journey.

Which one is the biggest challenge of leaders in the age of Information?

Navigating in the age of information is not easy. Especially if your company is a big ship (long history) that turns slow and has precious cargo (established business) you do not want to loose. It might be tempting to instead just try to carve out value from data here and there. The reasons might be: - Lack of visibility forward. Too foggy to see and thus slowing down the speed to avoid hitting something unknown. - Crew (workforce) is not organized and lead in a way that supports working together, bringing all hands on the deck when there is a need. - Fear of the unknown. Either turning the ship as it has already been sailing the same route for a long time. Rather just trying to keep it in balance when the bigger waves hit. Or fear of being among the first ones. Rather first seeing that it is safe for others and avoid hitting into big waves. - Not investing on the appropriate capabilities. The crew does have the knowhow but is missing other capabilities, make it difficult to act on time when the wave hits.

Data Culture Advocate I am a passionate information leadership expert with a particular focus on developing a culture of information by coaching methods. I see information as strategic asset, forming the foundation for digital business and AI. My goal is to strengthen a corporate culture where information is competitive advantage and cornerstone of consistent business operations. I coach teams and individuals to understand the significance of information in various contexts and the principles of efficient information management, transcending organizational boundaries. I have worked in the banking sector, specializing in data governance, data catalogs, and architecture. I excel in ensuring regulatory compliance through effective information management. Additionally, I have served as a project leader, supervisor, product owner, scrum master, and coach. My educational background is diverse, combining business expertise and leadership (BBA & team coach) with an understanding of human behavior and interaction (theologian). Currently, I am studying strategic leadership (MBA) and my thesis focuses on data culture. Join us in navigating the age of information! #informationmanagement #dataculture

People make the difference! We are driven by the motivation to renew how we work and how we collaborate with each other within and outside our own team and organization. Technology is available for all companies to acquire. But when the foundation of the organization culture, created and nurtured by the people, is set to 1) reinforce multidisciplinary collaboration, 2) learning through experimentations and 3) curiosity to find continuously new ways to manage and utilize data as a business asset, only then a significant difference can be made!   During my 20+ years career in the field, I have learned through practice that the most common mistakes organizations (still) make, and then struggle to get the value they aimed for, are 1) to isolate the knowledge and responsibility of data management to one team instead of enabling everyone who takes part in creating data in the organization, 2) measuring data & analytics projects as IT projects where the output is the technical tool and outcome is not a shared interest, 3) working in own silos, trying to guess what should be done because "it is not in the process to learn and experiment together". In my work, I encourage to form multidisciplinary teams to collaborate through experiments, help find together the best solution to the right problem to be solved, and support to set a common goal as a team. So, if you want to be able in the future to tell more success stories on how your organization has taken into use data & analytics solutions that really transform how the work is done, empowering the people to succeed, let’s get together! Oh, and yes, AI is also analytics!

Unlock the full potential of information management in the digital age!  Dive into our first blog post, "Beyond Technology: The Key Elements of Effective Information Management."  While technology is a powerful tool, it's just one piece of the puzzle.  Discover why visionary leadership, change management, and coaching are indispensable for successful information management.  Embark on a journey where technology meets strategic leadership and human-centricity, and stay tuned for insights that will shape a successful company culture in the age of information.