Today marks the completion of my first week of research into the role of the Chief Data Officer in South Africa. And as promised in my last post "First Steps: Understanding the South African CDO" this is a summary of my research findings.

One Day, All This Data Will Be Yours

I chose this cartoon because it encapsulates the sentiments of the people I researched with perfectly. The general feeling is that South African companies acknowledge that data is growing rapidly and its importance to the business is following suit.

And importantly, of the practitioners and vendors I spoke with, all recognise the need for a CDO within a business. So, South African companies (so far) are aware of the CDO role but schooling and graduating someone into that role differs from company to company.
But all agree that someone within the organisation must own the data. And that person must be passionate about data and importantly they - and the business - must recognise the commercial value of their data.

Roadblocks

From the research conducted so far I've uncovered some key roadblocks to the installation of a CDO. They are:

• Integrating the CDO with a CIO and/or a CTO
• Identifying someone who understands the technical aspects of data and who has leadership/strategy skills
• Gaining acceptance from CEO/MD of the importance of the role
• Getting the business to view data as an asset

Although these appear to be significant and insurmountable I'm pleased to report that the people I spoke with have either broken down these roadblocks or their businesses acknowledge that these roadblocks need to be broken down.

"Yes, we're well aware of the CDO title and its value to the organisation. It's my ambition to take this role in our business." 

- Paraphrased from a research call with a Head of Business Intelligence

In summary the feedback so far has been positive and future CDOs are among us. It is our duty to publicise the role, highlight the importance of data and to demonstrate the value of the CDO in South Africa's business environment.

One CDO agreed with me that - perhaps - a metric of the CDO Forum's success will be the number of CDOs that exist in South Africa in a few years. Did those would-be CDOs attend the event? And did what they learnt there contribute to their development? Only time will tell.

By Craig Steward:

Craig Steward is the Content Director for Corinium’s CDO and CAO Forums in Africa. His research is uncovering the challenges and opportunities that exist for CDOs and CAOs and the Forums will bring the market together to map the way forward for these important roles. For more information contact Craig on craig.steward@coriniumintelligence.com

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