In the past decade, organisations have become increasingly dependent upon data to record, manage and strategize their business. Indeed, 90% of the world’s data has been produced in the past 2 years. Such a growth in data has created both a problem (governance, protection, technology) and opportunity (innovation, monetisation, growth) for organisations.

As a result, in the past 2 years, there has been a marked increase in the appointment of Chief Data Officers (CDOs), with Gartner predicting that, by 2015, 25% of large global organizations will have appointed a CDO. Some estimates suggest that there are now over 250 CDOs globally, up on the 2014 estimate of 150.

It is the CDO’s role to understand, govern and advocate an organisation’s data but, more than this, to deliver data-driven innovation and growth through the monetisation of data. The CDO is a business-focussed executive who leads data and analytics strategies to drive business value.

However, the role is fraught with challenges. The CDO position differs from organisation to organisation with varied reporting lines and responsibilities, and this can lead to friction with other C-suite executives (CIOs and CMOs, in particular) and an amass of bureaucracy to navigate before data and analytics projects get off the ground. Similarly, CDOs face the difficult challenge of balancing technological capabilities with business strategies. There are also questions surrounding data governance and quality, and how to advocate and promote from the bottom up, as well as the battle between data access versus data privacy. The challenges facing the new wave of CDOs are varied and demanding.

Corinium Global Intelligence's global series of CDO conferences are specifically designed to address the challenges of CDOs and senior data executives across the globe. Find out more and take part of the important events coming your way at www.coriniumintelligence.com