Programma

Data is (niet) dood: een nieuw perspectief op data management

In zijn LinkedIn-artikel ‘Data is dood’ gooide Wouter van Aerle de knuppel in het hoenderhok: veel organisaties managen hun data op een manier die structureel tekortschiet. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan een gebrek aan duidelijke verantwoordelijkheden, een te technologische benadering of het ontbreken van een strategische visie op het gebruik van data. Hierdoor stranden ambities om ‘data-gedreven’ te worden vaak voordat ze goed en wel van de grond komen.
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In zijn LinkedIn-artikel ‘Data is dood’ gooide Wouter van Aerle de knuppel in het hoenderhok: veel organisaties managen hun data op een manier die structureel tekortschiet. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan een gebrek aan duidelijke verantwoordelijkheden, een te technologische benadering of het ontbreken van een strategische visie op het gebruik van data. Hierdoor stranden ambities om ‘data-gedreven’ te worden vaak voordat ze goed en wel van de grond komen.

Wouter biedt een blik vooruit: hoe doorbreken organisaties vastgeroeste patronen in datamanagement, welke fundamentele veranderingen zijn daarvoor nodig en welke eerste stappen kunnen ze direct zetten.

Tijdens deze sessie komen de volgende onderwerpen aan bod:

  • Vergroten van kennis en kunde: Praktische handvatten om intern een curriculum op te zetten en trainingen aan te bieden.
  • Datamanagement als bedrijfsfunctie inrichten: het toepassen van een use-case gedreven aanpak om concrete datamanagement vraagstukken op te lossen. Dit helpt om gaandeweg rollen, processen, en verantwoordelijkheden in te richten.
  • Ontkoppeling van data en functionaliteit in softwareontwikkeling: Zowel bij maatwerk als COTS-oplossingen. We laten zien hoe je hier als organisatie concreet mee kan starten.
  • Communicatie en verandertechnieken: Hoe communiceer je effectief over verandering en zorg je dat medewerkers betrokken raken? Praktische tips en voorbeelden van veranderboodschappen komen aan bod.
  • Externe samenwerking: Hoe kun je inspelen op marktinnovaties en wat kun je leren van (overheids)vraagstukken en samenwerkingsinitiatieven?
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Innovatie binnen wettelijke kaders: de AI Act, Data Governance Act en Data Act

In een tijd waarin data en kunstmatige intelligentie een centrale rol innemen in bedrijfsstrategieën, is het cruciaal om niet alleen de nieuwe mogelijkheden, maar ook de nieuwste Europese wetgeving op dit gebied te begrijpen. Deze sessie biedt een boeiende en toegankelijke blik op de drie meest invloedrijke Europese wetten van dit moment: de AI Act, de Data Governance Act en de Data Act.
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In een tijd waarin data en kunstmatige intelligentie een centrale rol innemen in bedrijfsstrategieën, is het cruciaal om niet alleen de nieuwe mogelijkheden, maar ook de nieuwste Europese wetgeving op dit gebied te begrijpen. Deze sessie biedt een boeiende en toegankelijke blik op de drie meest invloedrijke Europese wetten van dit moment: de AI Act, de Data Governance Act en de Data Act. Wat betekenen deze wetten voor uw organisatie, en hoe kunt u innovatie stimuleren terwijl u voldoet aan complexe wettelijke eisen? Met een unieke combinatie van technische en juridische expertise worden de belangrijkste onderdelen van deze wetten toegelicht, met daarbij praktische inzichten om organisaties toekomstbestendig te maken. U kunt rekenen op een informatieve sessie vol concrete tips, valkuilen en praktijkvoorbeelden.

  • Een overzicht van Europese wetgeving in het digitale domein
  • De AI Act – wat is verboden en hoog-risico AI?
  • De Data Governance Act – hoe delen we data op een betrouwbare, transparante en ethische wijze?
  • De Data Act – hoe regelen we toegang tot data, met name voor IoT, om een eerlijke en competitieve data-economie te realiseren?
  • Praktische tips om juridisch compliant te blijven zonder innovatie te beperken.
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Datawarehouses bouwen met Gen-AI: Een Toekomstblik

Ontdek hoe jij in slechts 45 minuten een volledig functioneel data warehouse kunt opzetten, vullen, en visualiseren, zonder diepgaande technische kennis! In deze sessie laat Victor de Graaff zien hoe Gen-AI, Azure, en ChatGPT data-engineering toegankelijk maken voor iedereen, met slimme automatisering en BI-dashboards als resultaat.
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Data engineers zijn schaars, maar stel je voor dat je met Gen-AI zelf een data warehouse kunt bouwen! Victor de Graaff, oprichter van D-Data, zal in deze inspirerende sessie laten zien hoe het mogelijk is om zonder diepgaande technische kennis in slechts 45 minuten een compleet datawarehouse op te zetten, te vullen en er een BI-dashboard bij te maken.

Victor demonstreert dit proces met behulp van openbare APIs en Gen-AI, waarbij hij de kracht van automatisering en kunstmatige intelligentie inzet. In deze showcase staan Azure en ChatGPT hem bij als ‘digitale assistenten’, en maken ze het onmogelijke mogelijk.

Door Gen-AI-gegenereerde code te gebruiken, zullen we:

  • Een datawarehouse aanmaken en configureren zonder ingewikkelde scripts
  • Data direct vanuit publieke APIs ophalen en laden
  • Deze data visualiseren in een overzichtelijk BI-dashboard

Deze sessie laat zien dat zelfs specialistische taken, zoals het bouwen van datawarehouses, bereikbaar zijn voor een breder publiek dankzij Gen-AI. Bereid je voor om “in awe” te zijn en ontdek de toekomst van BI en data-engineering met kunstmatige intelligentie!

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Testen in een BI & Data landschap

Onze datalandschappen worden steeds complexer, waardoor het waarborgen van datakwaliteit en vertrouwen cruciaal is. In deze sessie leer je hoe je met het TMAP- en VOICE-model effectief kunt testen binnen BI- en dataomgevingen, en ontdek je methoden om datastromen, datakwaliteit, en data-integriteit te waarborgen voor betrouwbare inzichten.
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Onze dataprocessen en -systemen worden steeds complexer en dynamischer. Veel bedrijven hebben moeite met het op peil houden van de datakwaliteit en het vergroten van het vertrouwen in het datalandschap.

Testen biedt inzicht in risico’s en kwaliteit van de data, de systemen en de datastromen. Het onderzoekt bijvoorbeeld de prestaties, de data-integriteit en de bedrijfslogica. Veel meer dan het vinden van problemen en bugs gaat het bij testen om het bieden en opbouwen van vertrouwen voor eindgebruikers in de oplossing die wordt gebouwd. Testen zou daarom een cruciaal onderdeel moeten zijn van elke business intelligence- en data omgeving.

In deze lezing ga ik in op testkennis gericht op data omgevingen met behulp van TMAP en het VOICE-model. Ik zal ingaan op de DAMA-kwaliteitskenmerken die je kunt overnemen en je aanmoedigen om het niveau van vertrouwen in de kwaliteit van uw systemen en gegevens te communiceren. Krijg inzicht en tips over het testen van BI- & Data-oplossingen.

Belangrijkste punten:

  • Het belang van testen
  • Het TMAP- en VOICE-testmodel
  • Vertrouwen opbouwen door inzicht te geven in het kwaliteitsniveau
  • Testen in een BI & Data omgeving door te kijken naar:
    • Data stromen; kijken naar hoe de data door het systeem heen beweegt
    • Data kwaliteit; welke KPI’s kunnen worden gebruikt?
    • Data Profiling; hoe je bugs kunt vinden nog voordat de oplossing is gebouwd.
Lees minder

Onderzoek Vernieuwen door Open Data: Het Bouwen van het Samenwerkingsplatform van de toekomst

De Erasmus Universiteit en TU-Delft hebben een innovatief platform gelanceerd dat eenvoudig en veilig delen en beheren van (open) onderzoeksdata mogelijk maakt. Met functies zoals automatische DOI-toekenning, AVG-compliant beveiliging, en compute-to-data mogelijkheden, biedt dit platform onderzoekers een intuïtieve en veilige omgeving voor datacollaboratie.
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Erasmus Universiteit en TU-Delft hebben in 2023 de krachten gebundeld om een nieuw tijdperk van onderzoekssamenwerking in te luiden met een innovatief platform voor het delen van (open) data. Gebouwd op de pijlers van gebruiksgemak, robuuste beveiliging en moderne infrastructuur maakt dit platform het delen en ontdekken van onderzoeksgegevens een fluitje van een cent. Onderzoekers profiteren van intuïtief databeheer met geautomatiseerde Digital Object Identifier (DOI) toekenning, terwijl geavanceerde beveiliging zorgt voor AVG-compliance zonder de toegankelijkheid in gevaar te brengen. Het platform biedt geautomatiseerde datasynchronisatie en unieke compute-to-data mogelijkheden, waardoor algoritmes veilig kunnen worden uitgevoerd met behoud van gevoelige informatie.Als open-source oplossing stimuleert het platform actieve deelname van de gemeenschap en continue verbetering. Of u nu een bank bent die markttrends analyseert, een verzekeraar die risico-inzichten zoekt, of een retailer die klantgedrag onderzoekt: ontdek hoe dit platform veilige datacollaboratie mogelijk maakt terwijl uw intellectueel eigendom wordt beschermd en u volledige controle houdt over uw gevoelige informatie.

Deze sessie zal het volgende belichten:

  • Platform Architectuur: Ontdek de bouwstenen van een modern datadeelplatform met focus op beveiliging en gebruiksgemak.
  • Praktische Toepassing: Leer hoe organisaties data kunnen delen met volledige controle over hun gevoelige informatie.
  • Technische Realisatie: Verken de implementatie van beveiligingsmaatregelen en geautomatiseerde functies voor efficiënt datadelen.
  • Community Ontwikkeling: Begrijp hoe je een actieve datagemeenschap opbouwt tussen kennisinstellingen en bedrijfsleven.
  • Toekomstbestendigheid: Zie hoe open-source ontwikkeling zorgt voor continue innovatie en AI-gereedheid van het platform.
Lees minder

Federated Computational Data Governance - toepassing in de praktijk

Hoe kun je data echt inzetten als bedrijfsmiddel? We verkennen de centrale pijler van Data Mesh: Federated Computational Data Governance. Krijg inzicht in het structureren van datateams om zowel centraal als lokaal aan uw behoeften te voldoen en leer hoe federated data governance kan zorgen voor verantwoording in de hele organisatie.
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Hoe kun je data echt inzetten als bedrijfsmiddel? We verkennen de centrale pijler van Data Mesh: Federated Computational Data Governance. Krijg inzicht in het structureren van datateams om zowel centraal als lokaal aan uw behoeften te voldoen en leer hoe federated data governance kan zorgen voor verantwoording in de hele organisatie. We gaan in op een aantal uitdagingen op het gebied van data governance met betrekking tot dataproducten en het opstellen van datacontracten om de verwachtingen en verantwoordelijkheden van alle teams op elkaar af te stemmen.

 Onderwerpen en discussiepunten:

  • Data als bedrijfsmiddel – wat houdt dat in?
  • Structureren van datateams voor flexibiliteit en impact
  • Waarborgen van dataverantwoordelijkheid met duidelijk eigenaarschap
  • Gefedereerde data governance implementeren met een balans tussen controle en autonomie
  • Lange termijn handhaving van datamanagement toepassingen.
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Packaged Software and Data Modelling - The Surprising Reasons Behind Implementation Failures

Alec shares the surprising reasons packaged software selection and implementation often go disastrously wrong, and how to avoid them.

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When implementing enterprise software packages, the single most common reason for dissatisfaction, or even total failure, is a “data model mismatch.” That’s a bold statement, but it is backed up by the speaker’s 40 year consulting career and many “project recovery” assignments. In those cases, an organisation has spent tens or hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars (or euros) on implementing purchased software, and it simply doesn’t work or works so poorly the organisation is worse off than before. This presentation will share the common factors in these failures, and also some success stories.   

  • How one of the world’s most admired companies spent $1B on an implementation and achieved worse performance.
  • The public institution that spent $80M configuring cloud-based HR and Payroll software, had nothing functional to show for it, and how the situation was resolved.
  • On a brighter note, how a manufacturer applied the techniques we’ll discuss (including data modelling!) over the software vendor’s objections and became a global showcase account.
  • “Types vs. Instances,” “Challenge the ones,” and other simple patterns that can make a huge difference.
  • Why the “data-process connection” is essential, and the end-to-end business process perspective works so well with the data perspective
Lees minder

Concept Modelling for Business Analysts [English spoken]

Concept Modelling (or Conceptual Data Modelling) has seen an amazing resurgence of popularity in recent years, and Alec Sharp illustrates the many reasons for this along with practical techniques and guidelines to ensure useful models and business engagement.
Lees meer

Whether you call it a conceptual data model, a domain model, a business object model, or even a “thing model,” the concept model is seeing a worldwide resurgence of interest. Why? Because a concept model is a fundamental technique for improving communication among stakeholders in any sort of initiative. Sadly, that communication often gets lost – in the clouds, in the weeds, or in chasing the latest bright and shiny object. Having experienced this, Business Analysts everywhere are realizing Concept Modelling is a powerful addition to their BA toolkit. This session will even show how a concept model can be used to easily identify use cases, user stories, services, and other functional requirements. 

Realizing the value of concept modelling is also, surprisingly, taking hold in the data community. “Surprisingly” because many data practitioners had seen concept modelling as an “old school” technique. Not anymore! In the past few years, data professionals who have seen their big data, data science/AI, data lake, data mesh, data fabric, data lakehouse, etc. efforts fail to deliver expected benefits realise it is because they are not based on a shared view of the enterprise and the things it cares about. That’s where concept modelling helps. Data management/governance teams are (or should be!) taking advantage of the current support for Concept Modelling. After all, we can’t manage what hasn’t been modelled!

The Agile community is especially seeing the need for concept modelling. Because Agile is now the default approach, even on enterprise-scale initiatives, Agile teams need more than some user stories on Post-its in their backlog. Concept modelling is being embraced as an essential foundation on which to envision and develop solutions. In all these cases, the key is to see a concept model as a description of a business, not a technical description of a database schema. 

This workshop introduces concept modelling from a non-technical perspective, provides tips and guidelines for the analyst, and explores entity-relationship modelling at conceptual and logical levels using techniques that maximise client engagement and understanding. We’ll also look at techniques for facilitating concept modelling sessions (virtually and in-person), applying concept modelling within other disciplines (e.g., process change or business analysis,) and moving into more complex modelling situations. 

Drawing on over forty years of successful consulting and modelling, on projects of every size and type, this session provides proven techniques backed up with current, real-life examples.

Topics include:

  • The essence of concept modelling and essential guidelines for avoiding common pitfalls
  • Methods for engaging our business clients in conceptual modelling without them realizing it
  • Applying an easy, language-oriented approach to initiating development of a concept model
  • Why bottom-up techniques often work best
  • “Use your words!” – how definitions and assertions improve concept models
  • How to quickly develop useful entity definitions while avoiding conflict
  • Why a data model needs a sense of direction
  • The four most common patterns in data modelling, and the four most common errors in specifying entities
  • Making the transition from conceptual to logical using the world’s simplest guide to normalisation
  • Understand “the four Ds of data modelling” – definition, dependency, demonstration, and detail
  • Tips for conducting a concept model/data model review presentation
  • Critical distinctions among conceptual, logical, and physical models
  • Using concept models to discover use cases, business events, and other requirements
  • Interesting techniques to discover and meet additional requirements
  • How concept models help in package implementations, process change, and Agile development

 

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand the essential components of a concept model – things (entities) facts about things (relationships and attributes) and rules
  • Use entity-relationship modelling to depict facts and rules about business entities at different levels of detail and perspectives, specifically conceptual (overview) and logical (detailed) models
  • Apply a variety of techniques that support the active participation and engagement of business professionals and subject matter experts
  • Develop conceptual and logical models quickly using repeatable and Agile methods
  • Draw an Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) for maximum readability
  • Read a concept model/data model, and communicate with specialists using the appropriate terminology.
Lees minder

Data Mesh - Federated Data Governance: Structuring Teams and Driving Accountability

Organizations need adaptable governance and team structures to harness data’s strategic value. This course explores Federated Computational Data Governance, balancing centralized oversight with distributed autonomy. Participants will learn to structure teams, ensure accountability, and implement sustainable frameworks, fostering innovation, operational efficiency, and long-term success in a distributed data ecosystem.
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In today’s distributed and dynamic data landscapes, traditional approaches to governance and team organization can no longer keep pace. To unlock the full potential of data as a strategic asset, organizations must rethink how they manage, govern, and structure their data functions. This course, rooted in the principles of Federated Computational Data Governance, explores how to balance centralized oversight with distributed autonomy while ensuring accountability and alignment across teams.

Why We Need a New Approach

In many organizations, data governance is struggling to find its place, providing static policies focused on compliance rather than enablers of innovation. However, modern organizations need governance frameworks that are flexible, computational, and adaptive to distributed ecosystems. Federated data governance provides the balance needed to: 

  • Enable innovation through decentralized decision-making while maintaining control.
  • Foster collaboration and alignment between central oversight and distributed teams 
  • Ensure accountability and ownership, even in complex, multi-team environments.

By introducing computational models and distributed governance principles, this course shows how to create a scalable, adaptable data team and framework.

The Three-Dimensional Approach to Structuring Data Teams

Data teams today must operate across three key dimensions to meet the demands of strategic alignment, operational execution, and distributed autonomy. Participants will learn how to organize their teams to: 

  1. Strategic and Tactical Levels: Align data initiatives with organizational goals and ensure compliance with overarching governance frameworks.
  2. Operational Efficiency: Build robust processes, tools, and workflows to maintain data quality, security, and accessibility.
  3. Distributed Autonomy: Embed data functions into business units or regions, empowering them to act independently while adhering to shared principles.

This multi-layered approach ensures that data teams can balance innovation with foundational stability, creating a system that supports agility without sacrificing control.

Ensuring Data Accountability in Distributed Landscapes

As data becomes more distributed, accountability is critical to maintaining trust, quality, and compliance. The course will cover: 

  • Data Ownership and Stewardship: Defining clear roles and responsibilities for maintaining data quality and ethical use. 
  • Data Contracts: Establishing agreements between producers and consumers to clarify expectations, autonomy, and responsibilities. 
  • Creating a Culture of Responsibility: Ensuring that every team member understands their role in the data ecosystem, fostering a sense of ownership and trust.

Key Topics Covered

This course closely aligns with the workshop outline and includes practical, actionable insights into: 

  1. Federated Data Governance: How to implement distributed authority while maintaining centralized oversight.
  2. Data Products and Data Contracts: Why design reusable, scalable data products and establish clear data contracts to streamline collaboration and accountability.
  3. Team Structures for Impact: Organizing data teams across strategic, operational, and distributed dimensions to maximize flexibility and innovation.
  4. Sustainability in Governance: Drawing lessons from long-term projects like NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor to ensure that governance systems are adaptable and maintainable over time.

Learning Objectives

  • By the end of this course, participants will have a deep understanding of how to: 
  • Build and manage federated governance frameworks that balance autonomy and alignment
  • Structure data teams to meet the dual needs of transformation and stability
  • Embed accountability into every level of the organization through clear roles, data contracts, and a culture of ownership
  • Implement sustainable practices that ensure long-term success in data management and governance.

Who is it for?

This course is designed for data leaders, managers, and governance professionals who want to create scalable and effective data organizations. Whether you’re responsible for strategy, compliance, or operations, you’ll gain tools and insights to navigate the evolving data landscape with confidence.

 

Detailed Workshop Outline

1. Introduction

Overview of Workshop Goals: Explain the importance of data as an asset and why organizations must move beyond treating data as just a service.
Solar System Metaphor: Introduce the concept of the data organization as a solar system, with data teams, governance, and accountability as key planetary bodies that need alignment for optimal performance.Key Points:

  • Data as a core asset vs. a service
  • The relationship between data, digital, and AI – why they aren’t interchangeable
  • The balance between transformation and strong foundational structures in data management.Key Learning: Participants will understand why it’s essential to treat data as a core asset, setting the stage for exploring how to structure data teams and governance effectively.

2.  Data Accountability: Creating a Culture of Ownership and Responsibility

Why Data Accountability Matters: Without clear accountability, data quality, security, and data availability suffer.

  • The need for clarity in data ownership
  • Creating a culture where team members feel responsible for data
  • Defining clear data accountability and responsibility roles across the organization (Data Stewards, Data Owners, etc.).

Practical Steps to Ensure Accountability:

  • Setting up reporting structures for data quality
  • Understanding the value of Data Products and Data Contracts to codify accountability
  • Implementing checks and balances for data privacy and security
  • How to align individual accountability with organizational data goals.

Activity: Scenario-based discussion where participants identify where accountability is lacking in a fictional data-driven organization, and propose solutions for creating accountability.

Key Learning: Participants will gain insights into what data accountability entails, ensuring each team member knows their role in maintaining data quality and governance.

3. Data Governance Models: Federated Governance and Distributed Authority

Introduction to Data Governance: Why data governance is essential to manage risk, ensure compliance, and drive effective data use.
Federated Data Governance: What it is and how it works – balancing centralized oversight with distributed ownership across data hubs.

  • The Gravitational Pull of strong governance: Central authority ensures alignment, while decentralized teams maintain autonomy.
  • How to harmonize data governance policies across departments without losing agility.

Key Components of a Data Governance Framework:

  • Roles and Responsibilities
  • Data access controls and security measures
  • Compliance with legal and ethical guidelines (e.g., GDPR)
  • Continuous governance process for maintaining standards.

Activity: In groups, participants will design a federated governance model for a hypothetical organization, ensuring alignment between distributed teams and central governance.

Key Learning: Participants will learn how to implement a federated data governance model that balances control with autonomy, ensuring alignment across the organization.

4. Structuring Data Teams: Balancing Centralized and Distributed Needs

Discussion: Challenges in organizing data teams.

  • Centralized vs. decentralized data functions
  • Roles and responsibilities: What does a modern data team look like?
  • Data Science, Data Engineering, DataOps, Data Management, etc.
  • Balancing Innovation and Foundation: How do you organize a team that is both transformative (innovation-focused) and foundational (infrastructure-focused)?

Activity: Group exercise where participants design an ideal data team structure that addresses both distributed and centralized organizational needs.

Key Learning: Participants will learn how to create a data team structure that is flexible enough to meet both innovation-driven and operational demands.

5. Navigating Long-Term Sustainability: Lessons from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor

Reflection: Insights from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter.

  • Long-term data management challenges
  • The importance of human involvement (Human-in-the-loop) in managing complex systems
  • Sustainability in data practices: How to ensure that your data organization remains agile and maintainable over time.

Key Learning: Participants will leave with strategies for ensuring long-term sustainability and scalability in their data governance and team structures.

6. Wrap-Up and Key Takeaways

Summarizing the Journey: Recap of the solar system metaphor and how the workshop’s concepts apply to real-world data challenges.

Key Takeaways:

  • How to structure data teams for maximum flexibility and impact
  • Ensuring data accountability through clear roles and ownership
  • Designing a federated data governance model to balance distributed autonomy with central oversight
  • Practical steps to create a sustainable, future-proof data organization.

Q&A and Next Steps: Open the floor for final questions and discussions about how participants can implement the lessons in their own organizations.

 

Lees minder

Concept Modelling for Business Analysts [English spoken]

Concept Modelling (or Conceptual Data Modelling) has seen an amazing resurgence of popularity in recent years, and Alec Sharp illustrates the many reasons for this along with practical techniques and guidelines to ensure useful models and business engagement.
Lees meer

Whether you call it a conceptual data model, a domain model, a business object model, or even a “thing model,” the concept model is seeing a worldwide resurgence of interest. Why? Because a concept model is a fundamental technique for improving communication among stakeholders in any sort of initiative. Sadly, that communication often gets lost – in the clouds, in the weeds, or in chasing the latest bright and shiny object. Having experienced this, Business Analysts everywhere are realizing Concept Modelling is a powerful addition to their BA toolkit. This session will even show how a concept model can be used to easily identify use cases, user stories, services, and other functional requirements. 

Realizing the value of concept modelling is also, surprisingly, taking hold in the data community. “Surprisingly” because many data practitioners had seen concept modelling as an “old school” technique. Not anymore! In the past few years, data professionals who have seen their big data, data science/AI, data lake, data mesh, data fabric, data lakehouse, etc. efforts fail to deliver expected benefits realise it is because they are not based on a shared view of the enterprise and the things it cares about. That’s where concept modelling helps. Data management/governance teams are (or should be!) taking advantage of the current support for Concept Modelling. After all, we can’t manage what hasn’t been modelled!

The Agile community is especially seeing the need for concept modelling. Because Agile is now the default approach, even on enterprise-scale initiatives, Agile teams need more than some user stories on Post-its in their backlog. Concept modelling is being embraced as an essential foundation on which to envision and develop solutions. In all these cases, the key is to see a concept model as a description of a business, not a technical description of a database schema. 

This workshop introduces concept modelling from a non-technical perspective, provides tips and guidelines for the analyst, and explores entity-relationship modelling at conceptual and logical levels using techniques that maximise client engagement and understanding. We’ll also look at techniques for facilitating concept modelling sessions (virtually and in-person), applying concept modelling within other disciplines (e.g., process change or business analysis,) and moving into more complex modelling situations. 

Drawing on over forty years of successful consulting and modelling, on projects of every size and type, this session provides proven techniques backed up with current, real-life examples.

Topics include:

  • The essence of concept modelling and essential guidelines for avoiding common pitfalls
  • Methods for engaging our business clients in conceptual modelling without them realizing it
  • Applying an easy, language-oriented approach to initiating development of a concept model
  • Why bottom-up techniques often work best
  • “Use your words!” – how definitions and assertions improve concept models
  • How to quickly develop useful entity definitions while avoiding conflict
  • Why a data model needs a sense of direction
  • The four most common patterns in data modelling, and the four most common errors in specifying entities
  • Making the transition from conceptual to logical using the world’s simplest guide to normalisation
  • Understand “the four Ds of data modelling” – definition, dependency, demonstration, and detail
  • Tips for conducting a concept model/data model review presentation
  • Critical distinctions among conceptual, logical, and physical models
  • Using concept models to discover use cases, business events, and other requirements
  • Interesting techniques to discover and meet additional requirements
  • How concept models help in package implementations, process change, and Agile development

 

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand the essential components of a concept model – things (entities) facts about things (relationships and attributes) and rules
  • Use entity-relationship modelling to depict facts and rules about business entities at different levels of detail and perspectives, specifically conceptual (overview) and logical (detailed) models
  • Apply a variety of techniques that support the active participation and engagement of business professionals and subject matter experts
  • Develop conceptual and logical models quickly using repeatable and Agile methods
  • Draw an Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) for maximum readability
  • Read a concept model/data model, and communicate with specialists using the appropriate terminology.
Lees minder

Data Mesh - Federated Data Governance: Structuring Teams and Driving Accountability

Organizations need adaptable governance and team structures to harness data’s strategic value. This course explores Federated Computational Data Governance, balancing centralized oversight with distributed autonomy. Participants will learn to structure teams, ensure accountability, and implement sustainable frameworks, fostering innovation, operational efficiency, and long-term success in a distributed data ecosystem.
Lees meer

In today’s distributed and dynamic data landscapes, traditional approaches to governance and team organization can no longer keep pace. To unlock the full potential of data as a strategic asset, organizations must rethink how they manage, govern, and structure their data functions. This course, rooted in the principles of Federated Computational Data Governance, explores how to balance centralized oversight with distributed autonomy while ensuring accountability and alignment across teams.

Why We Need a New Approach

In many organizations, data governance is struggling to find its place, providing static policies focused on compliance rather than enablers of innovation. However, modern organizations need governance frameworks that are flexible, computational, and adaptive to distributed ecosystems. Federated data governance provides the balance needed to: 

  • Enable innovation through decentralized decision-making while maintaining control.
  • Foster collaboration and alignment between central oversight and distributed teams 
  • Ensure accountability and ownership, even in complex, multi-team environments.

By introducing computational models and distributed governance principles, this course shows how to create a scalable, adaptable data team and framework.

The Three-Dimensional Approach to Structuring Data Teams

Data teams today must operate across three key dimensions to meet the demands of strategic alignment, operational execution, and distributed autonomy. Participants will learn how to organize their teams to: 

  1. Strategic and Tactical Levels: Align data initiatives with organizational goals and ensure compliance with overarching governance frameworks.
  2. Operational Efficiency: Build robust processes, tools, and workflows to maintain data quality, security, and accessibility.
  3. Distributed Autonomy: Embed data functions into business units or regions, empowering them to act independently while adhering to shared principles.

This multi-layered approach ensures that data teams can balance innovation with foundational stability, creating a system that supports agility without sacrificing control.

Ensuring Data Accountability in Distributed Landscapes

As data becomes more distributed, accountability is critical to maintaining trust, quality, and compliance. The course will cover: 

  • Data Ownership and Stewardship: Defining clear roles and responsibilities for maintaining data quality and ethical use. 
  • Data Contracts: Establishing agreements between producers and consumers to clarify expectations, autonomy, and responsibilities. 
  • Creating a Culture of Responsibility: Ensuring that every team member understands their role in the data ecosystem, fostering a sense of ownership and trust.

Key Topics Covered

This course closely aligns with the workshop outline and includes practical, actionable insights into: 

  1. Federated Data Governance: How to implement distributed authority while maintaining centralized oversight.
  2. Data Products and Data Contracts: Why design reusable, scalable data products and establish clear data contracts to streamline collaboration and accountability.
  3. Team Structures for Impact: Organizing data teams across strategic, operational, and distributed dimensions to maximize flexibility and innovation.
  4. Sustainability in Governance: Drawing lessons from long-term projects like NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor to ensure that governance systems are adaptable and maintainable over time.

Learning Objectives

  • By the end of this course, participants will have a deep understanding of how to: 
  • Build and manage federated governance frameworks that balance autonomy and alignment
  • Structure data teams to meet the dual needs of transformation and stability
  • Embed accountability into every level of the organization through clear roles, data contracts, and a culture of ownership
  • Implement sustainable practices that ensure long-term success in data management and governance.

Who is it for?

This course is designed for data leaders, managers, and governance professionals who want to create scalable and effective data organizations. Whether you’re responsible for strategy, compliance, or operations, you’ll gain tools and insights to navigate the evolving data landscape with confidence.

 

Detailed Workshop Outline

1. Introduction

Overview of Workshop Goals: Explain the importance of data as an asset and why organizations must move beyond treating data as just a service.
Solar System Metaphor: Introduce the concept of the data organization as a solar system, with data teams, governance, and accountability as key planetary bodies that need alignment for optimal performance.Key Points:

  • Data as a core asset vs. a service
  • The relationship between data, digital, and AI – why they aren’t interchangeable
  • The balance between transformation and strong foundational structures in data management.Key Learning: Participants will understand why it’s essential to treat data as a core asset, setting the stage for exploring how to structure data teams and governance effectively.

2.  Data Accountability: Creating a Culture of Ownership and Responsibility

Why Data Accountability Matters: Without clear accountability, data quality, security, and data availability suffer.

  • The need for clarity in data ownership
  • Creating a culture where team members feel responsible for data
  • Defining clear data accountability and responsibility roles across the organization (Data Stewards, Data Owners, etc.).

Practical Steps to Ensure Accountability:

  • Setting up reporting structures for data quality
  • Understanding the value of Data Products and Data Contracts to codify accountability
  • Implementing checks and balances for data privacy and security
  • How to align individual accountability with organizational data goals.

Activity: Scenario-based discussion where participants identify where accountability is lacking in a fictional data-driven organization, and propose solutions for creating accountability.

Key Learning: Participants will gain insights into what data accountability entails, ensuring each team member knows their role in maintaining data quality and governance.

3. Data Governance Models: Federated Governance and Distributed Authority

Introduction to Data Governance: Why data governance is essential to manage risk, ensure compliance, and drive effective data use.
Federated Data Governance: What it is and how it works – balancing centralized oversight with distributed ownership across data hubs.

  • The Gravitational Pull of strong governance: Central authority ensures alignment, while decentralized teams maintain autonomy.
  • How to harmonize data governance policies across departments without losing agility.

Key Components of a Data Governance Framework:

  • Roles and Responsibilities
  • Data access controls and security measures
  • Compliance with legal and ethical guidelines (e.g., GDPR)
  • Continuous governance process for maintaining standards.

Activity: In groups, participants will design a federated governance model for a hypothetical organization, ensuring alignment between distributed teams and central governance.

Key Learning: Participants will learn how to implement a federated data governance model that balances control with autonomy, ensuring alignment across the organization.

4. Structuring Data Teams: Balancing Centralized and Distributed Needs

Discussion: Challenges in organizing data teams.

  • Centralized vs. decentralized data functions
  • Roles and responsibilities: What does a modern data team look like?
  • Data Science, Data Engineering, DataOps, Data Management, etc.
  • Balancing Innovation and Foundation: How do you organize a team that is both transformative (innovation-focused) and foundational (infrastructure-focused)?

Activity: Group exercise where participants design an ideal data team structure that addresses both distributed and centralized organizational needs.

Key Learning: Participants will learn how to create a data team structure that is flexible enough to meet both innovation-driven and operational demands.

5. Navigating Long-Term Sustainability: Lessons from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor

Reflection: Insights from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor and NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter.

  • Long-term data management challenges
  • The importance of human involvement (Human-in-the-loop) in managing complex systems
  • Sustainability in data practices: How to ensure that your data organization remains agile and maintainable over time.

Key Learning: Participants will leave with strategies for ensuring long-term sustainability and scalability in their data governance and team structures.

6. Wrap-Up and Key Takeaways

Summarizing the Journey: Recap of the solar system metaphor and how the workshop’s concepts apply to real-world data challenges.

Key Takeaways:

  • How to structure data teams for maximum flexibility and impact
  • Ensuring data accountability through clear roles and ownership
  • Designing a federated data governance model to balance distributed autonomy with central oversight
  • Practical steps to create a sustainable, future-proof data organization.

Q&A and Next Steps: Open the floor for final questions and discussions about how participants can implement the lessons in their own organizations.

 

Lees minder

 

Boek ook een van de praktische workshops!
Drie internationale topsprekers verzorgen de dag na het congres boeiende en zeer praktische workshops. Congresdeelnemers genieten combinatiekorting dus aarzel niet en boek snel want deelname aan de workshops is gelimiteerd.

2 april 2025

09:15 - 10:15 | Data is (niet) dood: een nieuw perspectief op data management
Zaal 1    Wouter van Aerle
09:15 - 10:15 | Innovatie binnen wettelijke kaders: de AI Act, Data Governance Act en Data Act
Zaal 1    Linda Terlouw
09:15 - 10:15 | Datawarehouses bouwen met Gen-AI: Een Toekomstblik
Zaal 1    Victor de Graaff
09:15 - 10:15 | Testen in een BI & Data landschap
Zaal 1    Suzanne Kraaij
09:15 - 10:15 | Onderzoek Vernieuwen door Open Data: Het Bouwen van het Samenwerkingsplatform van de toekomst
Zaal 1    Jos van Dongen
09:15 - 10:15 | Federated Computational Data Governance – toepassing in de praktijk
Zaal 1    Winfried Adalbert Etzel
09:15 - 10:15 | Packaged Software and Data Modelling – The Surprising Reasons Behind Implementation Failures
Zaal 1    Alec Sharp

workshops 2025

09:00 - 12:30 | Concept Modelling for Business Analysts [English spoken]
3 april    Alec Sharp
09:00 - 12:30 | Data Mesh – Federated Data Governance: Structuring Teams and Driving Accountability
3 april, Workshops    Winfried Adalbert Etzel