Making the most of data to create value is a key challenge for all organisations that want to thrive at the heart of our digital societies. Data underpins artificial intelligence, process automation and, more generally, the digital transformation of organisations," confirms Xinxin LI, Product Manager Data & AI at Proximus NXT. If we want to take advantage of the technologies available and the possibilities they offer, it is important to consider the many issues surrounding data management."
It is data that supports artificial intelligence, process automation and, more generally, the digital transformation of organisations
Preparing your data well
The first challenge is to ensure that your data is well prepared. Many organisations are not always aware of the data, structured or unstructured, that they have and that they collect," continues the expert. But if we want to integrate it into AI-driven solutions or make it easier to share with third parties, we need to start by identifying, cleansing, structuring and standardising it. To do this, companies need to incorporate advanced data management practices by implementing robust governance."
Adopting standards to facilitate exchange
The European Union, through the implementation of its data strategy from 2020, seems to have grasped the scale of the challenge. Its approach, aimed at creating a single market for data, is helping to facilitate the flow of data between sectors, to the benefit of all stakeholders. The Data Governance Act and the Data Act form the basis of this strategy," explains Xinxin LI. In particular, the Data Governance Act sets out the conditions for the re-use of certain data held by public sector bodies. The Data Act, for its part, aims to guarantee fairness between players in the digital domain and to stimulate the development of a data market by ensuring that data is accessible to all. In particular, it establishes interoperability standards for the access, transfer and use of data."
With these texts, supplemented by others, the authorities intend to stimulate economic competitiveness while guaranteeing data sovereignty.
It all starts with governance
With a view to preparing their data, Luxembourg organisations therefore have every interest in integrating these norms and standards at the heart of their data governance. "Governance is at the heart of any digitalisation process. Today, it is the best practices linked to the use of AI that most often guide its definition and implementation, with a major focus on data quality. We need to ensure that the data can be easily processed by the AI solutions available in order to guarantee the relevance of the results", explains Xinxin LI.
Quality data is characterised by its accuracy (is it correct?), completeness (is it complete?), reliability (can it be trusted?), relevance to treatment and timeliness (is it up to date?). "Poor quality data, in terms of its use, will adversely affect results and return on investment," continues the expert.
Adapting your infrastructure and architecture
Beyond governance, other elements need to be taken into account to ensure that data is processed efficiently. The infrastructure and architecture on which the data will be stored, shared and hosted also play an important role in making the most of it," adds the expert. One of the challenges is to ensure that the data platform implemented by the company meets the requirements for processing and securing information. The choices you make depend essentially on how you intend to use the data. The cloud facilitates the storage, sharing and analysis of data, offering easy access to advanced technological solutions and the possibility of rapid upgrades in processing capacity. On the other hand, the infrastructure also needs to be considered in the light of data sensitivity, resilience and sovereignty risks."
Developing a data culture
One of the final elements in ensuring that data is managed and exploited in the best possible way is raising awareness among teams. "Those who best understand and know data and its value are those who produce and use it. Developing a data culture helps to create more value from the information available and to treat data as a valuable asset," adds Xinxin LI. To achieve this, we need to invest in awareness-raising and training, both for managers and teams, so that everyone contributes to making data a key asset for the company and its future development."
The people who understand and know the most about data and its value are those who produce and use it.
Data, an asset in its own right
Proximus NXT is helping companies to gain a better understanding of these issues so that they gradually come to see data and its potential for enrichment as an asset in its own right, which can be leveraged within the organisation itself or with third parties.