The 16th annual A-Team Group Data Management Summit London gets underway tomorrow morning, with another high-level gathering of industry experts to look over the state of play in data management within capital markets.
A full-day of panel discussions, debate and networking will take place as well as a slew of keynote addresses from some of the leading vendors in the market.
From data onboarding to data products and, of course, artificial intelligence applications and rollouts, speakers from the worlds of finance and technology will share their thoughts on the industry as it stands today and how they see it evolving over the next few years.The event, held in the heart of the City of London, will open with a Practitioner Keynote from Ari Cohen, chief data and AI officer, EMEA and Americas for Macquarie Group.
In a session entitled “Leading in the Age of AI”, Cohen will examine how organisations can successfully take their AI projects from pilot to production and how they can prise the most value from the technology.
Data at the Heart of Everything
Rocket Software vice president of data modernisation Ray Sullivan will deliver then next keynote, with an address entitled “When Your Data Works, Everything Works”.
“We often talk about data as a business multiplier, but the challenge is making the rest of the organisation see it that way,” Sullivan told Data Management Insight. “You start by running data functions cleaner, faster and more predictably.
“Then, quick wins tied to the C-Suite’s KPIs – like reducing risk, speeding time to market or cutting costs – will shift perceptions from data as a cost centre to critical growth engine,” she added.
“A clear data health scorecard and credible ROI reporting build trust, enabling every part of the business – from infrastructure to AI – to move faster and with confidence.”
Critical Role Being Played by Data Products
Within the modern data management architectures, data products are playing an increasingly important role. Through internal and external data marketplaces, they providing powerful and customisable capabilities that are enabling organisations to meet their ongoing tech needs through innovations often created by the people who most need and use them.
In the panel “Delivering Business Value With Data Products”, key issues surrounding the topic will be discussed, including creation, delivery and security. Another key discussion point will be the emerging consensus on the data product mindset.
“Adopting a data product mindset highlights the diverse set of stakeholders across the data supply chain: producers that determine the raw data quality; engineers who process and transform the data; and, the consumers who define the requirements and acceptable quality standards,” according to Ataccama, whose field chief data officer Jon Asprey will be among the panellists.
“For effective governance and clear accountability, this community must collaborate closely, with a focus on delivering tangible business benefits to justify continued funding,” the company wrote.
A crucial issue that is likely to frame many conversations at Data Management Summit London is data quality as a non-negotiable pre-requisite of an effective data product.
“For any data product to gain traction and sustained usage across the business, trusted and fit for purpose data is critical,” Ataccama added. “If consumers or subscribers have clearly articulated requirements, then the appropriate quality measures and controls can be built into the process.
“Clearly understanding the business process or critical report that consumes a data product is essential, both to ensure appropriate governance and to enforce the agreed quality standards.”
Tracing and Tracking Data from Origin to Use
A key determinant of data quality is its metadata and in the discussion “End-To-End Data Lineage In Action: Case Studies And Discussion”, panellists will discuss its importance for regulatory reporting and a host of other use cases.
“Today, data lineage is a requirement that goes beyond regulators and auditors and operationally can either expedite or undermine data governance,” panellist Janelle Veasey, chief executive at 3D Innovations, told Data Management Insight. “From a third-party data licensing perspective, not being able to track and record the ingestion and flow of data creates unintended licensing breaches.
“Financial penalties, punitive vendor licensing costs, reputational risk and sub-optimal value are the result,” Veasey added. “Data lineage as a building block of enterprise data management can fix this. Internal processes exist that can be leveraged by SaaS tools and the enabling features of AI.”
Observations on Maintaining Data Quality
Ensuring the quality of data is no easy task and in the panel session entitled “Beyond The Dashboard: AI-Powered Approaches For Proactive Data Integrity”, speakers will look at how organisations can monitor, check and adjust data along their pipelines.
“Firms have been working on data visibility for decades now, and AI has changed the landscape by giving them the capability not just to reactively see what is wrong with their data, but to observe and react to patterns and anomalies proactively,” panellist Nick Taplin, pre-sales head UK/MEA at NeoXam told Data Management Insight.
- A-Team Group Data Management Summit London will be held at etc.venues, 8 Fenchurch Place, London on March 26. To book your place, click here for registration details.
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