datastewards

A datasteward is a role within an organization responsible for managing data assets to ensure they are accurate, accessible, and useful while complying with governance requirements.

Core duties include defining and maintaining data definitions (data dictionaries), data quality rules, and metadata; establishing data standards; documenting data lineage and business context; and monitoring data quality metrics. They also coordinate data quality issue resolution and assist with data access requests according to policy.

Datastewards operate within a data governance framework and typically report to a data governance council or chief data officer. They differentiate from data owners, who hold accountability for specific data sets, and from data custodians, who handle technical storage and security. Organizations may designate business data stewards for domain-specific data and technical stewards for data pipelines and systems.

Key focus areas include data quality, metadata management, data lineage, privacy and security, and compliance with laws and regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA. Datastewards collaborate with data producers, data custodians, data analysts, and business users to ensure trust and usability of data.

Tools often used include data catalogs and metadata repositories, data quality dashboards, and data lineage visualization. Success criteria include reduced data defects, improved data discovery, and evidence of compliance in audits.