person holding a tablet with data on it
Data Management Program

Scope

The Data Management Program will help WSU better understand the tools, technologies, and practices we use to manage data system-wide. What we learn will enable us to address pain points with data and analysis, be more efficient, and continue to build our capacity to make data-informed decisions. 


icon for data cloud

What we mean by “data”

This program focuses on business data, which is data that directly impacts daily WSU operations. It does not cover research data, which is data collected from observational and experimental studies for the purpose of scholarly exploration and publication. For example, if your lab is measuring heart rates of mice, we are interested in knowing which software you use to store and analyze the data, but we don’t need to know the heart rates of the mice. 

Scope Considerations: What will change

Access

Everyone will be able to access the data they need when they need it to do their job. 

Accuracy

Know where data came from and what happened to it before it got to you, thanks to better tracking of lineage and metadata (data about data). 

Roles

Data and analytics experts across the system will take on more formal roles as advisors, helping us create best practices for managing data.

Technology

We will start using new tools while phasing out others. We plan to move toward one warehouse for data, making it easier to store and share across the system. The Technology and Applications Inventory project will help us identify common systems and platforms everyone can use, with costs covered centrally. 

How we’ll accomplish these goals


A Data Management Program as a framework to guide how we solve data problems, manage data, and make informed decisions
A community and culture where everyone has the knowledge and tools they need to access, store, share, and transform data 

A Council composed of experts and decision-makers from across the system focusing on Data Analytics and Data Governance  
A Change Network of data and analytics experts and communicators to help answer questions and guide colleagues to resources