The town was assessed as “reactive” across the data governance maturity dimensions. This state means that town lacks a well-defined data strategy. The current data policy and capabilities are inconsistent and decentralized, the technology solutions lack standardization with respect to the town’s data vision. The Town of Oakville should implement a Hub and Spoke Data Governance Operating Model for enabling corporate data governance. Aligned to industry trends, a dedicated function that enables a data strategy for the town needs to be created with a Corporate Data Governance and Analytics (CDGA) function. Business, corporate services and technology will collaborate and work together with CDGA to operationalize data governance practices. The Executive Leadership Team (ELT) will be accountable to ensure data strategy is aligned to the town’s business strategy.
A sprint-based strategy must be adopted to operationalize data capabilities with specific business outcomes being delivered leveraging a proof-of-concept (PoC) approach. The short-term focus will enable data governance across key data management capabilities (data governance, master data management, data integration) and establish related data policies, processes and standards. The proof-of-concept will allow the town to test these capabilities, establish roles and responsibilities, mandate, assess and implement a revised solution architecture, as well as lay the foundation for data-driven implementation with defined governance metrics across prioritized data-domains. The lessons learned will inform the mid-term and long-term target state while ensuring the data strategy is adjusted to meet the changing business demands.