Data Governance and The Art of the Fugue

Elaborating on his article, "Data Governance and The Art of the Fugue," Randy will guide the audience through a layperson's explanation of what a fugue is, using J.S. Bach's The Art of the Fugue as an example, and draw parallels between its structure and that of data governance frameworks. Today’s data, in its near-infinite variety of sources and types, resembles polyphonic music such as fugues more so than homophonic music like popular songs. But combining independent melodic lines is just as difficult as understanding disparate data sets. Without some guidelines, the result is cacophony, when sounds combine with no rhyme or reason, and the ear hears nothing but harshly clashing noise. In the data world, we have the same situation when data lakes become data swamps, filled with in-comprehensive information not fit for any use, because of the lack of data governance. Randy will also explore these ideas: - How the subject of the fugue provides the listener guideposts similar to how metadata and lineage help analysts navigate data - How following the fugue "governance framework" allowed Bach to compose with enormous inventiveness while still providing his listeners a transparent structure even with many moving parts - How a similar approach to creating a data governance can fuel innovation In conclusion, Randy will demonstrate how this musical perspective can enable a rethinking of the very goal of data governance, a goal extremely relevant to the world of exploding, ever changing data we live in today. About the speaker: Randy Gordon is a data governance professional with over 10 years of experience in leadership roles in financial services. Most recently, at Moody’s, Randy established their first formal data governance program, building the data governance framework, principles, standards, and organization.