Applying governance: what it is, how it can be implemented, and how it can be used

If you raise the concept of governance, people immediately think of a specific type of “governance” and assume that is what you are talking about. Sometimes that means they are focused on controls (operations), or sometimes it means they are focused on a particular type of governance – corporate governance, or governance of a particular privacy, cybersecurity or business continuity planning process. In in most cases, though, that  approach doesn’t fully consider what governance actually is.

Governance is a process, not tied to any particular substantive area, that does five things. It sets a direction, develops a strategy, create an oversight structure, establishes operations to implement the strategy, and provide a framework for measuring progress and reporting back to the oversight layer on an ongoing basis.

In these five LinkedIn posts, we answer these questions: What is governance? How can it be implemented? How can I use it in different contexts?

Part 1: What is governance? The basics.

Part 2: Corporate governance: Defining the often misunderstood corporate governance and program governance processes, then discussing data governance beyond oversight of privacy issues. 

Part 3: Applying corporate governance: How the governance structures can nest, and a quick look at related legal compliance principles.

Part 4: The hybrid world: Putting privacy rights in the larger context.

Part 5: The problem with privacy: “Data sustainability” is a new concept describing how companies should govern their data practices.