What is Data Stewardship?

Data stewardship refers to the individual responsibility of managing, protecting, and ensuring the proper use of data in an organization. It’s like being a guardian for the valuable information your organization collects, stores, and utilizes. 

Imagine you’re at a community garden, where people work together to grow fruits and vegetables. Each person has a responsibility to tend to their plants, water them, and ensure they grow healthily. Similarly, data stewardship is taking care of the “data garden” within an organization. 

As a data steward, you would ensure the information is accurate, up-to-date, and stored securely. You’d also be responsible for keeping the data organized and accessible to the right people while protecting it from misuse or theft. This may include following guidelines and regulations like GDPR or HIPAA, which help protect people’s privacy. 

In a real-world example, let’s say you work at a hospital. As a data steward, you would ensure that patient records are accurate, securely stored, and only accessible to authorized personnel. This helps the hospital provide better care and safeguards patient privacy. 

In summary, data stewardship is the individual responsibility of managing and safeguarding data in an organization. It’s about ensuring that the data is treated with care, respect, and responsibility, just as you would tend to a garden.