Information Quality Track 1

2:15-3:15 Twelve Ways to Attack Information Quality
     Bob Smucker, IT Architect / IQ Leader, Mennonite Mutual Aid

3:30-4:30 Delivering Enterprise Data Quality
     Robert Rich and Brian Kordelski, Senior Product Marketing Manager & Data Quality Product Manager, Ascential Software

Wednesday, October 13:
10:00-11:00 Improving IQ with Integrated Information Architecture Quality Framework
     Pushpak Sarkar, Lead Architect, Merck

11:15-12:15 MasterCard IQ: For Global Information Quality
    John Lovelett, Vice President, Information Products, MasterCard

2:00-3:00 Increasing IQ Through Effective Partnering Between Business and IT
    Brad Darrach, Information Quality Analyst, Fallon Community Health Plan    

Implementing a Data Quality (DQ) Program? What are the steps involved? How long does it take? Who are the players? At American Reinsurance Company, a DQ Group emerged as a result of a Data Warehouse assessment. This presentation focuses on how we implemented a DQ Program in one year with only two dedicated DQ staff.

• Laying the foundation of a DQ Program
• Forming key intra-company alliances
• Our timeline for implementing a DQ Program

Learn how one health care organization uses the multiple database sources to improve patient safety, and saves money through DQ management. This requires an organizational mindset and team approach to data quality. Personnel from multiple business areas are all involved in improving information quality. Teams participate in all levels of planning. Information Services staff no longer do just programming, and physicians no longer do just bedside care.

• Using information to improve product/service quality
• Reducing costs through quality monitoring and improvement
• Overcoming barriers and crossing departmental silos
• Creating and using a model for all DQ improvement
• Tying data quality to business plans

"Work on Data Quality." Sounds good, but where do you start? Bob explains what he has done in one year as a part-time IQ leader. He reveals why some ideas worked well and others fell flat. Bob outlines 12 broad actions, with specific steps to establish a starting point, build momentum, gain executive support, identify and measure problems, and quantify costs. Includes examples that you can adapt to your own organization's unique goals and problems.

• 12 Steps to establish an IQ function
• What works and why
• Examples of success you can use

Complete, valid, accurate and relevant data is critical to the success of business intelligence warehouses, new and consolidated operational applications, compliance projects and "single view" initiatives. High quality enterprise data must be generated consistently in batch, by transaction and on demand. An integrated enterprise data platform incorporates a complete set of profiling, matching, transformation, monitoring, metadata management and parallel processing capabilities. This session reviews current business drivers, examines successful enterprise data quality implementations in detail and describes the business benefits realized when high data quality is a priority.

The rationale for investment in Information Architecture & Quality activities is often not clearly understood in many IS organizations. ROI on these activities is frequently questioned due to the long-term nature of its payback. Neglecting quality design principles in application and data development often influences the creation of poor quality information. Lack of formal design and audit controls increases risk exposure. This presentation explains the linkage between IS architecture/design activities and improving information quality in the organization. You learn:

• To identify root causes of IQ problems and focus on prevention
• To establish a formal Information Architecture Quality function
• To implement Information Architecture and Data Definition practices

In 2002, MasterCard launched a global Information Quality program called MasterCard IQ. It implemented a number of programs and policies around managing the quality of our data warehouse. Learn how MasterCard implemented programs to increase its information quality such as how to:

• Develop a corporate-wide data dictionary
• Create a "5-DATA" hotline used to track information quality issues
• Develop regular reporting on the health of the data
• Provide education pieces like "Know Your Data" desk drops

Businesses today must exceed expectations and delight customers by delivering high quality. So does Information Technology. By providing high quality information to our knowledge workers we became a core competency. Learn how our IT department avoided being outsourced by:

• Creating a strong partnership with our business
• How business can support culture change to "reach the next level"
• Information Stewardship and Information Accountability
• Feedback through Audit and Statistical Quality Control Methods