{"id":2806,"date":"2024-04-04T14:41:17","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T13:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.praxonomy.com\/blog\/?p=2806"},"modified":"2024-04-05T10:04:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T09:04:26","slug":"its-all-in-the-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.praxonomy.com\/blog\/its-all-in-the-language\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s all in the Language \u2013 Do Boards Need \u2018Data\u2019 or \u2018Information\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Alan Hewitt<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently found the output from a business survey conducted by Diligent and Board Agenda which looks at, “Clarity from complexity: how boards can leverage emerging technology and data to drive confident strategic decision-making.\u201d  You can download the full report here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report\u2019s introduction states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Certainly, the problem isn\u2019t a lack of data. A typical corporate technology stack has evolved over time, as tools are developed to tackle the latest challenges, until the environment has grown as complex as the commercial landscape itself. Each separate point solution generates vast quantities of data, acting as an exponentially growing \u2013 but increasingly chaotic \u2013 digital record of the organisation. Somewhere in all that data is the governance, risk and compliance (GRC) intelligence boards and senior leaders need to inform strategic decisions. The challenge is how to find the signals amongst the noise created by tools that rarely talk to each other and frequently link back into manual processes that can introduce errors and inaccuracies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What struck me immediately is the language used and maybe the use of that language which may lead to some potentially false conclusions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The executive summary states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We aimed to gauge the level of adoption of digital technologies,\u00a0the use and accuracy of data and also the perceived benefits of AI\u00a0in decision making.\u00a0The overriding image is of boardrooms inundated with data and\u00a0lacking AI knowledge. Understandably, this leads to uncertainty,\u00a0especially in how the latest technologies can help to augment decision-making processes, as well as manage increased risks.\u00a0And yet a considerable number of organisations (93%) claim that\u00a0access to data and business intelligence tools in the boardroom\u00a0has increased dramatically over the past five years.\u00a0The recognition of data-driven intelligence as a key weapon in the\u00a0decision-making armoury is undermined by a lack of faith in\u00a0boards\u2019 data knowledge. This is also reflected in a lack of faith in\u00a0decision-makers\u2019 understanding of how AI can make a difference\u00a0to their task. Despite this, organisations recognise the impact of\u00a0data and business intelligence tools in driving decision making and this is shaping investment plans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I understand that this business survey has a strong technology focus but is it fair, reasonable or desirable for boards to have an in-depth knowledge of \u201cBig Data,\u201d Business Analytics tools, etc.? Surely what boards need is good quality, reliable, timely and accurate information<\/strong> and NOT data<\/strong>. This may be just semantics but too often I see examples of the use of technology jargon which can, at least on occasion, confuse and mislead people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I looked up the difference between Data and Information and it is quite revealing. On the Bloomfire website (here<\/a>) I found the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Key Differences Between Data vs Information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n