Gartner Data & Analytics Summit Sydney: Day 1 Highlights

We are bringing you news and highlights from the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit 2023, taking place this week in Sydney, Australia. Below is a collection of the key announcements and insights coming out of the conference.

On Day 1 of the conference, what highlighting is this year’s opening keynote, the effects of dangerous data and the enterprise implications of generative AI.

Gartner Opening Keynote: Lead for Purpose. Connect With Trust. Make an Impact.

Presented by Sally Parker, Senior Director Analyst and Adam Ronthal, VP Analyst, Gartner

Data and analytics (D&A) leaders can deliver increasing value to their organizations. In this session, Sally Parker, Senior Director Analyst and Adam Ronthal, VP Analyst at Gartner, highlighted new ways they can connect with stakeholders, address skills shortages and lead with purpose to ensure the data-driven transformation required for success.

Gartner analysts Sally Parker and Adam Ronthal took the stage at the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit in Sydney to explain how D&A leaders can lead for purpose, connect with trust and make an impact.

Sally Parker, Gartner Senior Director Analyst outlined how D&A leaders can succeed in changing the organization’s culture to become more data-driven.

Gartner analysts highlighted the importance of connecting D&A outcomes to business value.

Key Takeaways

• “The most common roadblocks to the success of D&A initiatives are all human-related challenges, such as skills shortages, lack of business engagement, difficulty accepting change and poor data literacy throughout the organization.”

• “D&A leaders are still not speaking the language of business, but are under intense pressure to demonstrate the value of initiatives to other business peers and executives.”

• “Much of what D&A leaders do is strategy enablement, which by definition plays out over a longer period of time. A new way to talk about investments in D&A is needed to show future impact and how they meet the needs of multiple stakeholders.”

• “Think about speaking the language of business. Now more than ever, D&A leaders must have a translation layer between initiatives and the organization’s mission-critical priorities.”

• “Make business stakeholders the hero in your business value story by meeting their KPIs and enabling their objectives by connecting them with D&A insights.”

• “Culture is the reason we say we fail. Even the highest ranking executives in your organization can’t change the whole culture, but you can change the culture around you to a data-driven one.”

Dangerous Data: Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It

Presented by Guido De Simoni, VP Analyst, Gartner

Dangerous data is data that exposes the company to the threat of serious legal or brand impact, but is unavoidably collected for other business purposes. In this session, Guido De Simoni, VP Analyst at Gartner, explained why the ability to identify data liability and not just treat data as a pure asset is critical to managing data and analytics risk.

Guido De Simoni, VP Analyst at Gartner, outlined what dangerous data is and why D&A leaders need to be aware of the risks at the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit in Sydney.

Gartner analysts said data-related risks range from customer privacy concerns to questions of ethical responsibility and issues of legal liability. The first step is for organizations to assess their risk level.

Key Takeaways

• “Growing amounts of data are routinely collected for uncontroversial, legitimate business purposes, but this possession can expose you to unanticipated legal, ethical or brand risks, like any other asset.”

• “Audit your data and identify what you know about your customers and products.”

• “Gather a team of intellectually creative, ethically concerned colleagues to brainstorm the worst-case real-world outcomes having data could reveal.”

• “Together with your legal team, identify if there is legal or regulatory exposure to “knowing” the outcomes identified in the brainstorming session.”

• “For idealistic, socially responsible organizations, start thinking about how your data can be used for social benefit.”

• “For follow-the-money pragmatists, work with third-party organizations to create legal separation from dangerous data and aggressively delete once it has served its purpose.”

• “For organizations in the middle, develop processes that will allow you to react in professionally defensible ways to the crises your data may cause in the future.”