For more executive briefings and case studies, register for the Strata Business Summit at the Strata Data Conference in New York, September 25-28, 2017.

Data executives might spend most of their time on technical and vendor management, but their work ultimately comes down to the task of building an effective data culture. Reorienting a company around data-driven decision-making takes more than just software tools; it also involves training your employees to understand data essentials, establishing processes that safeguard data and clarify its ownership, working with line-of-business managers to set expectations and goals, and generally striking the right balance between risk-taking and caution.

Since the first Strata conference six years ago, O’Reilly has identified data as an important driver of value in every industry. In this series, we’ll revisit advice to data executives from a handful of authorities on building data culture inside large organizations.

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In 2015, Hilary Mason and DJ Patil wrote Data Driven: Creating a Data Culture, to introduce executives to the value of data and to the essential steps that managers need to take in order to exploit that value. In this excerpt from their report, Mason and Patil describe the importance of democratizing data—making sure that employees who might need data have access to it, and making sure they have the resources to interpret it:

To learn more from the people who have built data cultures at leading companies, join us at the Strata Business Summit in London on May 24-25, 2017. The Strata Business Summit’s multi-day lineup includes a series of comprehensive executive briefings, case studies from a wide variety of industries, and deep dives into the managerial and technical subjects that matter most to data executives.

You may also continue reading Data Driven: Creating a Data Culture, by Hilary Mason and DJ Patil, by downloading it for free.