G1 · Corporate & Data Governance · 2026
Module G1 — Governance Series
Data as a
governance
asset.
From the Board of Directors to the CDO — a new decision-making architecture
Core challenge

"Data is no longer merely a technical or regulatory concern. It is a strategic asset that engages the accountability of governing bodies — on par with financial capital."

SCOPE

Corporate data governance, role of the Board and the Executive Committee, CDO positioning, interface with IT governance, regulatory compliance (COBIT, DORA, GDPR).

TARGET AUDIENCE

Executive Committee members, CDO, CIO, General Counsel, Chief Legal Officers, Internal Auditors, Audit Committee members.

FRAMEWORKS

COBIT 2019, Maturity Model Cigref/IFACI/ISACA 2026, DORA Art. 5, NIS 2 Art. 32, EU AI Act Art. 5 & 25.

DURATION

Half-day (3h30) — 2 learning sessions + 1 workshop on positioning the CDO within the governance structure.

ORBii.Academy — Governance SeriesG1 · P.01
G1 · Corporate & Data Governance
Decision-making architecture

Three governance tiers — a continuous chain of accountability

Data governance cannot be confined to the IT department or the Data office. It spans the entire decision-making hierarchy, from the Board of Directors to operational teams. Each tier carries specific responsibilities — and distinct regulatory obligations.

Tier 1 — Corporate Governance
Board of Directors · Audit Committee

Oversight of data & AI strategy. Annual review of the Data report (COBIT Criterion 5: report presented to the CEO). DORA Art. 5.2 accountability for digital resilience. Approval of data risk appetite.

DORA Art. 5.2 NIS 2 Art. 32
Tier 2 — Executive Governance
Executive Committee · CDO · CIO · CEO · CFO · CISO · DPO

Definition and approval of the data & AI governance policy (COBIT Criterion 2). Data investment arbitration. Appointment of Data Owners. Monthly data governance committee. Regulatory compliance oversight.

CDO accountable COBIT Criterion 4
Tier 3 — Operational Governance
Data Owners · Data Stewards · Data Quality Managers · IT Data Teams

Day-to-day management of the data dictionary, lineage, and quality. Facilitation of domain data committees. Monitoring of reference data usage in projects (COBIT Criterion 5). Quality incident escalation.

Operational Data RACI
Key warning signal — COBIT 2019 · Strategy Vector

When the data strategy is not championed at the executive level, it remains a technical project. The CEO must be accountable for the execution of the data strategy (COBIT Criterion 4). Without this sponsorship, data initiatives fail at scale: business units do not take ownership of their data, quality deteriorates, and value is never realized.

ORBii.Academy — Governance SeriesG1 · P.02
Protected content

You have viewed the preview of this module (first 2 pages).
To access the full content, enter your access code or request access.

10 pages remaining Personal link · Valid 24h