2024
Industry reports show that many firms still struggle with creating value from their data because data practices remain confined to data experts. Research has yet to explain how companies develop data practices among a widening audience — a capability denoted as democratization — especially how employees can effectively integrate data within their domain expertise. Simultaneously, the role of data governance — providing the framework for managing data as an asset — must shift from a control function focused on data protection to becoming an enabler of innovation. This thesis elucidates how data democratization and data governance co-evolve to scale data practices, through two interrelated streams of research. Through three essays, the first research stream grounds data democratization in Information Systems (IS) research, identifying it as a capability rooted in practice. We emphasize the necessity of integrating both generic and situated data practices to achieve data democratization. We illustrate how data practices are cultivated through situated learning and practice exchange. Through two essays, the second research stream explains how to govern data to achieve both control and innovation. We introduce systems thinking to position data governance at the intersection of data strategy and data operations within a Viable System Model. We describe the reconfiguration of data governance into archetypes that reflect the evolving strategic role of data. Altogether, our findings advance data management research by providing a clearer understanding of how to scale data practices through the interplay between data democratization and data governance, synergistically driving value creation from data.