A city manager asks whether standing up data governance mainly means buying a catalog tool. How should the information management lead define data governance?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Buying a catalog is like buying a filing cabinet and calling it a records program. Governance is the who-decides-what rules—policies, roles, and decision rights—not the shopping cart. Tools help later; they do not replace accountability.
Full Explanation
Data governance defines how an organization makes and enforces decisions about data: ownership, stewardship, standards, and escalation. A catalog may support discovery and glossary work, but licensing software without roles and policies leaves decision rights unclear. Equating governance to a vendor product or slogan confuses enablement technology with the operating model. Municipal leaders should sequence people and policy first, then select tools that reinforce those agreements.