CIMdata’s 2023 PLM Market & Industry Forum series theme is “The Digital Thread: Powering Business Transformation.” At this industry-leading Forum, CIMdata will frame the digital thread and discuss the issues faced by industrial users. Event sessions provide critical information to the PLM Software and Service community enabling them to respond to new and evolving requirements. Learn more about the 2023 PLM Market & Industry Forum here.

CIMdata continues to investigate many topics of interest to the PLM Economy. One area we are currently focusing on is data governance, a topic important enough to be featured as a stand-alone topic on our 2023 PLM Market & Industry Forum agenda. Here is some current thinking on how we are developing that session.

At the core, per CIMdata’s definition, a digital thread is a communication framework that connects data flows, which can be used to produce an integrated and holistic view of an asset’s data from physical and virtual systems (i.e., its digital twin) throughout its lifecycle across traditionally siloed functional perspectives. As a result, it is critical that the data models, knowledge, information, and data used throughout this communication framework be governed and fully incorporated into an organization’s overall data governance strategy, practices, and procedures. You can’t create a digital thread unless you have the appropriate level of data governance that instills confidence and trust in the associated data.

Digital thread initiatives often succeed or fail based on the accuracy and completeness of the data that it is communicating. For this reason, the criticality of data governance is becoming recognized by most company executives. Many digital initiatives attempt to force a “data culture” by trying very hard to remove the silos of data, tribal knowledge, and data quality issues.

Unfortunately, many organizations only focus on the low-hanging fruit instead of organizing a sustainable data governance structure and overall strategy. In this era of digitalization, it is astounding that organizations have yet to manage their data in a way that treats it as a business asset. In most cases, data governance falls short of true ROI as organizations continue to believe it is a project, not a process that must be thought through to ensure it is sustainable. Investing in people, processes, and organizational elements must be championed by executives to start data governance in a strong position for long-term success.

In this session on data governance, we will share research findings on the current status of industrial users relative to data governance. The presentation will provide vital insight for the solution provider community into the following areas:

• Where industrial companies currently stand on data governance.
• Is data governance understood in industrial organizations?
• Whether or not data governance is part of an organization’s digital transformation plans.
• Who is responsible for data governance at industrial companies.

Key takeaways from this presentation will include:

• The successful creation and maintenance of a digital thread requires effective data governance.
• The data governance process must be proactively designed and managed.
• Elements of a governance model must be ‘appropriate’ for the customer and program being governed.
• Effective governance must address the people, process, and technology dimensions.
• Data governance initiatives will fail without proper executive support and budgetary resources.

The 2023 PLM Market & Industry Forum will be a live event in Ann Arbor, MI, USA, on March 30 and in Frankfurt, Germany, on April 4. A series of virtual-live events will follow, each held over two half-days designed to share the same information in the following geographies, India, China, and Japan.

Please let me know your thoughts on this topic by sharing them in the comments section of this blog!

Or contact me directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

I hope to see you in Ann Arbor or Frankfurt!

Janie

PS: The research mentioned above is still open for your participation - share your opinions on Data Governance by completing our survey at https://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=f300e4c9-fc37-47cb-b927-4e5335cac8df