“ADCG will play a crucial role in guiding organizations towards data governance, privacy and security”
The Association for Cyber and Data Governance (ADCG), a US-based professional association specializing in data governance, data privacy, data protection (and) cyber compliance information appointed Sowmya Tejha Kandregula as an Advisory Board Member on June 19, 2020. Incidentally, Sowmya Tejha is the youngest and also the only Indian on the board led by Carlos Salori, ex Chief Information Officer for the White House during President George W Bush’s administration. Sowmya Tejha is also the recipient of the prestigious Globee Award as Information Technology Professional of the year 2020 (Gold Winner).
In an interview with The Indian EYE, Sowmya Tejha spoke about his new role with ADCG. Excerpts:
How would you describe your background?
I was born and raised in Vishakhapatnam. I completed my Engineering majoring in Electronics and Telecommunications from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University before moving to the US in 2013. I have over 14 years of experience in Data Governance, Data Privacy, Data Security, Regulatory Compliance with work experience serving across USA, India, Canada, United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
You are an employed professional. How did you end as an advisory board member at Association of Cyber and Data Governance (ADCG)?
Over the years, I have mentored over 2,000 folks (graduating students, IT employees who are intent to make a career change, Non-IT folks) in the field of data governance and data privacy. I have extensively published articles/journals on various business & technology magazines.
I have also spoken at various technological summits. At one such event, I ran into Joy Intriago, the Managing Director of ADCG. She introduced me to Carlos Salori, the Chair of Advisory Board who invited me to join his team.
What are the chief functions of the Association of Cyber and Data Governance (ADCG)?
The Association for Data and Cyber Governance (ADCG) is a membership organization of individuals, companies and other organizations that are interested in building and maintaining their knowledge of data and cyber governance. ADCG serves its membership by designing effective and efficient best practices in data privacy, data protection and cybersecurity. It also serves as a platform for facilitating the sharing of knowledge for persons and entities that are affected in this developing and risk-laden field.
How has the importance of data governance changed over the years?
The power of data in driving businesses today is well recognized. And with enterprises all over the world moving in the direction of data driven decision making, Data Governance has emerged into a core business function.
Simply stated, data governance is a collection of processes, roles, policies, standards, and metrics that ensure the effective and efficient use of information in enabling an organization to achieve its goals.
According to IBM’s estimate, the US lost $ 3.1 trillion yearly due to bad data. This baffling factor is why data quality improvement should be every business’s primary concern. When you have accurate data, you will be able to make proper and confident decisions in alignment with the overall strategic vision.
The landscape of data privacy is changing rapidly…
The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was implemented in January 2020. It was established to protect customer data and give control to a customer on how his/her data is being used. Going forward, we will see many other states follow suit.
Your future endeavors as an advisory board member at ADCG?
ADCG will be playing a crucial role in guiding organizations towards data governance, data privacy and cybersecurity in lieu of the changing landscape of privacy laws such as General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), increased movement of data onto the cloud, and a greater dependency on quality governed data for machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions.
In the Summer of 2021, we are planning a webinar that will serve as a guidance for enterprises to align their data governance initiatives using cloud platforms/technologies.
