Garbage in; garbage out. That’s been the mantra of the computing world since forever. In today’s world of big data and the Internet of Things, filtering the garbage from valuable insights has become even more important. The new word on the street is data governance, first born from regulatory compliance, but now companies are wielding it to create value in its own right, according to Jitesh Ghai (pictured), vice president and general manager of data quality and governance at Informatica LCC.

“Data governance is the practice of ensuring an understanding across people, processes and systems,” Ghai said.

At the Informatica World conference in San Francisco, Ghai spoke to John Furrier (@furrier), co-host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s mobile live-streaming studio. They talked about the creation of data governance, innovation in the field and what it means now. (* Disclosure below.)

Effective data access is key

Data governance started off with the stick of regulatory pressure, Ghai explained. These regulations required compliance and quality, which mean understanding the data itself. The heart of this is effective access to and consumption of trusted data. However, this regulatory pressure has also created an opportunity to innovate.

As the data governance concept matured, people realized there was a lot of manual work and going across departments involved. Companies needed a holistic management solution that connects policies with intelligent automation and the underlying governing tools.

“Ultimately you have to stop documenting your data policies and make it real,” Ghai said.

Innovation in data governance has come in the form of machine learning, he added. Automated intelligence systems ensure the right people get the right information with the right context. Connecting that data with where it needs to go means understanding the data, where it is and what it is. The current big transition in business is realizing that governance isn’t just about regulatory compliance, but understanding, working with and innovating with data, Ghai added.

There’s an opportunity now in bringing broad-based data access to the right users in the right context. Analytics need data, and the data itself is important. If the data isn’t trusted, accurate or in the right context, then it’s just garbage in, garbage out, he concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent editorial coverage of Informatica World 2017. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Informatica World. Neither Informatica Corp. nor other sponsors have editorial influence on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE