Data Curators and their Value

With 90 percent of the world’s data having been created only over the past two years, there is more information available than ever. To satisfactorily use that dataset, organizing the data to filter the most relevant sets is of utmost importance. This is the primary function of data curators. Data curation not only looks at using available data for today but also the future use of that data.

Data curators bridge the divide between analysts who, using technology, make sense of the available information and scientists who gather the data using different means. Gathering and analyzing data to a very large extent are automated functions. Data curators, using societal and organizational cues are the ones who make sense of the data in terms of its immediate and long-term relevance to an organization. This also serves as quality control when it comes to data management.

Data curators help companies and groups to clean up and organize a confounding amount of information available. Although data curation has shown to have significant benefits for an organization, there are challenges ahead. Among them, the most important is the issue of oversight where national boards standardize the process thereby facilitating cross-referencing within repositories.

When bringing in data curators, an organization needs to keep in mind the following to leverage data and the curators optimally. The data curators must have a clear picture of the vision of the company to better harness data for the business. They should be empowered with the right software tools and the know-how and must have open communication channels with analysts and scientists to ensure they can adequately do their jobs. The need for data curators has steadily increased since 2006 with those in math and science fields showing strong abilities in data curation.

With so much data at hand, you need data curators to make sense of it. Your business will be able to make larger, faster strides by taking advantage of the organizational skills of data curators. It is time to add this member to your staff today for a future-forward company.