Big Data Governance | Principles of Governance

Principles
of Governance

The DASCA Governance Structure has been designed on the paradigm of “Accountability to Markets, Industry, and Stakeholders through Ethical Practice of Credentialing”. A set of 9 different policies and guidelines that drive governance in DASCA have been developed on this paradigm. The tenets of Accountability, Industry-connect, and Ethical Credentialing Practice are enshrined in the architecture of the DASCA Governance Structure, which has an integrated group of Councils. These Councils are responsible for ensuring that all DASCA products and services are always designed and delivered on the basis of the needs and the voices of the players, markets, and stakeholders of the global Big Data space and its components and offshoots.

Framework of
Governance

The DASCA Governance System is composed of three key elements – the sacrosanct DASCA Charter of Governance 2015, which defines the DASCA Constitution; the Councils, Committees, and Groups; and the body of Policies and Guidelines. The current DASCA Governance framework provisions for 5 apex Councils - to be served by more than 70+ experts as members of more than two dozen global and zonal Councils and Committees.

Executive Council

Established at the inception of DASCA as a Certification Organization, the DASCA Executive Council was re–engineered significantly under the DASCA Charter of Governance 2015 to facilitate the rapid empowerment of various global Committees and Councils falling under other Councils. The four component Committees of the Executive Council are the Advocacy Management Committee; the Global Partnering Management Committee; the Credentialing Management Committee; and the Knowledge Management Committee.
How the DASCA Executive Council functions

The DASCA Executive Council is now responsible for the overall management of DASCA as a Credentialing Enterprise worldwide. Four different Committees with five eminent professionals and experts as members in each of them share mission–critical responsibilities to manage credentialing, knowledge development, international advocacy, and global partner network of DASCA. An independent DASCA Nomination Management Committee (NMC) established by the Executive Council is mandated to nominate the members for all DASCA Councils, Groups, and Committees. Further, four Committees of the Executive Council are nominated by the NMC. Two nominated members in each of the four Committees are rotated every year. The other three nominees are the representatives from the industry with a fixed tenure of two years. Further, each of these Committees has at least one DASCA–certified professional with the designation of Functional Leader or above and at least two members are eminent ex–CXOs from IT/ BIG DATA/ SOFTWARE/ ICT or related industries. The Executive Council meets every quarter to discuss issues pertaining to governance, operations, programs, and stakeholders’ interests.
Global Advisory Council

The DASCA Global Advisory Council (GAB) underwent significant changes in the DASCA Charter of Governance 2015 in terms of its mandate and responsibilities toward contributing to the propagation of credentialing consciousness across the global Big Data industry. The GAB essentially assists the Executive Council in developing credentialing mechanisms and certification products and defining the validation systems for DASCA Certifications and Standards for professionals and enterprises in the Big Data space.
How the DASCA Global Advisory Council functions

The GAB is composed of two large committees – the Advisory Committee on Professional Certifications and the Advisory Committee on Enterprise Certifications. These committees have 15 eminent professionals and experts as members in each of them and are responsible for advising the DASCA Executive Council on mission–critical responsibilities to manage credentialing, knowledge development, international advocacy, and the global partner network of DASCA. An independent DASCA Nomination Management Committee (NMC) established by the Executive Council is mandated to nominate the members for the Advisory Council. At least 8 nominees in the GAB are eminent ex–CXOs from IT/ BIG DATA/ SOFTWARE/ ICT or related industries with a fixed tenure of two years, whereas 4 members are experts in education, training, and learning & development. The other three members are experts in quality management and process design. Further, each of these committees has at least five members with DASCA Credentials of Functional Leader or above. At any given time, the GAB has at least 6 members from the Zonal Advisory Councils (ZABs) – 1 from each of the 6 ZABs for the 5 DASCA Strategic Global Zones.
Zonal Advisory Councils

The DASCA 2015 created 6 Strategic Global Regions for DASCA – Z1–Asia Pacific rim & China; Z2–South Asia & Europe; Z3–North Africa & West Asia (Middle East); Z4–The Americas; Z5–South African Development Council; and Z6–East & West Africa. Each of these zones has its own Zonal Advisory Councils (ZABs). These ZABs were formed in the DASCA Charter of Governance 2015 to strengthen zonal voices and representations in the DASCA think-tank.
How the DASCA Zonal Advisory Councils function

The ZAB essentially helps in developing a body of well–researched and consensual opinions on the matters related to the requirements of credentialing mechanisms and certification products in their respective zones and in helping the Executive Council in the validation and propagation of standards in member countries. Each ZAB is composed of two large committees – the Zonal Advisory Committee on Professional Certifications and the Zonal Advisory Committee on Enterprise Certifications. Each of these committees has 15 eminent professionals and experts as members who are responsible for advising the DASCA Executive Council on credentialing, knowledge development, international advocacy, and partnering strategy in their zone. The DASCA Nomination Management Committee (NMC) established by the Executive Council is mandated to nominate the members for all the Zonal Advisory Councils. At least eight nominees in the ZAB are eminent ex–CXOs from IT/ BIG DATA/ SOFTWARE/ ICT or related industries in that zone, with a fixed tenure of two years, whereas four members are experts in education, training, and learning & development in the zone. The other three members are experts in quality management and process design. Further, each of these committees has at least five members with DASCA Credentials of Functional Leader or above. At any given time, a ZAB cannot have more than two members from any one country in that zone unless otherwise approved by the NMC.
DASCA Professional Certification Board (DPCB)

The DPCB, established under the DASCA 2015, is responsible for validating professional competence standards and conducting examinations for all DASCA professional certification programs conducted globally through two councils – the DASCA Council for Examinations (DCE) and the DASCA Professional Standards Council (DPSC). While the DCE takes care of the examinations, the DPSC looks after validations, revisions, and accreditation of the DASCA Essential Knowledge Framework (EKF™) for Big Data Professionals.
How the DASCA Professional Certification Council functions

The DPCB also has 6 Zonal chapters called Professional Certification Management Committees (PCMC) – one for each of the 6 DASCA Strategic Zones. All DASCA Certification programs are approved by the Programs Validation Committee (PVC), while the credentialing award decisions are taken by the Credential Award Committee (CAC). The Credentialing Shared Services Group of CredForce manages the delivery of examinations across zones in tandem with the respective Zonal PCMCs and the Examinations Council. CredForce also coordinates with various bodies and organizations to help the Professional Standards Council in standards validations, revisions, and accreditation. The core group of DPCB is composed of 6 expert members with the tenure for 2 years. The two DPCB councils have 6 members, each having expertise in their respective professional areas. These councils are also refreshed every two years with new members.

The DASCA Nomination Management Committee (NMC) established by the Executive Council is mandated to nominate the members for all the DPCB councils and committees. The DPCB house includes a mix of eminent ex-CXOs from IT/ BIG DATA/ SOFTWARE/ ICT or related industries as well as experts in assessments, testing, and quality management.
DASCA Ethics Control Council (ECC)

The DASCA Ethics Control Council (ECC) is responsible for defining and coding the ethical framework of DASCA – the DASCA Code of Ethics – and also for guiding, planning, and controlling the implementation and practice of the DASCA Code of Ethics across partners, associates, and employees worldwide. The ECC mandate was substantially increased under the revised DASCA 2015 to introduce more rigor in the practice of credentialing and expand the role of ethics in the decisions related to the award of certifications. In addition to the Council of Ombudsmen, the ECC operates through two core councils – the Code of Ethics Council (CEC) and the Appellate Council. The ECC also has 6 Zonal chapters called Zonal Ethics Committees (ZECs) – one for each of the 6 DASCA Strategic Zones.

The core group of ECC is composed of 6 expert members with the tenure for 2 years. The Council of Ombudsmen includes 4 eminent jurists with the tenure for 3 years. The Code of Ethics Council is composed of 6 members and reelected every 3 years.