'Chief Data Officer's Playbook' inspires first summer school program

When authors Caroline Carruthers and Peter Jackson published "The Chief Data Officer Officer’s Playbook" last year, they were tapping into a rapidly growing market. Between big data challenges, new privacy regulations and growing security threats, more organizations are creating the role of chief data officer.

But many organizations also find that the CDO role can be an uncomfortable fit in the existing C-Suite, and the book is intended to help calm the waters and prepare the CDO for success.

The book has also inspired what is being described as the first summer school program for CDOs and aspiring-CDOs. The program is being offered by Carruthers and Jackson, in collaboration with Collibra, maker off a leading data governance and catalog platform.

The 10-week Summer School for Chief Data Officers starts June 28, and “offers hands-on instruction for the first generation of CDOs, a new and increasingly critical role within many organizations,” according to its sponsors. It will cover the ingredients to becoming a successful CDO; implementing the right technology, tools and team; leading the change; developing the right strategy, culture and ethics.

“Written by two practicing CDOs, The Chief Data Officer's Playbook brings together views, opinions and practitioners’ experience to offer a jargon-free, practical guide for CDOs, data professionals and organizations looking to better understand the current (and future) CDO landscape,” according to an announcement. “The CDO Summer School builds on the book’s content to provide data leaders with practical assessments and methodologies to put practice straight away.”

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The summer school is delivered as a series of 90-minute online classes every two weeks with three in-person events taking place in London and New York.

Content covered includes:

• Why does any organization need a CDO?
• The secret ingredients of the successful CDO.
• Avoiding the hype cycle.
• The CDO place in the C-suite.
• Building the CDO team.
• The CDO and technology enablement not red tape.
• Advice to give the business owners.

Caroline Carruthers, CDO at Lowell Group, explained that, “I am, at heart, a problem solver. The bigger, more complex the problem the happier I am, which is great since I consider myself extremely fortunate to be part of a first generation of chief data officers – a role that requires a passion for creative thinking and a love of technology to develop pragmatic solutions for interesting challenges.”

Our CDO Summer School combines these key elements, bringing together a community of like-minded CDOs for the first time to create an engaging learning environment for an exciting new generation of data leaders,” Carruthers said.

Those interested can learn more at www.collibra.com.