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Paper Number
ICIS2025-1769
Paper Type
Complete
Abstract
Data governance faces a persistent tension between enabling innovation and ensuring compliance. While traditionally viewed as control-oriented, data governance is increasingly expected to support innovation. The emerging role of the data steward offers a potential solution; however, little is known about how this role navigates the inherent duality. Drawing on socio-technical systems theory, we conducted 15 expert interviews to examine how data stewards interact with tools to balance innovation and compliance. Our findings reveal four key dimensions shaping the data steward’s innovation-enabling capacity, uncovering both enablers that increase innovation potential and barriers that constrain it. We highlight the need for a complementary approach that aligns compliance and innovation objectives, offering a deeper understanding of the data steward role and how data governance can reconcile these dual imperatives. Finally, we propose testable propositions linked to a structured model to guide future research.
Recommended Citation
Wiecki, Eryk Maciej and Brauer, Benjamin, "Harmonizing Innovation and Compliance in Data Governance: How Socio-Technical Systems Can Serve as Enablers" (2025). ICIS 2025 Proceedings. 9.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/diginnoventren/diginnoventren/9
Harmonizing Innovation and Compliance in Data Governance: How Socio-Technical Systems Can Serve as Enablers
Data governance faces a persistent tension between enabling innovation and ensuring compliance. While traditionally viewed as control-oriented, data governance is increasingly expected to support innovation. The emerging role of the data steward offers a potential solution; however, little is known about how this role navigates the inherent duality. Drawing on socio-technical systems theory, we conducted 15 expert interviews to examine how data stewards interact with tools to balance innovation and compliance. Our findings reveal four key dimensions shaping the data steward’s innovation-enabling capacity, uncovering both enablers that increase innovation potential and barriers that constrain it. We highlight the need for a complementary approach that aligns compliance and innovation objectives, offering a deeper understanding of the data steward role and how data governance can reconcile these dual imperatives. Finally, we propose testable propositions linked to a structured model to guide future research.
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17-Innovation