DAMA UK Ltd

General information

Introduction:
In today's increasingly digitized and data driven world, information is becoming an organisation's most valuable asset. But like all company assets, it needs to be managed carefully in order to realise its full benefits. This involves many complex challenges and so applying industry best data management principles and practices, allied to suitably skilled people to achieve this, is paramount.

What is DAMA UK?
The Data Management Association of the UK (DAMA UK) has been established to meet this need. DAMA UK was launched in 2002, and has since grown into a respected body for data management professionals. Today DAMA UK has over 100 corporate and individual members.

In broad terms, DAMA UK is the UK Chapter of the global DAMA International (DAMA-I) organisation. In line with DAMA-I, DAMA UK is a not-for profit limited company, managed by an elected Committee of volunteer Directors, which meets monthly to plan all activities.

Our mission is “To champion the values of Information Management and provide training and support for data professionals in the UK.”

To achieve this, our primary objectives are to provide our corporate and individual members with the following:
▪ Best practices in Information Management (including industry sector influences)
▪ Formal data professional certification and training
▪ Case studies of good (and bad) data management experiences
▪ Mentorship & networking opportunities
▪ Updates on data legislation and regulation
▪ The ability to influence the future direction of various aspects of Information Management, including education, standards, technology, regulation, and market practices.

How Does DAMA UK Meet These Objectives?
We offer a variety of ways in which these objectives are achieved:

• Regular webinars on data management topics, and company case studies
• Face to face meetings and events, including an annual joint event with the British Computer Society (BCS)
• A formal mentorship scheme, where more experienced data management practitioners provide informal help and advice to less experienced members and to members who want to improve their skills and experience in data management disciplines which they are less familiar with
• Opportunities to develop the data management profession in the UK by contributing to working groups on particular data management topics
• Regular communication with our members on data management events and other topics of interest, via this web site, social media and other channels

All the above require funding to make them happen and this is achieved in two ways:

▪ Membership can be individual or corporate and the Committee aims to keep subscriptions at a realistic and affordable level. We believe this represents exceptional value-for-money as membership includes discounts for data management and related conferences and events in the UK and USA.

▪ Although DAMA UK is vendor-neutral, subscriptions are supplemented by sponsorship from leading data management organisations. Various levels of sponsorship are available. Additional and invaluable support for general administration and venues for meetings is provided by UKCeB and IRM UK.

Who Can Benefit From Membership?

Membership of DAMA UK is aimed at anyone involved in Information Management at any level within an organisation. DAMA UK seeks to establish a good level of common understanding of data across business and IT, focuses on business language rather than technical jargon, and aims to grow business appreciation of the importance of data management.

A number of major and prestigious UK organisations are currently Corporate Members of DAMA UK. These include Barclays Bank, Rolls Royce, the Environment Agency , Lloyds Banking Group and others.