dq:view - Steve Tuck on Data Quality

A Timely Reminder

To measure the quality of any data item we need to understand its definition.  Without that, we might totally misunderstand what we're looking at and if we're using the information as the basis for making an important decision the consequences can be dire.

Sometimes it's the presentation of the data that is at fault - take this example:

Date: 07/04/23

What is the date?  The 4th of July or the 7th of April?  And is the year 1923 or 2023?

If we were dealing with a customer database and the field was defined as the customer's date of birth I think we could safely assume that the year was 1923, but spot the same value in a field defined as a mortgage repayment date and the decision could go the other way.  As to resolving which is the day and which the month, we probably all jump one way or another based on what we're used to.  The problem is that the presentation of the date is ambiguous and without a clear definition it is open to misinterpretation.

Confusion over time zones can also cause fun!  I frequently have appointments for telephone calls with people in far away places and coordinating diaries can be problematic.  I know, for instance, that the east coast of North America is usually 5 hours behind UK time, but as we switch from EDT* to EST* and between BST* and GMT* we can be temporarily out of sync.  And why is it that we still change our clocks twice each year?  Is it just to confuse people more?

I was invited to a webinar by another data quality company today.  The invitation said that it would start at 2PM GMT - GMT, what madness is this?  We're in the middle of Summer so our clocks in the UK are all set to BST.  Did they mean that the webinar would start at 2PM, or did they mean it would be an hour later, which, if my brain is in gear, would be 2PM GMT?

It turns out that they were just using GMT as shorthand for UK Time and the event kicked off at 2PM on the dot.  It also finished promptly at 3PM BST - so woe betide anyone who was just logging in then for the scheduled 2PM GMT start!

I try to make a point of using the names of the months when I write out dates - particularly when I correspond with American friends and colleagues.  But is there an easy answer to solving the time zone issue - or should we all switch our clocks to UTC*?

* Glossary
BST - British Summer Time
EDT - Eastern Daylight Time
EST - Eastern Standard Time
GMT - Greenwich Mean Time
UTC - Coordinated Universal Time

It Can Happen to Even The Best of Us

Did you know that I'm the secretary of the IAIDQ's UK community of practise?  No, I thought not - and you probably don't know what the IAIDQ is either, eh?

The International Association for Information & Data Quality was established in 2004 to "cultivate information excellence" and "help transform organizations and society, improving the quality of life everywhere."  Blimey I think that's the first time I've read the vision statement - big or what?  I really look forward to seeing improvements in the quality of life EVERYWHERE!!!

My main objective in joining the association as a charter member (and then getting involved in some of its organisational challenges) was to facilitate a forum for people struggling to improve poor data quality.  The association has had very limited success in doing that to date (it's less than 2 years old, after all) and I have to admit to finding the name itself amusing (Information and Data are both included and I'll leave the anoraks to debate the difference between the two), but one thing that's clear is that the founders and executive of the association believe passionately that poor data quality costs organisations money (and sometimes worse).

Recently I received this from the association:

It's my new membership card and the thing to note is the dates; the valid through date is the same as the date I renewed my annual membership, i.e. it expired immediately.

The important thing though is that the association recognises that errors can occur and it provides a process to identify and correct them.  Beneath the signatures of founders Larry English and Tom Redman, is a request to "please examine the information below for accuracy" and telling us what to do if we find an error. 

In this case, the mistake was very speedily rectified and I received a new membership card.  Poor quality data cost the association some administration, printing and postal charges, but they acted quickly to deal with the problem and, I've no doubt, resolve the process issues that allowed it to happen.

I should close by saying one thing to the IAIDQ - thank you for your commitment to quality!