Information is the life blood of any modern-day business. Companies succeed or falter based on the reliability, availability, and security of their information. But are most companies properly governing how their information is used, shared, and analyzed? The Economist Intelligence Unit recently conducted a survey of senior executives around the world on the benefits, challenges, and risks associated with developing an enterprise-wide information governance strategy.

The information that companies are busily generating, collecting, and mining offers a wealth of potential benefits. However, its use carries substantial risks. As a result, some organizations are forming formal governance bodies to create strategies, policies, and procedures surrounding the distribution of information inside and outside the firm. This paper seeks to better understand how companies are creating crossfunctional governance bodies to create strategies and policies around corporate information.