One of the key themes part of the DIAL research group is the Data Management Theme led by Dr Philip Woodall. The aim of this theme is to:

Discover new and exciting ways of improving data used for organisational decision making

including:

1. How to architect an information system to provide enhanced data quality
2. Automating and improving data quality problem detection and correction
3. Understanding which data is most valuable to an organisation and avoiding data overload
4. Facilitating the integration and sharing of data between organisations

Investigation into this area is critical because data is a fundamental resource for organisations to support their decision making. Using this data, many organisations are applying data analytics to generate business intelligence from the abundance of data from new publically available sources and innovations in data collection methods such as advanced sensors, the Internet of things, and smart phones. However, if this information is of poor quality, or is poorly managed, then it can become as much a burden as it is a useful resource. Organisations frequently speak of silos of information, garbage in garbage out, and information overload. And news sources are littered with embarrassing examples of the negative consequences of having used data that was poor quality. The Data Management Group endeavours to work towards solving these problems and providing organisations with the data they need, when they need it, and at the right level of quality.