2021 Agenda

Gerard is a recognised and accomplished data management professional, helping businesses unlock the value of their information.

A firm believer in the principle that good data management is all about people rather than IT systems, Gerard’s proven approach focuses on delivering real change through stakeholder buy-in, organisational redesign, process improvement and team development.

He has set up substantial data governance organisations, built large data management teams from scratch, implemented workflow systems, delivered cost-reducing data management processes, built data quality systems and set up insightful BI systems. Gerard has worked in many blue-chip organisations throughout his career and is currently heading up global master data management at Jacobs Douwe Egberts in the Netherlands.

An engaging communicator, Gerard is a regular speaker at data management and governance conferences, where his practical content and real-life examples are always popular and well received.

People have not changed, but the way how we see data has. Data has always been there, and it has always been important; however nowadays when there is so much more that we can do with it, the interest and attention for it have just exploded. Whilst I also am excited about the new shiny tools, I strongly believe and know that the data that goes into them, still needs lots and lots of our care and attention. Input – Mishmash – Output – Business Decisions is, in short, the whole process, and the quality and reliability of the input are what I choose to focus on.

I get inspired if I can ignite interest in people about Data Governance. It often needs to be demystified, it is not such a scary monster after all! I have worked in this field for several multinational Companies across Fashion, Pharma, Chemicals, Automotive, and FMCG industries, across both federated and aligned IT landscapes, various maturity levels, across multiple data domains. After 8 years and multiple projects, I have repeatedly landed on the same old truth: Data Governance is not a tool implementation. Data Governance is about people, and it has no end date.

To share my love for data, I am a regular speaker at various conferences for Data Management practices. I want to share real examples of what worked, and what failed, and learn from others the same, the rest we can google.

People have not changed, but the way how we see data has. Data has always been there, and it has always been important; however nowadays when there is so much more that we can do with it, the interest and attention for it have just exploded. Whilst I also am excited about the new shiny tools, I strongly believe and know that the data that goes into them, still needs lots and lots of our care and attention. Input – Mishmash – Output – Business Decisions is, in short, the whole process, and the quality and reliability of the input are what I choose to focus on.

I get inspired if I can ignite interest in people about Data Governance. It often needs to be demystified, it is not such a scary monster after all! I have worked in this field for several multinational Companies across Fashion, Pharma, Chemicals, Automotive, and FMCG industries, across both federated and aligned IT landscapes, various maturity levels, across multiple data domains. After 8 years and multiple projects, I have repeatedly landed on the same old truth: Data Governance is not a tool implementation. Data Governance is about people, and it has no end date.

To share my love for data, I am a regular speaker at various conferences for Data Management practices. I want to share real examples of what worked, and what failed, and learn from others the same, the rest we can google.

Gerard is a recognised and accomplished data management professional, helping businesses unlock the value of their information.

A firm believer in the principle that good data management is all about people rather than IT systems, Gerard’s proven approach focuses on delivering real change through stakeholder buy-in, organisational redesign, process improvement and team development.

He has set up substantial data governance organisations, built large data management teams from scratch, implemented workflow systems, delivered cost-reducing data management processes, built data quality systems and set up insightful BI systems. Gerard has worked in many blue-chip organisations throughout his career and is currently heading up global master data management at Jacobs Douwe Egberts in the Netherlands.

An engaging communicator, Gerard is a regular speaker at data management and governance conferences, where his practical content and real-life examples are always popular and well received.