Zero-Copy Integration governance framework released for Canadian public access

The Zero-Copy Integration framework has been released for public access. Learn how it affects data governance and democratization for Canadian organizations.

Data integration and digital transformation projects have always been difficult for businesses to manage and complete without project silos and other inefficiencies getting in the way. However, with the right guiding frameworks and resources in place, these projects can become much more doable.

SEE: Data governance checklist for your organization (TechRepublic Premium)

Today, Canada’s Digital Governance Council and the Data Collaboration Alliance have announced the open access availability of a new national standard, Data Governance-Part 9: Zero-Copy Integration, which offers organizations a framework for streamlining digital transformation project delivery within the confines of a variety of data privacy regulations. Read on to learn more about what this framework covers and what it might mean for national and international data projects.

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Fast facts about the Zero-Copy Integration framework

Zero-Copy Integration is a framework that provides an umbrella of data governance support on a per-project basis. The features of this framework not only focus on increasing compliance and visibility for administrators but also on eliminating data silos and simplifying code to improve collaboration across different teams and departments.

Here are some fast facts to get you up to speed on the Zero-Copy Integration framework:

• Approved by the Standards Council of Canada for public access.
• Plans to move Zero-Copy Integration toward international standards organizations.
• Establishes principles to increase controls at the C-suite level while simultaneously supporting collaboration at lower levels of organizations.
• Creates a shared data architecture for more unified governance visibility.
• Offers an access-based approach to data collaboration, shifting away from copy-based data integration.
• Improves data-layer-level universal access controls.
• Moves away from centralized data governance teams toward data products and federated stewardship.
• Increases emphasis on metadata and solution modularity.

Benefits and use cases for Canadian organizations

Zero-Copy Integration offers a variety of benefits not only to business leaders but also to everyone else in the organization involved with digital transformation and innovation projects. With a framework like this one in place, businesses are encouraged to break down organizational silos, offer access on an as-needed basis and innovate with team-wide collaboration as a priority.

SEE: An overview of data governance frameworks (TechRepublic)

With this more equitable approach to data access, many industries will find that their teams are able to better ideate and innovate in their specific sector.

“By eliminating silos and copies from new digital solutions, Zero-Copy Integration offers great potential in public health, social research, open banking and sustainability,” said Keith Jansa, CEO of the Digital Governance Council. “These are among the many areas in which essential collaboration has been constrained by the lack of meaningful control associated with traditional approaches to data sharing.”

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of this framework is that it comes directly from some of the most important compliance and data innovation organizations in Canada. They understand the types of projects that businesses are trying to complete and have created a framework that makes new kinds of innovation feasible. Some of the project types that Zero-Copy Integration is designed to make more efficient include:

• Application development and enrichment.
• Predictive analytics.
• Digital twins.
• Customer 360 technology.
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning.
• Workflow automation.
• Legacy system modernization.

All in all, the Zero-Copy Integration framework effectively balances executive control with democratized access and transformation opportunities.

Dan DeMers, CEO of Cinchy and a member of the Technical Committee for the standard, further explained how this framework can benefit both a greater organization and the individual team members working on transformation projects.

“With Zero-Copy Integration, organizations can achieve a powerful combination of digital outcomes that have always been elusive: Meaningful control for data owners, accelerated delivery times for developers and simplified data compliance for organizations,” he said.

About the Digital Governance Council

The Digital Governance Council is a Canadian member-driven organization that focuses on digital governance growth opportunities and current challenges across business sectors. The Council has the primary hand in setting technology governance standards through the Digital Governance Standards Institute. It is also the primary organization that certifies the compliance of Canadian organizations that are using digital technologies to run their businesses.

About the Data Collaboration Alliance

The Data Collaboration Alliance is a nonprofit that focuses on optimizing data ownership within and across organizations. As a whole, the organization focuses on reducing data copies and offering data crowdsourcing projects and anonymous apps for increased data access.

Read next: Top data governance tools (TechRepublic)