PwC and ASG Technologies to deliver data governance solutions

PwC and global tech solutions firm ASG Technologies are set to help clients across India with managing their data and ensuring that it complies with governance frameworks.

The partnership will combine the capabilities of PwC’s Enterprise Data Governance (EDG) framework and ASG’s flagship Data Intelligence solution. EDG provides a skeletal governance structure, offering separate and distinct operating models for “data for control” and “data for growth” depending on the goals of a business.

ASG’s Data Intelligence complements this through automated tracing of metadata from various functional areas in the organisation. With PwC’s framework and ASG’s tracking capabilities, clients will have a clear idea of the data available within their organisation, as well as the sources of the data, its applications in the business, and its trustworthiness.

Leveraging the power of data is one benefit of the partnership, although the key offerings of the combined capacity are the ability to safeguard against “bad data,” and compliance with increasingly complex data regulations.

“We have seen major shifts towards data governance and data privacy in the Indian market, and businesses need experienced partners to help them navigate regulatory and operational changes. We have the unique market expertise to guide organizations through this changing business environment and deliver the promise of data governance,” said Sudipta Ghosh, partner & head of PwC India’s Data Analytics practice.

Data laws across the globe have tightened in recent years, as the global incidence of data mismanagement and violations of privacy has increased. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe is the prime example, which sent markets around the globe into a flurry of compliance management when it was enacted in 2018. 

The Indian parliament is still debating a Personal Data Protection Bill, which proposes the establishment of a Data Protection Authority of India, while also providing the ‘Right to Be Forgotten.’ The government is looking to finalise the bill as soon as possible, which will further tighten the regulatory environment for Indian businesses, many of which have a long way to go with their data compliance framework.

Mukesh Deshpande, partner and data governance lead for PwC India pointed out that the “path to data governance is much more complex than merely maintaining compliance,” adding that complete knowledge of data within the organisation and its sources is crucial to governance and management.

According to vice president for channels and alliances at ASG Saurabh Kothari, PwC is the “ideal partner” to support businesses in this new scenario. “With PwC’s in-depth domain and market expertise, we can provide customers with a truly end-to-end solution for their most pressing data challenges, overlaying the best-in-class strategies and framework PwC has developed to the specific needs of enterprise customers in India,” he said.

Where data compliance was already becoming a tightrope act, the Covid-19 crisis and the consequent virtual working conditions have exponentially increased privacy and compliance risks in India and across the globe. PwC and ASG will likely have a significant task at hand in the months and years to come.

ASG is a global tech solutions firm based out of Florida, offering data compliance solutions to a clients across the globe. The firm appears to have ambitious plans in the Indian context. “This partnership stands to have a major impact for Indian businesses, with ASG and PwC setting the standard for data governance offerings in the region,” said Kaushik Bagchi, vice president, information management at ASG Technologies.