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What is Sustainable Data Governance?
Every query, every stored dataset, every nightly data pipeline consumes energy—structurally and at scale. Yet data management is missing from almost every sustainability strategy. DGL asks the question others overlook: what role does data management itself play in your organization’s energy consumption?
As a driving force within the National Coalition for Sustainable Digitalization (NCDD), DGL is developing an approach that is both strategically embedded and practically applicable—based on the internationally recognized DAMA DMBOK framework. Less data does not mean less value. It means choosing quality, efficiency, and measurable reduction.
- CSRD and ESG require demonstrable Scope 3 reduction—including in IT
- Data storage is a rapidly growing yet underestimated emissions category
- Regulators and investors expect concrete proof, not intentions
- DGL delivers measurement methodology, a governance framework, and implementation support
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Top-tier science
Beliefs don’t count in ESG—evidence does. That’s why DGL collaborates with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Phoenix project.
It brings practice and science together into one measurable approach. Energy-aware data management tactics are tested, validated, and translated into evidence-based standards.
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From model to measurable impact
The Phoenix research and DGL’s practical experience converge into one concrete instrument: a model with 12 control variables that directly link data management to energy reduction. Not abstract theory, but levers you can act on today.
- DM Processes (X1–X6): creation, usage, archiving, processing; each step comes with an energy cost
- Infrastructure (X7–X9): hardware, software/platform, and energy source; green IT as a governance choice
- Policy & Standards (X10–X11): retention policies and quality standards that structurally prevent waste
- Monitoring (X12): making it demonstrable that your data management drives energy reduction for ESG reporting and regulatory scrutiny
DGL covers the full spectrum: measurement methodology, governance framework, and implementation, scientifically validated by VU Amsterdam and proven in practice.