Harnessing dark data for effective corporate governance at the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited

Abstract

Dark data is an emerging area in the field of records and information management. It entails the information assets organizations collect, process, store, access, use and share during regular business activities, however fail to use for any other purposes, yet it has the potential to be a very useful tool for informing business decisions. At the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO), poor management of dark data continues to be a risk as evidenced through constant exposes in the media about delayed and alleged fraudulent compensation of land owners resulting to project delays loss of public trust and finance among others. This has been blamed on the lack of proper structures for data management. This necessitated this study which sought to investigate harnessing of dark data for effective corporate governance at KETRACO. The objectives of the study were to: examine the context within which dark data is generated at KETRACO; determine the existence of policies and standards that regulate harnessing of dark data at KETRACO; find out the implications of the risks and opportunities associated with dark data to corporate governance, and propose a framework for the effective management of dark data so that it can be harnessed to enhance corporate governance at KETRACO. The study was informed by the Data Curation Centre (DCC) Lifecycle Model which addresses the management of data throughout the lifecycle. The study was qualitative in nature and utilized an exploratory case study research design. Purposive sampling was used to select 91 respondents from a target population of 569 in all nine directorates at KETRACO. Personal interviews and document analysis were used to generate data, which was then analyzed using thematic analysis. The study confirmed that there were policies in KETRACO that could be used to harness dark data for corporate governance, but majority of the staff were either not aware of them or were not conversant with the policies’ contents. Additionally, the findings revealed that dark data at KETRACO was accumulating in different locations and formats with no specific individuals responsible for its effective management. Findings also showed that dark data comes with risks and opportunities that have implications on corporate governance such as non-compliance and efficient service delivery respectively. The study concluded that failure to effectively manage dark data was a serious challenge to effective corporate governance at KETRACO, and thus the need for strategies to harness it. Key recommendations include: deployment of a centralized data management system for controlling the accumulation of dark data; maximizing the implications of the opportunities posed by dark data, while mitigating its risks to corporate governance; adequate sensitization of stakeholders on data management policies in the Company for effective corporate governance; and enhancement of strategies already in place for harnessing dark data in addition to existing policies and systems. This study is significant because it provides a framework for harnessing dark data for effective corporate governance, emphasizing adequate sensitization of data handlers on the importance of dark data management to effective corporate governance, promoting a data-sharing culture; and ensuring adherence to dark data management policies.