Abstract:

Data and information quality (DIQ) is a critical issue for effective asset management in modern higher education (HE) sectors. Managing DIQ is essential to any asset management program. Problems with data quality can result in a number of unpredictable negative consequences. Several studies have provided strong evidence to indicate that most of HE institutions have DIQ problems. DIQ has recently been brought to the forefront and has become a pressing issue. This is particularly important in an environment where HE institutions begin to share their information systems with their stakeholders such as suppliers and business partners. Moreover Universities have millions of digital assets, thousands of users, hundreds of policies, many departments and stakeholders, and just one goal that is easy, affordable digital asset management that works the way everyone expects it to work. In such an environment, knowledge on how to manage the quality of the information asset has become very crucial in order to support the HE development. This paper describes a study, which explores DIQ problems with existing HE’s asset management system, and identifies key factors that impact on DIQ. The study applies a DIQ research framework for asset management in a preliminary case study of a large HE institution in Makassar, Indonesia. The findings of the study suggest that the importance of DIQ issues for effective asset management in HE needs to be widely understood. The paper also provides recommendations that may be useful to HE managers/practitioners.