Data Culture Club London Event
- Thursday 30 April 2026
- Browns, Covent Garden, London
- 5.30pm - 8.00pm
Join the Data Culture Club's 6th London event!
The Data Culture Club brings together pioneering professionals across the world who are shaping their organisations’ attitude to data. In a discipline that is relatively new, it gives members an opportunity to explore new ideas, share insights, and support one another on what can be a challenging journey. We believe the key to developing best practice is simple: sharing what we know.
Our quarterly London events allow us to get together in person to hear fresh perspectives from industry leaders, engage in open discussions and enjoy some convivial networking. We’re delighted to be holding our next event on 30 April at the characterful Judge’s Court at Browns in Covent Garden. Expect to walk away with bold ideas, practical takeaways, and a spark of inspiration to ignite change in your own organisation!
Topic
We’ll be exploring the relationship between Data Culture & Data Governance. They’re often viewed as opposites (the ‘carrot’ versus the ‘stick’) but in reality they’re deeply interconnected, acting as two sides of the same coin.
After all, there’s little point having the right mindset if the data you want to use is poorly defined and populated. Why bother trying to ‘do the right thing’ if the guidelines are ambiguous and processes are unclear? And conversely, what use is a set of standards and policies that people don’t see the value of following?
Strong governance builds clarity, ownership and trust. Strong culture drives curiosity, confidence and consistent use of data in everyday decisions. When these two elements evolve together, organisations move faster, make better decisions and create lasting impact. When they don’t, governance becomes bureaucracy and culture becomes chaos.
This roundtable brings together leaders and practitioners to challenge common myths, share practical experiences, and examine how governance can enable – not restrict – a thriving data culture.
We’re delighted to be joined by external experts Nicola Askham and James Finlason in a fireside chat and Q&A. After some genial networking, we’ll delve more deeply into some of the talking points with an interactive roundtable discussion. We look forward to hearing your opinions and ideas!
Agenda
5.30pm Arrival
6.00pm Fireside chat + Q&A
6.45pm Networking
7.15pm Roundtable discussions
8.00pm Networking
Speakers
One of DataIQ's 100 most influential people in data, Nicola has more than two decades of experience designing and implementing Data Governance Frameworks across all industries and sectors.
She's particularly known for her popular classes and courses that help organisations understand and manage their data better. And she's recently published her first book Effective Data Governance, a copy of which we hope to give away at this event!
James heads up the Data Governance team at the John Lewis Partnership, looking after Data and AI Governance across John Lewis, Waitrose, and their related brands.
With rich experience across Financial Services, Energy and Retail, he’s rolled out Data Governance frameworks covering everything from data policy & data ownership to metadata & models. He also finds the time to mentor future data leaders and get involved at his local Rugby Club.
Location
Browns is a hotel in the heart of the West End, and the former Westminster County Court. For this event we’ll be in The Judge’s Court, a grand space that still features the old judge’s bench and jury seats!
How to get there
Browns, Covent Garden
82-84 St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4AG
(2 minutes walk from Leicester Square tube station)
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