With just one week to go until the window for nominations to the DataIQ 100 2020 edition closes, the pressure is on to get your name onto the long list. Competition is intense - for the current 2019 edition, DataIQ considered 585 nominations and the final list featured 45% new names compared to the 2018 edition. In other words, nobody is safe and inclusion is not automatic.
Since the DataIQ 100 was developed in 2015 (the 2014 version featured just 50 practitioners), we have published 599 profiles on a net total of 345 individuals working in data and analytics. The Top Ten is the most contested element - it featured seven new names in 2019 - and is now a career-defining recognition of achievement at a personal and organisational level.
So what does it mean to those who make it? Nuala Kennedy, chief data officer, People’s Postcode Lottery, is number six in the current edition. She says: “Being part of DataIQ 100 list for 2019 has been fantastic. It has helped enormously with expanding my network community and connecting with data specialists in various sectors. have been able to draw on them for support and advice in a wide variety of areas.”
“As a result of the inclusion in the DataIQ 100, I have been given the opportunity to be involved in various industry conferences, roundtable discussions and projects. This, in turn has helped me in my role as CDO for People’s Postcode Lottery,” she added.
Scott Joslin, SVP - data strategy, Warner Media and number eight in 2019, made a similar point about how he had benefitted from inclusion: “There were two impacts - external and internal. From the outside, there was a lot of outreach with opportunities to collaborate and network. The level of that was really surprising. Having left the UK for a few years and then come back, it was a nice way to get back into the wider data industry and elevate my professional brand.”
Joslin noted: “Internally, it really increased the visibility of what myself and the team are doing and to develop our reputation. It gave us ‘street cred’ and got us into conversations having that validation from a third-party. It allowed me to say, ‘don’t just take my word for it’.”
The nomination process itself is straightforward via the online form here. You can nominate yourself (or have somebody else do it for you) or make the case for somebody in your peer group or a business partner. Critically, provide a compelling reason why you or they should be included based on activities over the last 12 months.
There are three criteria on which the final list is selected:
Impact - achieving a genuine change in the performance of a function or organisation through the use of data and analytics, regardless of the scale of resources available or status of the organisation.
Influence - acting as a catalyst for the development, adoption and growth of the data and analytics industry through involvement with sector activities, from cross-industry groups and trade associations through to conference speaking, meet-ups or knowledge-sharing.
Engagement - working with DataIQ to increase levels of visibility, knowledge and understanding of data and analytics by commenting, speaking, networking or involvement across our range of activities.
The 2020 edition of the DataIQ 100 will be announced exclusively on 25th March 2020 at a celebratory lunch event. Full profiles of all of those on the list will only be available to read via the DataIQ web site. You can read the current edition in full here.
Remember, nominations close on 30th November. Will you make the 2020 list?