Dennis Kessler

Head of Data Governance European Investment Bank

Dennis has served the noble cause of financial information management for many years. He has lived and worked in London, Hong Kong, Osaka and Basel (Switzerland) before taking on his current role as head of data governance at the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg. He consistently sees the way managing and governing data properly can help to break down entrenched organisational silos, improve collaboration and help to create a clear view of corporate data, processes and operations. In his main presentation, Dennis will draw on a wild range of examples and links between: football’s Carling Cup; professional comedy and information security; how a single collaboration-related data-quality error led to the spectacular failure of a NASA Mars probe; and even how losing a common language for understanding data can lead to a disaster of biblical proportions, as dramatically illustrated in – of all places – the bible. While seeking that delicate balance between “informative” and “entertaining,” Dennis will reinforce how critical it is for complex organisations to identify, manage and govern their data as a key success factor for achieving core mission and strategic goals.