Describing the breadth of IBM’s leadership and experimentation in the data and AI space is no small task. IBM has been working with more than 200 production blockchain networks, thousands of regulatory documents and datasets across industries, and hundreds of AI research projects. This vast expertise along with the recognition that synergy is created through collaboration — are some of the most important engines fueling the latest enterprise technology solutions, especially IBM Cloud Pak for Data.

By connecting enterprise-ready, containerized software solutions that provide an open, faster and more secure way to unify and simplify the collection, organization and analysis of data, IBM Cloud Pak for Data helps support a smarter business. In today’s challenging environment where business continuity efforts are at the top of the priority list for organizations, a major data challenge remains; large volumes of disparate data sources make it difficult to efficiently aggregate and analyze that data in ways that can yield insights fast.

The ideal solution begins with automation and organization of data processes at scale. A data catalog is the place to start building a foundation for DataOps. It not only helps organize data along a common and known business vocabulary but can also deliver services for the automation and on-boarding of data content. Because data catalogs also make data sources more discoverable and manageable, they help organizations make more informed decisions about how to use their data.

Whereas some might see data catalog as the same old metadata repository they’ve already been using for decades, users must consider that the key difference between repositories of the past and a modern data catalog. Modern data catalogs surpass the concept of metadata capture and management by including automation and modern discovery techniques such as visual recognition, natural language classification, and machine learning. With automation and modern techniques, a data catalog is able to keep close to real-time data with the added benefit of excluding unnecessary manual processes older repositories used to require.

The new wave of intelligent data catalogs is not only changing the way business is run via virtualization and multicloud deployment, but how organizations are carving new business models and preparing for the future of AI.

As part of the foundational set of cloud-native services on Cloud Pak for Data, Watson Knowledge Catalog is the intelligent data catalog solution for enterprise data and AI model governance, quality, and collaboration. By providing an end-to-end experience rooted in metadata and active policy management, the solution can be leveraged to find success across top use cases like regulatory compliance, governing data lakes, self-service consumption of high-quality data, and enhanced use of data.

It has been a busy year for Watson Knowledge Catalog as new and enhanced capabilities have been added to automate governance and advanced discovery, operationalize quality, and accelerate data preparation. Key innovations include:

• Smarter global search driven by machine learning search suggestions and results
• AI-powered metadata generation process for curating, verifying and classifying data
• Regulatory accelerator and model frameworks ready to onboard industry-specific terminology and concepts, data structure designs and KPI and report designs, which can quickly help governance, compliance and integration efforts
• Automated scanning and risk assessments of unstructured data via Watson Knowledge Catalog InstaScan
• Improved connectivity with InfoSphere Advanced Data Preparation to provide machine-learning recommendations to format, join, and cleanse data sets even faster

“The data catalog that does it all,” says a senior financial analyst on Gartner Peer Insights. “What a great system that allows employees to discover, categorize, and share data among all users. Easily manages data for our large company. No easier platform to manage and manipulate data.”

Earlier this year, Watson Knowledge Catalog was recognized for the 2020 Gartner Customers’ Choice for Metadata Management Solutions. Gartner maintains rigorous criteria for recognizing vendors with high client satisfaction rates, underscoring the significance of this recognition for a product that has been laser focused on improving and streamlining the user experience and usability. The roadmap will continue to build on this momentum to help business drive value and insights with data and AI models.

Forrester’s Total Economic Impact of IBM Cloud Pak for Data provides a deep dive into how Cloud Pak for Data and Watson Knowledge Catalog services are contributing ROI of up to 158 percent for your peers in the market.

Watch the DataOps webinar to hear about the latest automated metadata generation capabilities in Watson Knowledge Catalog and how they have impacted the IBM Global Chief Data Office.

Learn more about IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog by visiting ibm.com/watson-knowledge-catalog.

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