Leveraging dark data for governance of Kenya Electricity Transmission Company

Abstract

Dark data entails information assets organisations collect, process and store during regular business activities, but fail to use for any other purposes. Yet it has the potential to be a very powerful tool for informing business decisions. Dark data continues to be a risk at the Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO). This is seen as an embarrassing exposure in the media when it lands in foreign hands such as bloggers, lawyers, and auditors, but can hardly be traced by the company itself. This has been blamed on the lack of proper structures for data management. Therefore, this study sought to establish how dark data can be leveraged for effective governance in KETRACO. The objectives of the study were to present the context of dark data creation and its capturing at KETRACO; and to establish how dark data can be leveraged for effective governance in KETRACO. The study adopted a case study research design within a qualitative approach. For that purpose, personal interviews were used as the primary tool for data collection from 32 participants. The findings of the study revealed that dark data at KETRACO accumulated in different locations and formats with no specific individuals responsible, as it streamed into the company from both external and internal sources. The findings also showed that dark data comes with risks and opportunities that have implications for corporate governance. Therefore, the study recommended that organisations such as KETRACO should implement clear strategies to maximise the opportunities presented by dark data. This study is important to the field of information science because of its emphasis on leveraging all organisational data, and by extension records for effective governance.