George Firican

The University of British Columbia

Director, Data Governance & Business Intelligence

Led a team of wonderful and highly skilled people in the areas of:
- Finance
- Human Resources
- Information Systems
- Gift Processing 
- Operations
- Strategic Projects
- Prospect Research & Analytics 
- Data Governance & Business Intelligence 

To support the goals of the fundraising and alumni engagement portfolio across the university.

Chief Advancement Operations Officer (Interim)

Director of Information Technology (Interim)

• Lead the Data Governance/ Quality program and the strategy development of Development and Alumni Engagement’s (DAE) data acquisition, maintenance and dissemination while fostering innovation and long term strategic vision
• Lead the efforts to develop a business glossary as well as a business intelligence (BI) framework and program that provides user-friendly access to the right information for the right people at the right time
• Directed the development and enhancement of standards, procedures, processes, policies related to the improvement and/or maintenance of quality of data within the Blackbaud Enterprise CRM database
• Created and fostered strategic partnerships and influential relationships with DAE senior management, the broader UBC community, campus stakeholders, vendors, and external universities to secure the success of DAE’s data governance, business intelligence and information quality efforts
• Collaborated with Information Technology to manage the development of automated data validations, data cleanses, data quality issue reports, and deployment of new tools and enhancements to aid in the preservation of data quality
• Advanced the data governance and business intelligence profession by participating in professional organizations, acquiring or maintaining required accreditations, publishing articles, and giving presentations at professional events

Associate Director, Data Governance & Business Intelligence

I proudly took part of UBC's "Start an Evolution" campaign (https://startanevolution.ubc.ca/), campaign which raised $1.5 billion dollars for students, research and community engagement and to double the number of alumni involved annually in the life of the university by 2015.

• Established and led an award winning Data Governance/Quality Program to support the university’s $1.5 billion fundraising campaign and sustainable alumni engagement strategy
• Provided oversight of the Data Governance/Quality Program and kept it on track by managing the development of standards, procedures, processes, policies related to the acquisition, management, and dissemination of enterprise data impacting the Blackbaud Enterprise CRM database while leading the Advisory Council
• Developed an award winning Tracing Program through which the returned mail percentage of Development and Alumni Engagement’s Portfolio has been reduced to less than 1%
• Managed the development of business performance metrics and scorecards to monitor and communicate the status and improvement of service of the Records department
• Achieved a 92% address and phone number accuracy for Canadian records, an improvement from ~64%
• Communicated to and educated internal and external stakeholders on the results and initiatives of data governance, quality, master data management, information delivery and advised stakeholders about best practices; was the first and only department to achieve 100% on the annual client satisfaction survey on communication delivery and content

Data Quality Manager

LightsOnData

- Educational Content Creation: Develop and deliver comprehensive courses, workshops, and webinars on data governance, data management, data quality, AI, and more.
- Brand Amplification: Collaborate with data companies to enhance their brand visibility and thought leadership in the data community.
- Engagement and Outreach: Host the Lights On Data Show podcast, featuring industry leaders and experts to share their insights and experiences.

Founder

Pearson

Course Instructor

O'Reilly

iData Quality Academy

Developed course content for iData Quality Academy
- Data Profiling
- Data Quality Costs

Instructor

Self employed

• Provided project management and business analysis expertise to various projects across the different industries (BaniPePost.com, JT Business Group, SMAWS, 8p8, Ashenzi, NetPress Consulting, LTS, AHACommunity, etc).
• Designed and developed unique, highly professional web and print designs, branding and e-learning solutions as well as developing and configuring custom websites (e-stores, online communities, content management systems, blogs, brochure websites, etc.).
• Accumulated experience as a web master by installing, upgrading, performing backups, managing migrations and maintaining a series of complex websites.

Freelance Consultant

Sauder School of Business, UBC

• Served as internal Project Manager for the evaluation, build and deployment phases of a custom-built, scalable web payment gateway (WPG) that complied with the PCI standard requirements and reduced Sauder Finance’s operational time for the allocation and reporting of revenue received via card payments by 75%
• Managed the deployment of a FIPPA compliant e-newsletter tool (Industry Mailout) selected to achieve a standard for design and operational support while reducing expenses by $15k/year
• Planned and managed the development and release of a new service for personal/academic blogging through the use of the WordPress MU environment for faculty members and current Sauder students
• Managed the development of an improved content publishing process to account for 15 digital signs, each with audience specific content & emergency broadcasting capabilities
• Served as the internal project manager for the development and deployment of the Canaccord Learning Commons web presence comprised of a WordPress based website and a BuddyPress student interaction environment
• Developed solutions for integrating the business environment with web 2.0 technologies such as WordPress 3 based sites, online communities (Ning, Moodle), and collaboration tools (MediaWiki, Project Spaces, CoMapping) while providing expertise and system support for these platforms
• Identified customer requirements, analyzed and reviewed product features, integration, security, scalability and performance requirements for projects such as PPM Tool, a collaboration tool to be used between the Center of Health Care Management and BC health care authorities, Desktop Blogging Client Solution, ECM Society Online Presence, Faculty Master Calendar, Form Building Tool, Event Registration, PCI Payment Forms Conversions, and several online presences for different business areas and conferences

Project Manager / BA

Everest iTech

• Promoted to Project Manager for the Showtime Models website and web application and the All Ears accounting software development project due to excellent interpersonal, communication and leadership skills in the relationships with the client and internal development team
• Led the development of several e-commerce sites (ex: SkyHook Solar, Expressive Designs Florist, JT-Autotech) and dynamic websites (ex: Mailinglist System, Informant Zone) and also helped architect their databases
• Increased the employees' knowledgebase by developing e-learning modules and user manuals for the use of the company’s payroll and accounting software
• Enhanced the online awareness of the company’s brand by 40% by creating a new content strategy and redeveloping its website in a WordPress, SEO friendly environment
• Minimized the cost of online advertising by developing free distributed widgets that increased incoming traffic by 5k visitors/ month

Project Manager / Lead Web Developer

Event Technologies

• Developed customer support standards and procedures for the company’s e-store business and helped transition a staff of 12 to this new environment through training sessions and a knowledgebase wiki.
• Minimized the installation time of new systems by 80% by creating and managing standard desktop images based on the employees’ job roles.
• Reduced search time of hardware and software information by 50% by developing a standard for filing all the technical documentation on hardware equipment and software.

IT Consultant

WGOA

• Demonstrated strong leadership skills by acting as the team leader of a software developer group in order to successfully implement and deliver an interactive Go learning application two weeks ahead of deadline and within budget.
• Coded the backend interaction of a merchandise inventory application with a barcode scanner and also contributed to developing the MySQL database and reporting. 
• Facilitated the team members to work remotely by implementing a VPN solution and integrated the use of Subversion to enable software versioning and revision control.

Software developer

💬 Founder of LightsOnData.com and LightsOnData YouTube Channel
Focused on providing informative content such as ONLINE COURSES, templates, guides, best practices, articles, white papers, and other useful resources to help you with your data governance and data management questions and challenges

💬 Creator of online courses that are engaging, new, and thorough. 
Courses: Building an Award-Winning Business Glossary, Data Governance Maturity Models, Data Governance Fundamentals, etc. - check them out here: https://www.lightsondata.com/courses/

💬 Providing LinkedIn content strategy for data-focused companies and products, as well as those with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI), business intelligence (BI, data science, data management, and data governance areas.
Connect with me today and ask how I can help you reach the data audience.

💬 Host of Lights on Data Show - a podcast and LinkedIn Live weekly show that provides insights into the data world and showcases people that help to shape it.

💬 Get some fun data merchandise here: https://shop.spreadshirt.com/lightsondata/all

💬 International key note speaker, conference speaker, and panelist (spoken at over 60 different conferences).

💬 I love being on camera, hiking, surfing, filming, and video editing
YouTube: @LightsOnData


🏛 My experience and specialties: 
• Expertise in data governance, information quality, business intelligence & data management
• Extensive background in web and application development with experience of the full life-cycle of a project
• Strong leadership capabilities, organizational and communication skills

Specialties: 
• Enterprise information management: Information quality, data governance and stewardship, master data management, business intelligence, business process improvement
• Development: Web and application development, relational database design and development
• Planning: Budget and resource planning, agile and waterfall project management, team development and leadership
• Tools and Applications: Collibra, Tableau, MS Visio, MS Project, Premiere, Photoshop

George Firican 💡

Here is my recommendation for this week.
If Agentic AI is on your roadmap, checkout this ebook  👇

It breaks down what many overlook: AI success depends on the maturity of your data architecture.
Here's what else you can find in it:
• Clear explanation of what a modern, AI-ready architecture looks like
• Practical guidance on data quality, cataloging, lineage and governance
• A real example of how a bank scaled agentic AI by modernizing its foundation

So if you are leading data initiatives or planning for AI adoption, this is a good resource to read.

Until next time, let's keep putting the Lights on Data!
-George 
#data #AI #partnerpost

💡 Award Winning Data Governance Leader | Content Creator & Influencer | Founder of LightsOnData | Podcast Host: Lights On Data Show | LinkedIn Top Voice

Modernize Data Architectures for  Agentic AI Success

What are the biggest misconceptions business leaders still have about AI?

I sat down with Stijn (Stan) Christiaens, Co-founder of Collibra, at Data Citizens to unpack what AI readiness really means for organizations. 

Here are 5 takeaways from our chat:

1. Many leaders still see AI as “a chat in the cloud.”
2. Organizations need the right foundations around AI
3. AI ready data requires more than quality
4. Unstructured data is no longer optional
5. Unified governance is becoming essential

If you want a clear picture of what it truly takes to prepare your organization for AI, this interview delivers.
Full conversation in the video below.

Until next time, let’s keep putting the Lights On Data.
-George Firican

#data #datagovernance #AI

Every December I look ahead… and this year, one prediction feels very safe:

I'll be attending Subsurface Live on December 10, coffee in hand, curious about how Agentic AI and open lakehouse patterns will shape 2026.

The agenda lines up well with questions many of us are exploring right now:
➡️ How will agent-based execution reshape data workflows?
➡️ What signals are emerging around performance, formats and multi-cloud patterns?
➡️ Where is the Apache Iceberg ecosystem pushing innovation next?

For anyone designing data systems or planning next-year priorities, this feels like a valuable moment to absorb ideas and future direction.

Registration is free: https://lnkd.in/gmDPiaES
Where: Virtual
Date: Dec 10, 2025 
Time: 8AM - 2PM PT / 4PM - 10PM GMT / 5PM - 11PM CET

See you there!

#data #AI

Data Protection City

Founding Member

Confidential

System Engineering Consultant

(un)Common Sense Advisory

More than advisory/ consultancy
Supporting you understanding why, what, and how could you get compliant with GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation] and helping you getting there;
Translate GDPR requirements into plain language (either English or Romanian) and actionable advice;
Helping your organization in the efforts to obtain and maintain compliance, from risk management, data mapping, controls definitions , implementation and monitoring, to day to day operation in line with data protection;
Providing you awareness and training  materials for your staff and customers;
Support you in coordinating all these efforts, until you have a continuous process in place.
Support in relations to third parties and or authorities, if needed
Acting as an external DPO, if needed.

GDPR Implementation Consultant | External DPO - [PCEB] Certified

We help businesses bringing Common Sense back to business... with uncommon sense approaches;
We help business make "complicated" things simple... but not simpler than needed to be;
We help business owners and top management acknowledge what most employees already know ;
We help business acknowledge and face challenges, not hiding, ignoring or diminish them;
We help businesses seeing their problems or challenges with "different eyes", but in "their shoes"...

Co-Founder, unCommonSense practician

Wintech

Helping companies overcome the technical, organizational and process challenges of cybersecurity, privacy and data protection. Supporting companies to reach the level of requested compliance in an effective way, by embedding the cybersecurity and data protection practices into daily processes.  
Always with responsibility, passion and determination, for mutual benefits, respect and trust!

Managing Partner - Technology and Data Protection Consultancy

Business Transformation Group

Lead Business Consultant - project based

Teamnet

Accomplishments:
•	Refining the internal IT systems architecture;
•	Defining and implementing data governance principles, in the internal development and support functions tools, starting with unique reference data definition, implementation and usage across platforms as a basis for a new Management Information System
•	Implementing a new HR System across group companies, linked to critical IT systems and design a new reporting framework, dashboards and reports for main HR processes
•	Cleaning and implementing data governance principles, validations, reconciliations across main business directories and tools used in Teamnet group – AD, HR System, Projects Lists, Partners and Suppliers Lists, Payments approval…

Head of Business Processes and Management Reporting

Airbus Defence and Space

Accomplishments:
•	Act as Technical Manager/Chief Engineer during the last six months of SISF Romanian Border Security System implementation, run and pass the first Verification Review at system level and obtained the acceptance for SISF Project Release 1.2 (the first one with fully integrated capabilities);
•	Implemented a Project verification review process, by automating 90% of the criteria used to be done during review, introducing measurable entry and exit criteria, moving 80% of review activities to off-line individual reviews, instead of group meetings, reducing number of required iterations, the duration from months to weeks and the number of issues to me monitored from hundreds to tens of them, with 100% pass ratio after two iterations;
•	Created a team of young professionals to support several areas of the main product of Border Security Product (Requirements Engineering, PMO, Scheduling, Configuration Management and Product Safety)
•	Initiating and coordinating the creation of a Standard contract/ SOW for supplier/subcontractors in DOORS (enabling collaborative work and customizable for each domain, with auto generation of documents), to be used in large bids and reduce time and effort, from 2-3 months to 1-2 weeks;

Technical Manager - System Engineering

Accomplishments:
•	Support the technical offer definition, coordinating or supporting the requirements engineering and link with architecture and verification for several bids of Airbus Defense and Space in Border Security area, like Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Moldova, Qatar, Algeria, Brazil…
•	Coordinate the Requirements Management and traceability to architecture and design and IVV for SISF Romania, till system acceptance;
•	Defining a Requirements Management dashboard for large projects and automate 90% of it, than an Engineering Management dashboard, which ended being used by all projects (each >250 million $)  in Border Security Business lines and by all management levels;

Requirements Manager

Freescale Semiconductor

•	Define the strategy, offer consultancy and coordinate the software development process definition and implementation across different business lines and sites in Freescale; 
•	Remotely conduct an CMMI level 3 assessment across seven sites, on three continents;
•	Support and enforce process and tools unification across business lines coexisting in the same sites and across sites, based on knowledge and experience sharing, not on formal authority;

Software Quality Assurance Coordinator for EMEA

Vodafone Romania

•	Initiator and main contributor, getting buy in, support  and finally commitments and implementation of Product life cycle / Software Development Life Cycle/ Project management methodology for Vodafone Romania;
•	Test most of IT systems in Vodafone Romania and define the first Testing process and tools configuration to support the internal software development process;
•	Design, run and coordinate Data and Traffic Reconciliation for first large Billing System upgrade (between 2 different systems, on different OS and different databases) >300 reconciliations reports designed, run,  analyzed and correcting data for billions records on hundreds business data types;
•	Defining and implementing data quality/governance for our reporting, data warehouse, than for the new BI, but also for the operational applications;
•	Defining the Revenue Assurance processes and controls, under CTO sponsorship, which made us best in class in Europe according PwC, with direct savings > one million $, with estimated losses <1%, where 2-3% being consider quite OK in the industry;
•	Leading the Sarbanes-Oxley compliance across all technical departments + >75% of the business processes… twice, and using compliance as a mean to improve the data and process efficiency and correctness; 
•	Invited Speaker, Panelist or Moderator at 10+ international Telecom conferences on Billing Systems, Revenue Management, Internal Audit and Business Risk, Business Process Management… and invited to many more.

various roles in Process Management, QA and Testing

Romanian Air Force 

•	Aside from my operational duties, I was responsible for testing and acceptance of the new Air Sovereignty Operations Center system, liaison officer in relation to USAF and unique point of contact for Lockheed Martin technical representatives  
•	After acceptance, together with USAF representatives I trained the operational staff, develop and deliver presentations for 10+ high rank military delegations (Ministry of Defense, ambassadors…) ;
•	Implement (as workarounds) two missing functionalities to the ASOC mission critical software (developed by Lockheed Martin), requested by Ministry of Defense during the conflict in Yugoslavia, using Unix scripting only – 1. draw on a maps, the trajectories of each object in the area of supervision and 2.aggregate the availability of input data sources (radars) for a period of time – both functionalities later developed by producer as core functionalities;

Technical Support Manager

Having more than 35  years in Business Process Management, Change Management, Data Governance, Data Protection,  Software Development, Business Intelligence, Risk Management, Quality Assurance, and Internal Audit, but also Project and People Management.
Passionate for Cross-functional, inter-disciplinary projects, addressing systems, technology, processes, people, and data across all functions of an organization, to run efficiently supporting the organization’s goals.
In the last 7 years, performed consulting engagement and fractional DPO roles for various companies – SMEs and large corporations, NGOs, and Public Administration, across various industries/sectors. "
Due to my preference for cross-functional projects, aside from my specific domain, I got trained/ certified(*) and have practical experience in implementing various international methodologies and frameworks in different domains - COSO, COBIT, ITIL, ISO 27001, NIST, CMMi, PMP, Prince 2, TQM, Lean, Six Sigma, SoX, BPM, GRC, ISO 9001, ISO 19011, ERM, ISO 31000, TAM/eTOM/SID…and few others.
*Note: no certification is maintained anymore, so please don't ask for credentials

You can contact me for discussions on mobile, email, or through LinkedIn messaging
Mobile: 0723 250 333
email:   daniel.suciu@gmail.com

For specific work inquiries, you can find me (and my colleagues) in the Data Protection City here:
 https://dataprotection.city/

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George Firican 💡

Daniel SUCIU

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