Why the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Places People at the Heart of Its Data and Insight Culture
Creating a data and insight led culture requires more than advanced tools or cutting-edge technologies. It’s about fostering values and practices that empower people to make evidence-based decisions. Kate Kolich, Assistant Governor, Information, Data and Analytics at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua, shares how her organisation embeds innovation, inclusion, and integrity into its approach to data and analytics.
Foundations
At the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), a strong data and insight led culture begins with organisational values. Kate Kolich highlights how these values — innovation, inclusion, and integrity — guide decision-making and shape how the RBNZ approaches its mandate.
“Innovation stems from having an open mindset and applying alternate lenses to our work. Integrity is about holding ourselves accountable and modelling shared principles, while inclusion means welcoming diverse perspectives and working together,” she says.
The bank’s six strategic themes further underpin this culture. These themes include promoting understanding and trust, improving resilience, increasing participation, strengthening efficiency and competition, leveraging data, information, and technology, and people front and centre.
“A thriving data and insight led culture really starts with organisational values, and I feel very privileged to work in an organisation that has key values of innovation, integrity and inclusion which are woven into everything we do. These values guide our approach to solution delivery and decision-making here at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and help all our people connect their contributions to great outcomes,” Kolich says.
By anchoring their work on these values and strategic themes, the RBNZ ensures a respectful and evidence-based insight led approach to decision-making, which fosters trust across teams and stakeholders.
Initiatives
To bring these values to life, Kolich and her team focus on what she calls the "Three Cs": communication, collaboration, and continuous improvement. For nearly three years, she has spearheaded initiatives to revitalise the RBNZ’s information and data strategy, strengthen governance processes, and establish frameworks that support innovation, integrity, and inclusion.
Internally, the RBNZ has implemented robust governance frameworks, including the Data and Information Governance Office, Information and Data Steering Committee and organisation wide communities of practice. These structures foster collaboration among senior leadership, data teams, and business units. Additionally, the RBNZ emphasises the importance of data literacy among business stakeholders, and business literacy among data professionals. The lifecycle of data is communicated through the RBNZ Data and Information Value chain which outlines the data lifecycle and provides a reference point on how RBNZ treats data and information assets.
Externally her team has engaged with industry by establishing the RBNZ Banking Data Leaders Forum, bringing together data leaders from New Zealand banks to promote an ongoing collaborative dialogue in alignment with the RBNZ relationship charter with regulated entities. The charter is underpinned by the principle of te whakatōpū — to bring together, consolidate, and combine our efforts. This biannual forum brings together data leaders from regulated banks where her team shares updates on the data work programme and key projects, fostering a collaborative environment for industry to work together on solutions to meet emerging data needs of the financial system.
“In the last 2 1/2 years, we have focused on a revitalisation of our information and data strategy. This includes improving and strengthening our data and information governance processes and putting in place the frameworks, tools and processes that enable our information and data strategy, which ultimately promotes innovation, maintains integrity, and fosters inclusion. The three Cs are so vital to having a good data and information culture enabling us to be proactive.”
“When we understand each other’s needs and goals, our internal and external stakeholders and data teams can work in tandem to achieve better outcomes,” Kolich says.
Adoption
With data and AI technologies evolving rapidly, staying open to new tools and workflows is critical.
Kolich believes that the RBNZ’s strategic themes, particularly leveraging data, information, and technology, provide a holistic framework for adoption.
“These themes aren’t just for the data team; they’re embedded across the entire organisation,” she says.
By fostering open communication and collaboration, the RBNZ ensures its teams work cohesively.
“Data professionals must work in partnership with business stakeholders, aligning their efforts to organisational goals. This alignment not only facilitates the safe adoption of new technologies but also reinforces trust and a shared commitment to excellence.”
People First
Ultimately, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s data and insight culture revolves around its people. By embedding core values and fostering collaboration in its ways of working, the organisation ensures that its teams are well-equipped to adapt to change, embrace innovation, and make evidence-based decisions.
As Kolich puts it, “Our success lies in ensuring that data professionals and business stakeholders work in tandem, always anchoring our efforts in our organisation’s goals. Data and insight culture isn’t just about processes or the latest technology—it’s about people.”
Kate Kolich was a speaker at CDAO New Zealand. Interested in learning more about Data? Join our upcoming events:
Image Credit: Photo by Samuel Ferrara on Unsplash
