At a time when everyone is laying out their job-related and personal resolutions for the coming year, Garry Ure is shunning the idea. However, the data quality blogger notes that just because he doesn't buy into the idea of making promises for the new year, he does recommend making a list of professional focal points for 2012.

While his focuses are self-reflective, virtually any organisation concerned with data quality can take a page from his book.

Like Ure, try embracing every chance to learn about cleansing, governing and managing data, and if the company has one employee appointed to oversee the DQ programme, consider having them get training or accreditation. In a post for Data Quality Pro, Dylan Jones predicted that the availability of data quality education would increase, as would people's efforts to beef up their skill sets.

Ure suggests that companies consider filling out the DQ toolkit, too, with new skills, process checklists and contact data quality solutions - such as address verification software.

Making the effort to network is also worthwhile, as other companies that have gone through a data cleansing project can offer tips or resources. Social media websites are a great way to connect, and there is a wealth of information on various blogs.