The Data Office at King Khalid University works to improve the efficiency of data sharing within and outside the University by promoting structured practices for processing sharing requests and emphasizing compliance with approved policies and regulations before data is disclosed or transferred to another entity.

Data sharing is an important institutional practice because it supports integration among entities, improves the use of information, reduces duplication, and enables different entities to access the data they need to perform their responsibilities efficiently.

The Data Office emphasizes that data sharing should follow a clear and structured process. This begins by defining the purpose of the request, the scope of use, the beneficiary entity, and the type of data required before assessing whether sharing is permitted under the relevant regulatory requirements.

Data classification is among the primary considerations before sharing. Classification determines the sensitivity level of the data, the controls required for handling it, whether it may be shared, the parties with whom it may be shared, and the conditions that must be applied.

Access authorization is also fundamental to the sharing process. Parties requesting or receiving data must be authorized to access it, and its use must remain within the approved purpose. This reduces the risks of unauthorized access or use beyond the legitimate business need.

The Office also emphasizes the importance of personal data protection and privacy when handling information related to individuals. The need for such data must be verified, the amount shared limited to the minimum necessary, and appropriate requirements applied during its sharing or transfer.

Structured data-sharing practices also protect data from risks associated with transmission through unapproved channels. Using official and secure methods is essential for maintaining data confidentiality and integrity while it is transferred between entities.

Data sharing is not limited to sending a file or granting access. It is an institutional process that requires clear responsibilities between the requesting entity and the entity that owns or produces the data, as well as defined conditions for its use, retention period, protection, and any subsequent sharing.

The Data Office promotes awareness of these requirements by clarifying the procedures and practices associated with data-sharing requests. This supports greater compliance, improves request-processing efficiency, and reduces unstructured practices in the exchange of data and information.

Effective organization of data-sharing requests also improves the quality of the data being used by identifying authoritative sources, reducing reliance on outdated versions, and ensuring that the data provided is suitable for the purpose for which it was requested.

Data sharing intersects with several areas of data management and governance, including classification, quality, personal data protection, access management, and information security. It therefore requires coordination among all relevant stakeholders.

The Data Office at King Khalid University continues to support practices that promote the responsible and secure use of data, improve data-sharing efficiency, and maximize its value while maintaining protection, privacy, and compliance with approved policies and regulations.

For information about the applicable procedures, visit the Data Sharing Request service on the King Khalid University Data Office website.

The Data Office at King Khalid University continues its efforts to strengthen the organization of data management roles and responsibilities. This helps clarify accountability among entities and stakeholders involved with data and improves how data is handled throughout its creation, updating, use, sharing, and retention.

Clearly defined roles and responsibilities are fundamental to data governance. They help identify the entities accountable for data and the parties authorized to manage and use it, reduce duplicated or conflicting responsibilities, strengthen accountability, and improve data quality and reliability.

This approach focuses on clarifying key data management roles, including the Data Owner—the entity or party accountable for data within its area of responsibility. The Data Owner contributes to defining requirements for data use, access, and handling in accordance with approved policies and regulations.

The Data Steward also plays an important role in supporting the implementation of data management practices and procedures, monitoring data quality and organization, and coordinating with relevant stakeholders to ensure the proper use of data and maintain its reliability throughout its lifecycle.

The framework also includes data-producing entities, which create, record, or update data through operational systems and procedures. This makes data accuracy at the source essential to the success of every subsequent stage of its use.

Data-consuming entities, in turn, are responsible for using data only for authorized purposes, verifying its suitability for use, and maintaining its confidentiality, classification, and sharing requirements. This ensures that data is used responsibly and securely.

The Data Office emphasizes that data quality is not limited to the analysis or reporting stage. It begins with clearly defined responsibilities from the moment data is created and continues through its updating and validation until it is used in reports, indicators, analytics, and decision-making.

Defining responsibilities also helps address several data management challenges, including unclear data sources, multiple entities maintaining different versions of the same data, inconsistent definitions across entities, and the absence of a designated party responsible for updating data and correcting identified errors.

Clear roles also improve coordination between data-producing and data-consuming entities, establish appropriate channels for requesting or sharing data, and reduce reliance on individual or unstructured practices when exchanging files and information.

Organizing roles is also closely connected to data quality, protection, classification, and sharing practices. Clearly assigned responsibilities determine who reviews and approves data, who is authorized to access it, and who is accountable for maintaining and updating it.

Through awareness content and organizational practices, the Data Office seeks to strengthen University staff members’ understanding of these roles and emphasize that data management is a shared responsibility among all relevant parties, rather than a task limited to a single technical or administrative entity.

Organizing data management roles and responsibilities forms part of King Khalid University’s efforts to strengthen data governance and build a clearer institutional environment for handling data. This contributes to improving data quality and reliability, increasing the efficiency of its use, and maximizing its value in supporting institutional operations and decision-making.

Data has become one of the most important enablers of institutional performance development. Collecting, organizing, validating, and analyzing data helps transform figures into actionable information and indicators, providing a clearer view of performance, identifying trends and opportunities for improvement, and supporting evidence-based decisions.

Analytics and indicators provide a more accurate representation of institutional performance by transforming fragmented data into connected information that can support monitoring, planning, and performance measurement. This enables different entities to understand what has been achieved, identify areas requiring further development, and determine what can be built upon in future stages.

In this context, the Data Office at King Khalid University supports practices that maximize the value of data, indicators, and analytical reports and align them with institutional needs. These efforts improve the quality of information available to decision-makers and strengthen the use of data in planning and performance monitoring.

The Office also emphasizes data quality as the foundation of reliable analytics and indicators. The accuracy and reliability of analytical results depend directly on the accuracy, completeness, consistency, and timeliness of the underlying data. Therefore, validating data quality is an essential step before developing indicators or preparing reports.

Indicators simplify large volumes of data by converting them into measurable values that can be compared and monitored. This helps measure progress, track changes, identify trends, and highlight gaps that may require further study or intervention.

Analytical reports and dashboards also present data more clearly and accessibly. By visualizing indicators, trends, and relationships between data points, they enable users to understand information more quickly and support institutional dialogue based on verifiable facts and evidence.

The value of analytics extends beyond describing what has happened. It also helps explain the causes and factors associated with performance, identify patterns and changes, and provide a knowledge base that can be used to improve procedures and develop future plans.

The Data Office emphasizes the importance of integrating every stage of the data value cycle—from identifying sources and collecting data to organizing, cleansing, and validating it, then analyzing and transforming it into indicators and reports, and ultimately using it to support decisions and development initiatives.

The systematic use of indicators also strengthens continuous performance monitoring. Clear and measurable indicators help track achievement levels, compare results over time, and assess progress toward targets, enabling more accurate and timely action.

Within this framework, the Office promotes awareness of the importance of interpreting data correctly rather than presenting figures without understanding their context or implications. The meaning of an indicator may vary depending on the period, target group, data source, or calculation methodology.

Connecting data, analytics, indicators, and decision-making is a key element in building a data-driven institutional culture. Through this connection, data is transformed from digital records into actionable knowledge and then into decisions and initiatives whose impact can be measured and monitored.

These efforts align with King Khalid University’s commitment to maximizing the use of data in developing institutional performance, improving planning and monitoring efficiency, and enhancing decision quality, thereby supporting a work environment that increasingly relies on information, indicators, and evidence.

As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance the beneficiary experience and maximize the value of digital services and solutions, the Data Office at King Khalid University continues to organize and highlight a range of electronic services and platforms related to data management and governance. These efforts facilitate access, increase utilization, and improve the clarity of the digital services available to beneficiaries.

This initiative reflects the Office’s commitment to developing its website into a more integrated gateway for accessing data-related services and platforms. Beneficiaries can learn about the purpose and scope of each service or platform and proceed directly to the appropriate access channel in a clear and organized manner.

Available services include the Data Sharing Request service, which organizes requests to share data within the University or with external entities in accordance with approved regulations. This service promotes structured data-sharing practices and ensures that governance, classification, and protection requirements are considered throughout the process.

The website also provides a Data Office Website Evaluation service, enabling beneficiaries to share their opinions and feedback regarding the website, its ease of use, and access to its content and services. This supports continuous improvement of the user experience and the development of communication channels with beneficiaries.

In the area of open data, the website provides access to King Khalid University’s Open Data Platform, where beneficiaries can explore and utilize available datasets. The platform supports knowledge, research, and analysis and promotes the reuse of publishable data.

The website also links to the National Open Data Platform, expanding beneficiaries’ access to open data published by various entities and increasing awareness of the role open data plays in supporting transparency, knowledge, research, and innovation.

Among the digital solutions highlighted on the website is the Bayan Platform, King Khalid University’s data management system. Bayan supports data management and governance within an integrated technical environment that addresses security and privacy requirements while providing appropriate data and information to support institutional operations and decision-making.

The Bayan Platform includes several data management components, including data and access-rights management, information security, and reporting. It also provides a user experience that enables organized access to relevant information and services.

The website also provides access to the Itqan Platform, which supports the management of operations, tasks, and projects and enables progress monitoring. It offers a digital environment for organizing tasks and tracking deadlines, deliverables, and ongoing activities, thereby improving institutional coordination and operational efficiency.

These services and platforms are integrated with additional digital solutions intended for specific groups within the University according to their assigned access rights. This approach considers the nature of the data and applicable access levels while ensuring that services are available only to authorized beneficiaries.

By developing and organizing its Services page, the Data Office seeks to make the beneficiary journey clearer by providing a concise description of each service or platform and direct access links. This reduces the time required to locate the appropriate service and improves the overall user experience.

This direction also reflects the evolving role of the Data Office website—from a channel introducing the Office and its responsibilities into an integrated gateway that brings together data-related knowledge, services, and platforms. This supports the effective use of the digital tools and services available across the University.

These efforts form part of King Khalid University’s commitment to strengthening its digital environment, increasing the value derived from data and electronic services, and enhancing the beneficiary experience. They also contribute to greater operational efficiency and easier access to relevant information and services.

To explore the available services and platforms, visit the Services page on the King Khalid University Data Office website.

The Data Office at King Khalid University places great importance on raising awareness of personal data protection and privacy and promoting proper practices for collecting, using, sharing, and retaining data. These efforts support the responsible and secure handling of data within the University environment and strengthen compliance with relevant policies and regulations.

These efforts reflect the importance and sensitive nature of personal data, whether related to students, faculty members, employees, or beneficiaries of University services. Safeguarding individuals’ privacy and protecting their personal data are essential to building a secure and trustworthy institutional environment.

The Data Office focuses on raising awareness of practices that help prevent the inappropriate use of personal data. It emphasizes that data should be collected only for a specific and legitimate purpose and that entities should avoid requesting information beyond what is genuinely required for the relevant work or service.

Awareness content also promotes the principle of data minimization by encouraging entities and users to collect and process only the minimum amount of data necessary to achieve the intended purpose. This reduces unnecessary exposure of personal information and supports more efficient and responsible data management practices.

Personal data protection awareness also includes verifying authorization before accessing or using data and refraining from sharing it with unauthorized parties. The nature and sensitivity of the data, as well as the intended purpose of its use, must be considered before any sharing or transfer takes place.

Secure data storage is another key area of focus. The Office promotes the use of approved channels and systems for storing and exchanging data and discourages practices that could expose it to loss, unauthorized access, or use beyond the purpose for which it was collected.

The Office also emphasizes the importance of exercising caution when sending files or reports containing personal data. Their contents should be reviewed before transmission, recipients and their authorization verified, and any unnecessary personal information excluded.

Privacy protection applies throughout the entire data lifecycle, beginning with collection and recording, continuing through use, updating, and sharing, and extending to retention or disposal in accordance with approved requirements and procedures. This helps reduce risks associated with handling data at every stage.

The Data Office also promotes the principle of shared responsibility for protecting personal data. Responsibility does not rest solely with technical teams or data management specialists; it applies to everyone who handles personal data as part of their work, whether by accessing, entering, analyzing, sharing, or storing it.

Proper personal data protection practices strengthen trust in services and systems, promote the responsible use of data, and reduce risks arising from unauthorized disclosure, misuse, or access by individuals without the appropriate authorization.

This direction forms part of the ongoing efforts of the Data Office at King Khalid University to promote a culture of data protection and privacy and increase awareness of the practices associated with them, contributing to a University environment that handles personal data with greater awareness and responsibility.

For further information on the relevant principles, requirements, and practices, please visit the Personal Data Protection and Privacy page on the King Khalid University Data Office website.

The Data Office at King Khalid University continues its efforts to advance the institutional data quality framework by promoting practices that improve data accuracy, completeness, consistency, and timeliness. These efforts enhance the reliability of the information, reports, and indicators used in institutional operations and decision-making.

Data quality is a fundamental requirement for maximizing the value of data within institutions. The accuracy of analyses, indicators, and reports depends directly on the quality of the underlying data. Therefore, responsibility for data quality begins when data is created and recorded and continues throughout its updating, processing, validation, and use.

The Data Office works to raise awareness of the importance of validating data before using it to prepare reports, indicators, studies, or analyses. It emphasizes the need to verify the integrity and completeness of data and ensure its consistency with approved sources and systems, thereby reducing the likelihood of inaccurate results or indicators that do not accurately reflect institutional performance.

The Office also promotes key data quality concepts, particularly data accuracy, completeness of required fields, consistency across different systems and sources, timeliness, and fitness for the purpose for which the data was collected.

Attention to these dimensions contributes to creating more reliable and usable data, enabling the University’s various entities to benefit from it in planning, monitoring, performance measurement, reporting, and decision support.

The Data Office affirms that addressing data quality issues should not begin only when a final report is prepared. Instead, quality must be integrated throughout the data lifecycle, beginning with data creation and including sound data-entry practices, value validation, identification of authoritative data sources, regular record updates, and data review before use or sharing.

The Office also seeks to support practices that help identify and address data deficiencies, including missing values, duplicate records, inconsistencies between records, differing data formats, and outdated or illogical values. Addressing these issues helps strengthen confidence in outputs derived from the data.

This approach complements the Office’s role in strengthening data governance across the University. Data quality is a core component of institutional data management and is directly linked to clearly defined responsibilities, authoritative data sources, and improved compliance with established data policies, procedures, and practices.

In its awareness-building efforts, the Data Office is committed to disseminating knowledge about data quality and strengthening University staff members’ understanding of its impact on work outcomes. The Office emphasizes that data quality is not the responsibility of a single entity; rather, it is a shared responsibility among all entities and individuals involved in creating, entering, updating, or using data.

Advancing the data quality framework forms part of King Khalid University’s efforts to maximize the value of data as a vital institutional asset and build an environment founded on reliable, usable data. This contributes to improving operational efficiency, enhancing the accuracy of reports and indicators, and supporting decisions based on clearer and more trustworthy information.

The Data Office at King Khalid University held a practical workshop on Monday, October 5, 2026, titled “Fundamentals of Data Analysis and Report Development Using Power BI.” The workshop was part of the Office’s efforts to develop data analysis skills and promote the effective use of digital tools in supporting institutional operations and decision-making.

Presented by Abdulkhaleq Alshadidi, the workshop covered the key stages of data analysis, beginning with importing data from multiple sources, followed by data cleaning, organization, and processing, and concluding with creating data relationships and analytical calculations, as well as designing interactive reports and dashboards.

The workshop also included practical exercises on preparing data, improving its quality, creating performance indicators, selecting appropriate visualization methods, and adding filters and interactive features that enable users to explore data and access information with greater clarity and flexibility.

Additionally, the workshop addressed the electronic publication and sharing of reports, emphasizing the importance of maintaining data privacy and confidentiality and verifying the accuracy of results before reports are approved and published.

This workshop forms part of the ongoing efforts of the Data Office at King Khalid University to promote a data-driven culture and enhance the ability of University staff to utilize and analyze data, thereby improving institutional performance and supporting data-driven decision-making.