In her new role as senior vice president of digital responsibility and public policy at IPG’s Kinesso, Sheila Colclasure, CIPP/US, says her key focus is being responsible in today’s digital world.

That extends beyond privacy and security, she said, to grappling with rapidly changing technology and being appropriate, fair and balanced in a time of data-informed and data-fueled marketing in a way that creates value for people.

IPG launched the Kinesso company to create "applications that help marketers amplify the impact of traditional and addressable media through the better use of data," an October news release said. The company will create "new software and products that deliver data trust and security tools, data-driven campaign optimization, and precision audiences."

Colclasure, who was chief privacy officer for the Americas at Acxiom and most recently global public policy executive at LiveRamp, will lead Kinesso's digital responsibility efforts. 

In placing this importance on digital responsibility, Colclasure said IPG is adding that value to the core of the company’s culture, alongside diversity, inclusion and transparency.

“What I’ve joined to do is really develop that program and advocate for those underlying values,” she said. “The world has become digital, people are digital, and I think the world is looking for a way to think about this, to change the narrative, to talk about digital civility, and I think that is part of my mission.”

While her focus will be Kinesso, Colclasure said she will work across the IPG client set to convey the importance of digital responsibility and an approach to digital connections. Her role will also include engaging and sharing that message with policy influencers, regulators and lawmakers, she said. 

“We have to have processes to make all that happen, of course, but that’s the core value and core thinking. I think we have to change the narrative, so we change the thinking and build processes to translate all that thinking, policy and commitment into the operations,” she said. “The mission is to really craft not just the narrative, but the program where we are trustworthy and know how to talk about digital responsibility in this digital age in ways that our clients that use our capabilities really embrace.”

With more than 20 years of experience in operational governance and public policy, Colclasure said she understands how difficult that is to do. Her work at Axciom included forming its data governance program and developing and implementing an annual privacy audit function. She has advised elected officials and regulators on privacy issues and legislation and has worked with clients and industry professionals on privacy compliance as an essential component of their business strategy. Now, she is looking forward to the work ahead at Kinesso.

“With the pace of technology, starting out with core values and then translating into process is very challenging. Operational data governance is the reason why companies have missed the mark. Their heart may have been in the right place, but they didn’t have a full range of governance to prevent modern harms that can happen,” she said.

Colclasure said she is excited to lend her skills to an organization “placing a great deal of value” on responsibility in this digital world.   

“It’s wonderful to align myself with a high-integrity company where they have a need for the kind of work that I have been able to do and I can translate decades of experience in data governance and the policy field and bring those together in a very next-generational view,” she said.

Photo by Margaret Weir on Unsplash