Explore KSACs by Pathway
In late 2025, the Partnership pulled together members of industry from across tech to share how the in-demand skillsets for entry-level roles in their fields have changed in the last two years. The Knowledge, Skills & Abilities and Credentials (KSACs) below reflect their feedback on entry-level expectations, especially in a tech workplace increasingly shaped by AI.
4. Data Governance and Ethics
| Label | KSAC Description | Bloom's Taxonomy Level | |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | Explain data governance and its significance throughout the data life cycle. | knowledge | 3 |
| b | Describe change management and the role it plays in data governance. | knowledge | 2 |
| c | Describe regulatory frameworks such as HIPPA, GDPR and NIST. | knowledge | 2 |
| d | Demonstrate ability to apply regulatory framework appropriately. | ability | 3 |
| e | Identify the established legal, ethical and privacy issues in cybersecurity facing organizations. | knowledge | 2 |
| f | Explain the importance of personal privacy issues related to the collection and usage of data. | knowledge | 2 |
| g | Describe the importance of lineage and provenance throughout the data life cycle. | knowledge | 2 |
| h | Demonstrate an understanding of system of record (golden source) of master data vs transactional data. | knowledge | 2 |
| i | Perform data risk management (assessing vulnerabilities and threats and implementing appropriate responses) throughout the data life cycle | ability | 2 |
| j | Explain individual and data bias and the implications each has in data analysis. | knowledge | 3 |
Credentials
Vendor Certifications - DBMS
- Oracle Associate
- Microsoft
- IBM
Vendor Certifications - Cloud
- AWS
- Oracle
- Microsoft