Data Quality and its challenges

I have just read that a new postcode area, E20 will be added to London ahead of the Olympics in 2012.

The postcode will be applied to the Olympic villiage and the surrounding area.

Now postcodes change all  the time and its nothing new, but for a long time, these changes are not flown through into utilities companies/marketing systems databases (if they ever make it) and as such there will be a gap where people in these postcodes will face challenges in getting services from these companies.

Keeping data upto date is a challenge but important for the consumers experience from your SQL led databases.

If you run a consumer facing database that you market from help is at hand:

http://www.qas.co.uk/ - These guys have seen it all and done it all, one of the major players in the market.

If your not already under the management of a similiar company and you dont have a huge team of R&D guys peddling as fast as the industry changes... it could well  be worth the time talking to them.