• by Tobi Elkin  @tobielkin, January 25, 2016

The Interactive Advertising Bureau today announced the launch of the IAB Data Center of Excellence, a new independently funded unit within IAB, founded to expand existing IAB resources and drive the “data agenda” for the digital media, marketing, and advertising industry. The Data Center’s mission will be to help advertisers and marketers operationalize their data assets while maintaining quality, transparency, accountability, and consumer protection. 

The new Data Center will fund industry research projects, provide benchmarks, create actionable insights on data management across platforms, host data-focused events, and develop industry best practices, guidelines, and standards for privacy, data security, and consumer data protection. It will produce educational materials including certification, videos, and webinars.

Joe Zawadzki, CEO of MediaMath, has been selected to head the Data Center of Excellence Board of Directors, leading the organization’s inaugural agenda.

Acxiom, Conversant Media, Experian, Integral Ad Science, LiveIntent, Oracle Data Cloud, and The Weather Company have committed to being founding members of the Data Center and will shortly assign representatives from their respective companies to be part of the organization’s board of directors.

The Data Center welcomes industry thought leaders from technology and data service providers, DSPs, SSPs, exchanges, publishers, retailers, verification services, research groups, attribution companies, and other interested parties.