Daragh O Brien is a leading expert in data governance and strategy, with over 25 years of experience bridging technology and business. As CEO of Castlebridge, Ireland’s premier data strategy consultancy, he has worked with clients from start-ups to government departments and contributed to global data management and ethics frameworks, including work with the United Nations.
Daragh heads Castlebridge’s Strategy & Research division, focusing on industry and academic projects in data governance. Castlebridge is a registered Research body collaborating with centers like Adapt Centre, IVI, and EMPOWER. He is also a doctoral researcher at LERO, University of Limerick, researching the role of human factors in resilient data governance systems.
He has co-authored Data Ethics 2nd Edition and its predecessor, and contributed to frameworks such as IVI’s IT-CMF and the DAMA DMBOK. In 2022, Maynooth University recognized his contributions to Data Governance, and he recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from IRMS for advancing ethical data practices and bridging the worlds of structured and unstructured data.
Daragh’s credentials include Fellowships with the Irish Computer Society (ICS) and IAPP, Certified Data Management Professional (DAMA), Certified Data Protection Practitioner (ICS). He teaches at UCD’s Sutherland School of Law, the Law Society of Ireland, and has lectured at the Institute of Public Administration and Smurfit Graduate School of Business. He also contributes to the Leaders’ Data Group think tank.
Daragh’s clients have included international organisations such as the UN, EU regulators, utilities, financial services, telecommunications companies, and NGOs.
