Doug Laney

Doug Laney

Innovation Fellow Technology Chicago

LinkedIn

We all recognize that monetizing data creates advantage in a digital economy, yet few understand how to do that well. Doug does—in fact, he originated the field of “infonomics” – the economics of information. His innovative ideas have helped organizations uncover billions of dollars of untapped value in their data assets. 

Many senior IT, business, and data leaders have sought Doug’s expertise on the topics of data monetization and valuation, data management and governance, open and syndicated data, analytics best practices, and big data-based innovation. He is a frequent featured speaker at industry conferences and author in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and The Financial Times, among other journals. Today, he uses his knowledge to raise the level of data fluency across our organization and create offerings related to data value and valuation. 

Prior to joining West Monroe, Doug was a distinguished analyst with Gartner’s Chief Data Officer Research & Advisory team and a three-time recipient of Gartner’s annual Thought Leadership Award. In a previous role, he launched and managed the Deloitte Analytics Institute. He earned a bachelor’s degree in software engineering and business administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

What makes Doug different

CIO magazine declared Doug’s 2017 best seller – Infonomics: How to Monetize, Manage, and Measure Information as an Asset for Competitive Advantage – the “must-read” book of the year (2017) and a “top-5 book for business leaders and tech innovators.” 

Weather permitting, Doug heads for the Chicago lakefront or Des Plaines River Trail. He also enjoys cooking and hosting dinner parties, Cubs games, theater, competitive tennis, and not-so-competitive golf. He’ll jump at any chance to revisit Australia, where he lived several years ago.

Where Doug makes an impact

He takes his passion for developing data-fluent professionals and leaders well beyond the workplace. He currently teaches graduate-level courses in infonomics and analytics as a visiting professor at the University of Illinois and Carnegie Mellon and has been a guest lecturer at many other schools around the country and world. He is a founding board member of the Chief Information Governance Officers’ Association and sits on the University of Illinois’ Department of Accountancy board. 

He also teaches business basics as a volunteer with Junior Achievement; advises start-ups through 1871, a Chicago-based non-profit digital incubator; and is a Gold Spokes fundraiser for the Bike MS “Tour de Farms.”

Meet the Technology team