IBM has said data governance will become a regulatory requirement in an increasing number of countries and organisations.

That is one of the five key predictions from the company's Data Governance Council, with the technology giant stating "data has become the new currency in today's information economy".

It also expects the value of data to be treated as an asset on company balance sheets and data quality will become "a technical reporting metric and key IT performance indicator".

Data governance, the company reports, enables organisations to govern appropriate use of critical information such as customer information and financial details in its IT services.

Steve Adler, chairman of the council, said that while companies recognise data governance is a "strategic imperative", they need assistance to make it work.

Meanwhile, errors on the Department for Work and Pensions' computer network may be contributing to incorrect benefit payments.

Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts Edward Leigh said the amount of lost benefits each year has nearly doubled over five years to almost £2 billion annually due to error by officials and customers.

According to a recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent) In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were 'guaranteed response times' and 'allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues'