Hamburg – November 03, 2026 -- Hamburg data strategist Ole Albers has launched the "Data Fitness Check," a three-minute anonymous online survey of how German companies and institutions manage their data, with first results due in the Data Fitness Report 2026.
The survey is the first wave of a multi-year research series. Albers plans to track changes in data management over several years and to repeat selected questions regularly to show which organizational and technical problems persist.
Seven core questions test data sources, ownership and quality controls
The questionnaire asks whether key data sources are known, responsibilities are clearly assigned, KPIs are defined transparently and data-quality measures are in place. Supplementary questions cover day-to-day difficulties. Respondents can also use the survey to gauge their own organization's standing.
It targets firms of all sizes and sectors, as well as public administrations, educational institutions and associations. It focuses on staff responsible for business processes, information systems, data management or strategic decisions.
Albers links AI readiness to data foundations
Albers argues that automation and AI projects depend on complete, traceable data fit for purpose. In his view, companies often do not fully know their existing data holdings or how they connect. When systems deliver contradictory figures and no source is authoritative, even a powerful AI cannot deliver reliable results, he says.
The source describes typical friction points: sales and controlling working with different numbers, customer data spread across several databases, and unclear ownership of data maintenance.
Exploratory design limits representativeness
The first survey is explicitly exploratory and not representative. It is meant to surface practical challenges and differing maturity levels among participants. Albers says the methodology will be documented transparently and refined.
Follow-up studies could examine data governance, data literacy, data quality, automation or AI use. Albers has worked on databases, data modeling and enterprise information systems for more than 25 years and mainly advises mid-sized companies.