Presenter: Dianne Macaskill Chief Executive Archives New Zealand

Transcription

1 How Archives New Zealand will support good information management practices in local government, a presentation to the Association of Local Government Information Management Records Symposium on 3 July 2008 Presenter: Dianne Macaskill Chief Executive Archives New Zealand

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3 This is the century of information. Our ability to compete in the global economy, to protect ourselves against crime and terrorist attack, depends not just on natural wealth or on walls or fences but on our ability to use information. Speech by the UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Liberty, October 2007.

4 Digital information lasts forever, or five years, whichever comes first. Jeff Rothenberg

5 It was meant to be a showcase for Britain's electronic prowess a computer-based, multimedia version of the Domesday Book. But 16 years after it was created, the 2.5 million BBC Domesday Project has achieved an unexpected and unwelcome status: it was unreadable. It took an international research team three years to develop strategies to rescue the resource By contrast, the original Domesday Book, an inventory of England compiled in 1086 by Norman monks, is in fine condition in the Public Record Office in Kew, London

6 Digital Continuity 67% of New Zealand public sector organisations hold records they can no longer access (largely because of obsolete storage media and controlling index not available) 10% of the Canadian Government s electronic records are not available Average cost of recreating just 20mb of data is $64,000 (US National Science Foundation) Viking space probes cost $1billion and now their magnetic tapes are unreadable NASA tracked down old printouts and retyped everything

7 Treaty of Waitangi 1841 stored in a safe 1865 transferred to Wellington 1908 found again but damaged by water and rodents Initial preservation treatment 1966 next preservation treatment

8 Public Records Act 2005 Provides for: Democratic accountability (Crown to the public) Management accountability (Agencies to the Crown) Collective memory and historical heritage Good management

9 Impacts of Poor Information Management Loss of public trust if records cannot be produced Wasted resources when work needs to be repeated Unnecessary costs for keeping redundant information Inability to find and produce information Inability to meet reporting requirements Corporate amnesia, eg, when an employee leaves Legislative and regulatory compliance not assured Context of information not understood Reduced understanding of history

10 Why Manage Information Well? Nine out of 10 organisations will fail in the first year unless they approach information management in a coordinated way In order to survive, organisations must exploit their information assets and address issues surrounding data overload to achieve their efficiency, transparency and differentiation objectives A lack of information governance affects the bottom line. For example, companies in North America have lost more than $600 billion in revenue due to poor quality data Most organisations manage information in different silos, separated by system or department. The result is a lack of consistency, transparency and quality of information assets across the organisation Source: Gartner Systems Management October 2007

11 Improvements 2007 Government Recordkeeping Survey Increase in policies to assess compliance with Public Records Act 2005 In 2006, 43% said had policies, in 2007 it was 70% Decrease in unauthorised disposal In 2006, 20% of respondents reported unauthorised disposal In 2007, this dropped to 1% Increase in use of General Disposal Authorities 33% used GDAs in % used GDAs in 2007 Note: survey does not include local authorities or schools

12 Some Issues Large volumes of paper being created at the same time as digital information volumes are exploding (the amount of information generated by organisations is doubling every 19 months Gartner) Many public servants work flexibly and remotely Many digital recordkeeping methods are still based on paper methods, but we no longer have a digital version of the paper world Current recordkeeping systems can make recordkeeping time consuming Advocates for good information management are often not part of senior management teams Lack of awareness that agency culture change is needed in addition to technology responses More digital recordkeeping education and training opportunities are needed Technology moving very fast and changing

13 Archives New Zealand s Objectives Information Management solutions and practices must meet business needs Work collaboratively to find solutions to information management problems (national and international) Information management practices need to be practical to implement and not provide more than the organisation needs USEFUL + USABLE = USED

14 Some Archives Responses A suite of products called Continuum has been developed to provide advice and guidelines, eg, managing Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative consistent message to suppliers of recordkeeping tools Archives New Zealand and the New Zealand Chief Information Officer are working together with other Public Record Offices and Chief Information Officers on smarter information management We are leading an across government digital continuity project working with all agencies to ensure that information survives for as long as it is needed - identifying practical, across government and value for money solutions Recordkeeping is an e-gif work stream Public Records Act 2005

15 Digital Continuity Part of the Digital Content Strategy which is part of the Digital Strategy The Digital Content Strategy directs Archives New Zealand to develop a national strategy to ensure that electronic public records are appropriately maintained by government agencies and are accessible as public archives for as long as they are needed

16 Digital Continuity Key Messages (draft) Public sector digital information is trusted and accessible when it is needed, now and in the future There when you need it Authentic and reliable Trusted access Do nothing, lose everything

17 Digital Continuity Goals each has identified actions (draft) Understanding of digital continuity issues Raise awareness of digital continuity issues at a strategic level Well-managed information from the point of creation Develop standards and guidance Infrastructure to enable interoperability and cost-effectiveness of systems and data, significant information preserved Ensure New Zealand government has comprehensive digital archiving capability Trusted access to digital information Ensure access restrictions can be applied and maintained to some categories of information Good governance, leadership and accountability Monitoring and audits

18 Future Focussed Responses A framework for managing information (Create and Maintain Information standard) Practical guidelines for implementing the framework (Recordkeeping Metadata standard) These can be applied to all electronic recordkeeping systems including Electronic Document & Records Management Systems (EDRMS), business systems, shared work spaces

19 Framework for Managing Information provides a comprehensive approach Principles Recordkeeping must be planned and implemented Full and accurate records of business activity must be made where it is normal prudent business practice to do so Records must provide authoritative and reliable evidence of business activity Records must be managed systematically The standard has requirements for each of the principles based on outcomes called the Create and Maintain Standard

20 Just Good Sense Example of the Outcome Focussed Approach these are supported by Archives New Zealand Continuum products Recordkeeping Must be Planned and Implemented - Overall responsibility one person - Policies - Procedures - Responsibilities clearly defined, eg, managers, staff, volunteers, contractors - Monitoring and evaluation

21 Embedding a recordkeeping framework in electronic systems ( Electronic Recordkeeping Metadata Standard ) Drew on work done by the National Archives of Australia Based on International Standards ISO Metadata for records Gives the same message across Australasia Supports product development Applies to business systems, desktop systems, shared work spaces etc

22 Website Links to New Standards Create and Maintain Standard: Electronic Recordkeeping Metadata Standard:

23 Automation of Metadata Should be able to automate: Name Date of creation Who created What is being done Version Dates of actions Person doing the action Action undertaken Management over time

24 BUT Our solutions are still based on paper methods We need to have more intuitive ways of managing electronic information intelligent business records

25 New Initiatives for 2008/09 Much of government and local government s business is done on websites - we need to be able to not only harvest websites but also maintain links over time Review some of our products to ensure they meet clients needs Work internationally to find solutions Develop audits

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