Information governance: What is it? How is it implemented?

Transcription

1 Information Technology Decision Support Systems Laboratory Information governance: What is it? How is it implemented? Sindy Madrid-Torres Part of the doctoral research: The conceptualisation and implementation of information governance: A design-science approach

2 AGENDA Background of the project & preamble Research overview Information Governance Defining IG Implementing IG Examples of templates Key findings Questions 2

3 Background Genesis Working as business analyst: - Real problems with systems need to be tackled from a wider perspective - I was requested to be part of the implementation of an IG programme. Practitioner literature Many different sources Emphasis on technology Emphasis on management / project level Academic literature Current IT landscape No comprehensive research on IG or DG Past research focuses on IT governance IT governance literature emphasis is on control and technology Many IT departments shrinking, outsourcing, offshoring Cloud computing Generation Y Shadow IT Scenario requires more emphasis on participation and information Problem & aim Problem: IG is poorly defined and organizations have little effective guidance on how to implement it Aim: To develop and evaluate a method for the effective implementation of IG in organizations

4 Preamble This is not the final, ultimate solution to IG First steps to consolidate a body of academic knowledge on IG Many of you are already doing things that I ll mention today. The idea of this research was precisely to capture how professionals are tackling IG and find common practices. I ll focus on the practical aspects and not too much on the technicalities of the research process itself Reminder: Governance is not management 4

5 Governance & Management Information Governance Systematically determining who s responsible for management activities and decisions Supervising and motivating information activities External / internal focus Present / future focus Implies: Information Management Making specific decision Describing specific activities Directly interacting with information and its content Immediate / internal focus 5

6 Research Process 6

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9 Taxonomy angle Data vs information Syntax Semantics Structured Semi-structured Unstructured Business subjects e.g. Customer, Product, Supplier 9

10 Technology aspects Available technological platform. Business strategy aspects Economic gain by aligning information with business strategy People and culture Socio-political aspects Allocation of roles and responsibilities, establishment of rules and procedures; influence behaviour. Defining characteristics of an organization In academic research known as contingencies Internal and external characteristics 10 that particularly define an organization

11 Technology aspects Defining information governance Business strategy aspects Taxonomy angle People and culture Defining characteristics of an organization Information governance refers to the arrangement of the organization s business strategy aspects, people and culture, technological aspects, and defining characteristics in order to obtain economic benefit from its information. 11

12 Implementing information governance Plan Deploy IG Framework People & culture Defining characteristics of the organization People & culture Evaluate Defining characteristics of the organization Two levels of implementation Auftragstaktik 12

13 IG Framework: Organization wide level Organization-wide: set the major guidelines and overall objectives, consider external regulations. Diagnose Educate Prepare a value statement: 1. Objectives 2. Understand business strategy 3. Define people/roles initially involved 4. Value of information 5. Boundaries of implementation 6. 13

14 Diagnose the current status 14

15 IG Framework: Organization wide level 6. Define what is understood by information: find guidance in the angles of information 15

16 IG Framework: Planning the iterations Establish the nature of the iterations, e.g., by business unit, by information angle, by particular problem or project, etc.

17 IG Framework: Prioritising the iterations

18 Particular implementation level 18

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21 Key findings Balance between control and participation through the two levels of implementation. Feedback between the two levels is fundamental. The emphasis on information and not only technology is more relevant than ever. Not all information is governable, each organisation needs to define its information. The core of an implementation is the alignment between the idea of information and the four elements of governance: business strategy, technology, people and culture, and defining characteristics of the organization. Little impact of academic research on IT governance in practice. The need to lift the view of IG to an strategic level: Governance is not management. Acknowledgment of requisite complexity. 21

22 The conceptualization and implementation of information governance: A design-science approach sindymadridt@gmail.com 22