Information Management in the Government of Canada: The Business Problem Assessment
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Introduction
The Impetus for Concerted Change
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…information is treated as the waste by-product of the Public Service, rather than being treated as a key asset. Ian Wilson |
The Government of Canada’s information needs are sophisticated and getting more sophisticated all the time. However, awareness among GC executives that IM is inadequate and a hindrance to the changes that the GC must undertake for the future is increasing. A piecemeal approach to solving IM problems is largely ineffective—concerted change is required.
Information is government’s lifeblood
Although raw facts are of little use by themselves, when they are presented together in the context of a business purpose they become a vital strategic asset: information. The Government of Canada is responsible for managing information as a public trust, as promised in the Government of Canada’s Policy on the Management of Government Information. The importance of information to the business of government cannot be overstated. Without it, the Government can’t govern.
Complete, accurate, timely and authoritative information is essential to decision-making. IM – the collection, protection and delivery of information – makes an essential contribution to programs’ ability to meet the needs of their clients. IM is necessary for the Government to operate as a coherent whole, act with accountability and transparency and earn public trust and citizens’ confidence in government decisions.
The Government of Canada’s information needs are sophisticated…
The function of managing information should not be seen as something to attend to “after the fact”—it is not just “records management” or putting information somewhere following a transaction for the benefit of one business owner or program authority. Today, in effective knowledge organizations, information management is dynamic and serves multiple purposes. It is a core business function that involves the systematic use and re-use of information among different players, to the maximum advantage of the business as a whole.
In the Government, information needs occur at three levels: programs’ operational needs; whole-of-government, executive program needs; and horizontal integrated service delivery program needs.
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Our goal is to provide Canadians with one-stop, easy-to-access, personalized service. Service Canada brings Government of Canada services together in a single service delivery network. Service Canada Website |
- Programs need quality information to function and be managed well and for the delivery of their services. They need information to trace decisions and processes. They also need their information to be preserved and safeguarded and to be made available to collaborators as appropriate.
- Government-wide, corporate or executive level programs need assurance that Government of Canada’s record of processes and decisions has integrity and that clients’ rights are being upheld in the conduct of Government business, specifically in the handling of personal information. These programs need the ability to aggregate information vertically for Ministerial accountability, and horizontally for programs and services spanning departments and jurisdictions. This is essential for government to operate as an enterprise. Executive programs also require that information holdings be organized and information management processes be structured so that the Government can undertake change with agility. Finally, the executive needs all programs in the GC, including the IM Program, to operate effectively within the context of the whole enterprise of government.
- In order to deliver programs and services that cross organizational boundaries, integrated service delivery programs need information that is capable of being interpreted correctly out of the context in which it was captured or created, and effectively and efficiently aggregated with information collected elsewhere.
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Critics, both inside and outside government, talk of “shifting the paradigm” or a “change in culture.” By seeking and attaining greater transparency...the federal government will be better managed because it will be more accountable. That will help to create the cultural change being sought. A change in thinking and approach would be a logical outcome of the steps taken to improve transparency and its corollary, accountability. It is the Commission’s view that improved transparency and accountability will, ultimately, elevate the effectiveness and efficiency of management throughout the Government. “Transparency and Better Management”, Chapter Ten of Restoring Accountability – Phase Two Report, Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities, page 178. |
…and getting more sophisticated all the time
Efforts to improve transparency and accountability and transform service to Canadians to deliver better outcomes and improve operating efficiency are giving new impetus to the need to manage information as a strategic resource.
Access to information about GC processes and decisions must be improved. Barriers that interfere with the ability of departments and agencies, and other players, to collaborate and share information must come down. Programs need to be transformed to facilitate citizens’ and communities’ access to seamless service responsive to their circumstances and centred on their needs. This will require new levels of information interoperability.
Awareness is increasing among GC executives that IM is inadequate and a hindrance to the changes that the GC must undertake for the future.
Serious problems with IM in the GC are documented in many authoritative sources (see Appendix D: Reference Materials). Although progress has been made addressing individual problems, GC executives know that IM is still inadequate, particularly in meeting the needs of executive and integrated service delivery programs. There is growing awareness and increasing unease about the GC’s ability to carry through key change initiatives without much stronger IM. The Business Problem Assessment confirms executives’ beliefs about problems with IM. It brings them together under “one cover” to support a common understanding of the reasons for change, and to enable coordinated action.
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…most senior levels are recognizing that silos, independent solutions are no longer appropriate…What we need is an enterprise-wide approach. Ian Wilson, |
A piecemeal approach to solving IM problems is largely ineffective.
Although work has been focused at many areas of information management, no overarching design exists that brings these solutions to IM problems together, and no master plan coordinates the way forward across the many organizations that must participate. A piecemeal approach to solving IM problems has been largely ineffective. The Government of Canada needs one coherent, explicit, broadly supported Information Management capability. Without this, over time, the government will face steadily greater difficulty meeting its policy commitments to Canadians for the responsible stewardship of their information. Barriers to collaboration, program alignment and service integration will only become more entrenched, undermining the government’s ability to adapt to change and achieve public outcomes. Major transformation initiatives, under extreme pressure to deliver results, will be left to build their own particular solutions to IM problems.
This is the impetus for concerted change.
The analysis summarized in this document is an important first step in the GC coming together in a coordinated and disciplined way to improve IM.
Problem Analysis
As discussed above, GC executives already know that change is required in the IM business domain. A first key step is to be certain that there is a common understanding of what the problems are. Appendix D: Reference Materials lists a number of documents, some of which are highly authoritative, that identify IM problems. The next section of the Business Problem Assessment, A Summary of the Problem with IM on page 5, summarizes the results of a broad and collaborative process to consolidate, confirm, and analyze the problems that have already been articulated, uncover any missing ones, and to examine them all to discover their root causes. Over 400 expressions of problems with IM were dealt with.
Once problems are itemized, root cause analysis is essential. Otherwise, there’s a risk that solutions will be designed for problems that turn out to be just symptoms of deeper issues, which is ultimately ineffective. The development of a sound design and plan for transformation must tackle the root causes of the problems that drive the need for transformation. In fact, many problems can often be traced back to a single root cause. Consequently, fixing root causes is also the most efficient way to proceed.
Strategic design and planning is an ongoing process and formal problem analysis activities will continue through subsequent phases for detailed design and business case development. However, at this stage in the Vision Phase, we have a solid and coherent picture of the problems with IM.
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