Information Management in the Government of Canada: The Business Problem Assessment
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The Current Environment for Change
A common understanding of the problem with IM provides the motivation for concerted change. Strategies and plans for change should take into account factors in the environment of the GC IM Program Transformation Initiative. An initial assessment is presented below, to help shape the results of the next phase—the Strategy Phase.
Internal Factors
Internal factors are strengths, weaknesses and the values of the IM business domain today.
Strengths
What strengths of IM in the GC can the transformation build on?
Records Management and Library Services existed as mature disciplines before the Information Technology revolution. In fact, many records managers and librarians lament the fact that good, well-established and documented information management practices from the paper world are not always applied in the electronic domain. These practices represent a mature foundation for going forward with IM.
The CIO of Canada has taken a strong role in setting strategic direction for IM. When coupled with the CIO’s role in service delivery transformation and recent development in the CIO Branch of new tools and methods for disciplined transformation, a powerful nexus of change has been created.
Modern IM relies on mature IT. The IT infrastructure in the GC is maturing and is now ready to support enterprise IM.
Weaknesses
What weaknesses of IM in the GC must be overcome? Some of them are related to IM problems and their root causes—IM problems, in some cases, not only prevent the GC from achieving its IM outcomes now, but also impede the transformation of IM.
The IM community is fragmented and poorly defined. Consequently, it struggles to advance the cause of IM in the GC. Faced with challenges in attracting skilled resources and dominated by a more visible and constantly “hyped” IT, the IM community has been unable to demonstrate a good value proposition.
Legislation and policy that deals with IM is highly fragmented across dozens of legal and policy instruments. This makes it very difficult to present a cohesive picture of what IM is and what the GC should be doing to promote good IM.
Values
What values of IM in the GC must the transformation take into account?
Although the IM community is fragmented, IM practitioners all agree on one thing: IM’s purpose is to serve the business of Government. This value is foundational and shapes what the IM Program is.
In addition, the importance of taking a considered, planned approach to change is a shared value. This value will inform the approach to the IM Transformation.
External Factors
External factors are the opportunities, threats and trends originating outside the IM business domain.
Opportunities
What opportunities, in the GC or outside, should the transformation leverage?
A number of changes in the GC have either begun or are about to, that will drive the need for better IM. Large horizontal initiatives that integrate service delivery to Canadians and that bring internal administrative services together are underway and need improvements to IM at the enterprise level. The current public agenda places a new emphasis on openness, transparency and the duty to document, all of which will demand profound changes in the GC’s IM capability. The pressure to achieve these changes is raising awareness of the importance of IM with senior executives.
Canadians and businesses expect better information-based services, on par with those they receive from banks and other private sector service providers. This raises the importance and profile of IM inside the GC.
Important ingredients for the transformation of IM are available. Other Canadian and international jurisdictions have similar IM problems and, in some cases, have lessons to share and assistance to provide. The next generation of public sector workers has progressive attitudes about information and information sharing, and a sophisticated familiarity with information-based tools.
Threats
What threats, in the GC or outside, should the transformation seek to mitigate?
Most IM services must be executed “out there” in departments, not in central agencies; however, across the GC there is a poor understanding of IM and good IM practices have yet to become widespread in the day to day operations of program delivery. This represents a serious obstacle. Many departments are complacent about IM, and within their own frame of reference think that the current state is “good enough.” They are unaware of the hidden IM-related inefficiencies that “gum up the works” and undermine their enterprise IM responsibilities. This erroneously reduces IM’s priority in departments.
Trends
What trends, in the GC or outside, should the transformation take into account?
Now that IT infrastructures are maturing and IT tools have become commodities, IM is “coming into its own.” Many trends in government and in the private sector must be considered. Two bear mentioning at this stage: 1) while the “paperless office” has been imminent for some time, the trend to electronic over paper-based information is real; and, 2) the availability of electronic information makes “24/7”, multi-mode, multi-channel information access is another strong trend that will change the way information is handled in the GC.
Summary of Environmental Factors
The factors discussed above are summarized in the following table.
| Internal Factors | External Factors | |
|---|---|---|
| Positive Factors |
Strengths
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Opportunities
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| Negative Factors |
Weaknesses
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Threats
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| Informing Factors |
Values
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Trends
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