Changing the Paradigm: Record and Information Management for Public Service ExcellenceEmerson O. St. G. BryanPrincipal Consultant & Information Management Specialist

Objective

i. To advocate increased senior level awareness of the importance of records and

information management, particularly from a policy perspective, across the

Jamaican public service, as well as the need to define and develop policies to

support evidenced based decision making and good governance.

ii. ii. Increased senior level understanding of how an effective records and

information management programme support the business needs of Government

of Jamaica and the services provided to citizens as a whole.

1. About Records and Managing Records

Records are both evidence of business activity and information assets. They can be distinguished from other information assets by their role as evidence in the transaction of business and by their reliance on metadata. Metadata for records is used to indicate and preserve context and apply appropriate rules for managing records.Managing records encompasses the following:a) a) creating and capturing records to meet requirements for evidence of

business activity;b) b) taking appropriate action to protect their authenticity, reliability, integrity

and usability as their business context and requirements for their managementchange over time.

ISO 15489-1:2016(en) Information and documentation — Records management — Part 1: Concepts and principles

NB. Establishing convergent and synergistic support at a strategic level inalignment with the objectives of ISO management system standards (MSSs), e.g.ISO 9000 Quality management, ISO 31000 Risk management, ISO 27000Information security management, ISO 19011 auditing management, etc.,enabling evidence-based collaboration and linkage to Asset Owners and AssetRegisters for records.

Best Practice: ISO 15489 Records Management Standard

The Record must ensure through timethat it maintains the followingcharacteristics:

Authenticity (can be proven) Reliability (can be trusted) Integrity (complete and unaltered) Usability (to allow access and use)

See: ISO 15489-1 Part 7: 2

Characteristics of a Record

All organizations, large or small, whether in business or government, create documentation aspart of their normal activities.It is important for organizations to keep records of their decision making processes and maintaina documented trail of actions taken. This is good practice which can aid efficiency, help tomanage risk and nurture repeat business. Also, when faced with litigation or investigations, itallows organizations to retrieve information so they can ascertain which decisions and actionswere taken and why.As the transition from paper to digital format becomes inevitable for most organizations, it ismore important than ever for them to implement a management system for records (MSR).The ISO 30300 series constitutes a reference point for information management and for thecreation and control of documents, establishing requirements for:

i. policy and procedures;ii. definitions of roles and responsibilities;iii. design and implementation of the MSR;iv. evaluation of performance and how to improve.

Best Practice: ISO 30300 Management System for Records

Supports ISO 15489, but mainly for senior management instead offor records managers

• Information Governance with the GeneralAccepted Recordkeeping Principles (GARP) [thePrinciples]

• 8 Principles - ATIPCARD

1. Principle of Accountability2. Principle of Transparency3. Principle of Integrity4. Principle of Protection5. Principle of Compliance6. Principle of Availability7. Principle of Retention8. Principle of Disposition

http://www.arma.org/r2/generally-accepted-br-recordkeeping-principles

Best Practice: GARP and Information Governance

2. Records as Strategic Resources and Assets

Traditional public administration: principal-agent approach, where within the context of thepublic service, the citizens, or the general public (principal) were dependent on publicbureaucrats (agents) to share information, instead of promoting ‘information silos’ by notsharing information beyond their self interest, thereby creating a situation of ‘informationasymmetry’. (Jooste, 2008)

New Public Management (NPM): moves away from traditional public administration model, andinstead emphasizes managerial improvement and res-structuring on the one hand, and marketsand competition within the public service on the other (Lihoma, 2012).

• Advocated and widely promoted by multilateral partners such as the World Bank and theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) to developing countries as part of developmentprogrammes.

• The characteristics of NPM are to support managerial freedom, market driven competition,business-like service delivery, value-for-money, results-based performance, client orientation,and a pro-market culture (Haque, 2004).

Traditional Public Administration vs. New Public Management

The movement for evidence-based policy and practice and for the use of researchevidence in the work of the professions, started in medicine in the early 1990s.

The evidence-based policy and practice movement is closely related to increasingdemands for ‘transparency’ and ‘accountability’ that are characteristic of what hascome to be called ‘managerialism’ in the public sector or the ‘new publicmanagement’ (Hammersley, 2001).

Evidence-based policy making was recognized as a central element of NewLabour’s plans for the modernization of government in the United Kingdom. Forexample, a United Kingdom Cabinet White Paper states that:

“...policy decisions should be based on sound evidence. The raw ingredient of evidenceis information” (Cabinet Office (UK), 1999).

Executive leadership is absolutely necessary to create a system where our nationmanages and uses its information in the most efficient and useful way. MDAs mustbe given the message that records management is important from the very top ofthe organizational chart

Evidenced-based policy development and NPM

1997• Print to paper policies• We had information silos• Filed in central ‘registries’• Moved to storage and kept to meet

retention requirements• PCs were used mainly as typewriters

2017• Most records are created, received

and stored electronically in the cloud• eMail is the largest mode of

transmission across all boundaries• Heterogenous information formats

and platforms• Territories less defined for

‘information management’• Each individual makes his or her

decision about what to keep and what to get rid of

New Information Reality

Private Sector need to identify and in some cases comply with:

1. Statutes and case laws, and regulation governing the sector-specific andgeneral business environment;

2. Mandatory and Voluntary standards of practice;3. Innovation, Trade Secrets and Marketing Strategies;4. Client Information; and5. Identifiable expectation of the community about what is acceptable

behavior for the specific sector or organization.

NB. The nature of the organization and its sector will determine which of theseregulatory elements are more applicable to that organization’s RMrequirements.

Information as Asset – Private Sector

• Information as ‘Power’ to the citizenryAccess to information via publishing and sharing of government information builds accountability and inclusiveness.

• State monitoring and use of InformationPAAC Sittings, border control systems.

• Big Data Analytics/MIS as an Administrative tool in GovernmentUsed to monitor routine functions and processes to determine performance and forecasting.Joint-up government for service delivery: tax collection, business registration, import/export, human resource management, fiscal management, procurement etc.

• Integrity and Accountability ‘Sunshine’ RegimesFOIA, Declaration of Assets, Data Sharing, Data Protection

Information as Asset - Government

3. Public Service Excellence

Global SDGs and National Development Plan

Service Delivery in Government

Since the earlier decades (i.e. before 1990s), the World Bank promoted goodgovernance in developing countries by a mechanism of internal rules andrestraints, i.e. by reviewing a country’s internal accounting and audit systems,budgeting mechanisms, and rules governing the civil service and judiciary (TheWorld Bank, 2000,

Government agencies operate in an environment where the expectations ofcitizens, influenced by changing technology and experiences with the privatesector, are placing increased demands on the public sector to deliver moreservices efficiently and effectively. Citizens expect seamless service delivery;they expect to be able to conduct business in an online environment and tohave instant access to information and services no matter the time of day orlocation.

This means: Electronic Government, Electronic Recordkeeping (capture,conversion & migration) and Enterprise Content Management.

Maximum utilization of talent to service stakeholders

Governments’ ability to achieve their operational and strategic goals and hold themselves accountable for their decisions and actions depend upon how well they can create, use and preserve records.

• This ability is being placed at risk because of significant weaknesses in the way records are being managed:

• Civil service managers face the risk that major programme delivery initiatives may fail due to poor quality records.

• Civil servants are worried about how to cope with an overwhelming volume and variety of e-mails, documents, records and files and how to know what is important and what is not.

• Technology specialists know that costly systems and applications often fail because the information and data in records are unreliable.

• Citizens and users are concerned that records to which they have a right under Freedom of Information or similar legislation is often unavailable, inaccessible, inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date; implementation of Freedom of Information legislation is at considerable risk.

• Civil service managers and civil servants are unaware of the implications of poor records management on their programmes and services; they have yet to recognise that their programmes, services and initiatives can be undermined significantly because of the absence of adequate controls over records.

Government’s Agenda at Risk

– The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative(DCMI) (Dublin, OH)

– Now ISO 15836

Creator Title SubjectContributor Date DescriptionPublisher Type FormatCoverage Rights RelationSource Language Identifier

http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/

Dublin Core

• Anti-Money Laundering• Basel Accord• Evidence Acts • Electronic Transactions/ Commerce Acts• Securities Acts

• Financial Institutions Acts

• Banking and Insurance Acts

• Income Tax Acts

• Human Resources Legislation• Labor • Health and Safety

• Environmental laws

• Archives Acts

• Copyright and Patent Acts

• Computer Misuse Acts

• Freedom of Information Acts

• Data Protection Acts

• Data Sharing Acts

• Transportation and Immigration Laws

• Single ID system (NIDS)

• Sharing of Intelligence for Law Enforcement, Homeland Security against Terrorism

Information Compliance- Legal Issues

Training and Retention of RIM Professionals

Change management, in the context of managing public serviceinformation assets, is all about how members of the publicservice make the transition from the traditional approaches tomanagement, pre-Information Age, to new means ofadministering in new and evolving knowledge environments.

The latter principle is one of the many ways in which changemanagement is different for the public sector.

Change Management

4. Notable Model and Examples to Consider for Public Service Recordkeeping

• Australian Government’s Information Interoperability Framework Sharing information across boundaries, see: https://www.finance.gov.au/sites/default/files/Information_Interoperability_Framework.pdf

• The UK’s National Archives Information Management Guidelines, see: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/manage-information/policy-process/

• Canadian Government’s Generic Valuation Tool on Information Management, see: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services/government-information-resources/guidelines/generic-valuation-tools/Documents/GVT_InformationManagement.pdf

• South African Government’s Records Management Policy Manual, see: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.za/sites/default/files/RM%20Policy%20Manual_2.pdf

National RIM Initiatives

As governments around the world make the transition from a paper-based to an electronic workingenvironment, there are a host of new issues to be addressed. In this film, Tanzanian Government officialsexplore some of the issues involved in moving from a manual system for managing personnel informationto a computerised integrated human resource and payroll system. The challenge is to maintain control ofthe records required to support rights, entitlements and obligations while maximising the benefits ofcomputerisation. This film was produced for the World Bank Information Solutions Group. Video created2000.

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Emerson O. St. G. BryanPrincipal Consultant & Information Management Specialist www.bryanconsultancies.com/en/emerson@bryanconsultancies.comp1. +1.246.267.7026p2.+1.867.308.2735

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