e bryan - an analysis of content and information management as drivers for e government [acarm]

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6 ACARM Newsletter

An Analysis of Content and Information Management as drivers for Electronic Government

by Emerson O. St. G Bryan

The “I” in ICTs

ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies) is an umbrella

term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and

applications associated with them, such as videoconferencing and distance learning.

Information is the ‘I’ in ICTs and is often considered as one of the cornerstones to the delivery and supply of online services. This is especially true as it relates to the Public Sector and is usually considered to some degree by government, when crafting National Electronic Government (eGovernment) Initiatives. However, as with most public sector efforts, there are challenges. Information required to support e-Government initiatives are usually compromised because of the absence of supporting policies, the dependency of information being compliant with ever rapidly evolving technologies, the lack of effective tools and methods to manage information throughout the record/information life cycle, and of course regrettably, failure by most policy-makers to recognize how information can be exploited and reused to better support government strategies and priorities.

In the networked environment, citizens want and expect to:

(i) be able to access relevant and reliable information and services (ii) interact and conduct business with government, and (iii) participate in governance electronically.

Government workers also expect to be able to conduct their various business functions and communicate electronically. Electronic information systems provide government with powerful tools for satisfying these expectations, for creating savings and efciencies as well as for realizing the other benets of e-governance, provided they are managed professionally.

As the Government of Barbados (GOB) moves towards the electronic web-enabled delivery of its various programs and services signicant opportunities will emerge to enhance the ability of citizens and other stake holders to access government information and move beyond traditional ways of locating, accessing, and retrieving government information.

The GOB would need to introduce various information management-related initiatives in support of the National ICT Strategic Plan, draft in 2005. These initiatives should involve extensive re-engineering, and automation of various core services such as Tax Administration, budgeting, nancial management, and human resource management, especially capturing the documentation processes around these services. It may be necessary to collapse various instruments used to glean information common/ required by several public agencies into a single-form if possible. This would minimize duplication which may occur when:

Emerson O. St. G. Bryan


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(i) several forms are being used for a single service, (ii) duplicate/ triplicate form-lling is required,(iii) human error as a result of incorrect/ illegible entries.

An example would be the management of Barbados’ land resources, where four public authorities: Land Tax Department, Town and Country Planning, Land Registration Department and Lands and Surveys Department, across two ministries: Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, and the Ministry of Housing, Lands and the Environment, have individual numbering/ coding systems pertaining to land documents.

These information and documentation overlaps would need to be eliminated/ reduced and the next step would be to have this form completed electronically and then made available across the affected public authority. Essentially, the aim of this approach would be to introduce a more user-friendly way of transacting business with the government. It would also ease the work of the public servants.

It is hoped that it will be now more apparent by the progress of this discourse, that all these initiatives are heavily reliant on good recordkeeping.

Standards, Legislation and Regulation Issues

An examination of most early eGovernment

This is modeled on the international standard for records management: ISO: 15489 and is a IRMT/World Bank electronic records management tool See: http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/2303/5644 See: http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/html/50152std.htm

Strategies in other countries will reveal most were initially focused on developing and using ICT to support or enable the delivery of services online, however the focus is now on content integrity and security. In most developed countries, it is recognized that effective records management (especially electronic records management) is the

bedrock for any e G o v e r n m e n t programme. Unless there is adequate infrastructure for the management of electronic records, especially as it relates to standards affecting the compatibility, obsolescence and inter-operability of public information systems, the National eGovernment Plan will be compromised.

Some tools and guidelines which should be employed to manage

electronic records in order to support the National ICT strategy are:

• The Records Management Capacity Assessment System (RMCAS)• MoReq (Model Requirements for the Management of Electronic Records)• DoD: 5015.2 (U. S. Department of Defense: Design Criteria Standard for Electronic Records Management and Software Applications)

NB. See appendix for more details on these industry standards.

These tools and guidelines are useful in providing the required information

...Continued from Page 6

“Empower the citizens of Barbados by improving theconvenience, speed, efficiency, quality and variety of services and information delivered by Government”

(2004 e-Government Strategy document prepared by the Barbados Ministry of Civil Service).

“Poor people around the world suffer daily because systems for creating, organizing, disseminating, and preserving accurate and reliable official information have broken down. The situation will be even harder to manage in an electronic environment.”

Evidenced-based Governance in the Electronic Age Project World Bank/ International Records Management Trust. See: http://www.irmt.org/evidence/index.html


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management environment needed to support the introduction and sustainability of online government services and content. Since most eGovernment is dependent on electronic records, there must be consideration for description/ discovery, retention and archiving of these media types.

There are some concerns, which are not limited to Barbados, but might be currently existent in most Commonwealth Caribbean Countries, as it would relate to the information systems that now support the eGovernment Programme.

• Capacity BuildingUsually, there is the need for providers of the various information and documentation services to be delivered online, to be properly trained in how to structure and manage information that is relevant to the intended audience. Issues surrounding effective content management, especially electronic data description (metadata), and archiving electronic content both for the back-end and front end.

• Infrastructure IncompatibilityWithin the Region there are no standards in any of the territories for the designing and structuring of government/ public websites, there is no consistency or standard as to the types of information that should reside on these systems. Web-site building is usually not taken as an enterprise effort, and most ministries/ departments independently develop their own website.

• Changing Media FormatsThe technologies change so fast that it is often difcult to establish permanent mechanisms for the archiving or retention of electronic content.

• LiteracyWithin most countries in the Caribbean, there is the need for users of the systems who are usually not ‘computer aware’ to receive the required training through

a structured programme, such as the Community Technology Programme now being administered in Barbados. Also, change management workshops for personnel delivering these new services using electronic content and information delivery modes.

• Freedom of Information (FOI)/ PrivacyThe Ofcial Secrets Act makes it very difcult to properly lter information which should be within the public domain to be included as part of an eGovernment Service. A FOI and Privacy law would better guide information service professionals as to the types of information to digitize and mount on the website, made available to the public as part of G2C and G2B services, as well as the types of information to protect.

• Integrity of informationThe lack of a public key infrastructure (PKI) at this time makes it very difcult to authenticate both documents and users of these services. There is also the possibility of identity theft and violation of personal privacy under the current arrangements for these services online.

Conclusion

Most public institutions in GOB are still to a large extent dependent on paper-based documentation in the back-ofce to deliver online services. It must be evident by now that the previous illustrations in this paper regarding public service information systems, that developing and sustaining appropriate management information systems could affect the success or failure of the National eGovernment Strategy. Building awareness for good recordkeeping via initiatives such as Records and Information Management Month, and BARIM Sponsored Workshops and Presentations, is the start on the road towards better government service delivery.

Emerson Bryan ■



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Emerson. Bryan has been a Records and Information Management practitioner for over ten years; currently he is a Consultant with the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) in Barbados. He was previously involved with Electronic Governance through the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD).

Contact: [email protected]

Appendix

IRMT Records Management Capacity Assessment System (RMCAS)

This tool, developed by the International Records Management Trust, in partnership with the World Bank, provides a means of assessing records management policies, procedures and resources against established international standards. It uses a diagnostic model, based on the records life cycle, to identify strengths, weaknesses and risk areas, and links with a database of training and capacity building materials that can be used to plan improvements.

Designed initially to measure records and information systems in the .nancial management, human resource management and legal and judicial areas, it can also be applied generically.

http://www.irmt.org

EU Model Requirements for theManagement of Electronic Records(MoReq)

The MoReq Specication is a model specication of requirements for Electronic Records Management Systems (ERMS). It was produced by Cornwell Management Consultants plc at the request of the European Commission; it was designed to be easily used, and to be applicable throughout Europe

http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/2303/5644

DoD:5015.2-STD, the Design Criteria Standard for Electronic RecordsManagement Software Applications

This standard sets forth the mandatory baseline functional requirements for Records Management Systems (RMS) software used by the United States Department of Defense in the implementation of their records management programme.

It contains a detailed description of the basic records management requirements that must be met, based on the current U. S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regulations.

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/html/50152std.htm


e bryan - an analysis of content and information management as drivers for e government [acarm]

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