By Meg Shallcrass |
October 18, 2024
How to effectively introduce information ownership and governance
The quantity of data we create is growing exponentially. So, the ability to manage information ownership effectively is vital, in order to meet all regulatory obligations while maintaining productivity.
In this series of blog posts, we are taking a deep dive into the world of information management and revealing the information management issues we come across in our day-to-day work, and how to address them. For our third blog in the series, Meg Shallcrass, our records and data management guru, discusses the value of information governance and ownership and how it can help organisations to successfully manage information better and ensure data remains secure.
Read on:
What is information governance?
Information governance refers to the framework of policies, procedures, and controls that help manage an organisation’s information effectively and ensure that it remains secure, accessible, and compliant with legal and regulatory requirements. Information governance is distinct from information management, as it is concerned with ensuring roles, responsibilities, models and principles are in place to govern information, with an expectation that this is embedded in an organisation from the top down.
The value of information ownership
A lack of defined information ownership and governance is a common issue we often come across with clients, particularly in large or diverse organisations, or organisations that have expanded rapidly. A lack of proper information governance can lead to issues with information and data ownership, inconsistent definitions, and a lack of accountability affects the reliability of information.
As the information is not “owned” by anyone, no-one is responsible for ensuring that information is kept up to date and accurate, which can lead to incorrect information, duplication, and increase the risk of data breaches. Many of our clients talk about wanting to manage their information better but are not sure who would do this: information governance can help identify roles and responsibilities, accountability, and the chain of command for information decisions.
Addressing information governance and ownership challenges
The best way to begin is by defining an Information Governance Framework. The Information Governance Framework is a set of models, policies, procedures and guides which articulate how your organisation will manage its information. This is a general framework and typically will include key guiding principles, as well as organisation-wide responsibilities, such as forums.
Information governance can then be defined at any level and for any tool, using the framework as a guide. For example, specific systems will require specific roles and responsibilities. If you are using Microsoft 365, you will also need to define roles and responsibilities within Microsoft Purview to manage your information management policies, such as labels and retention rules.
Read how we successfully introduced a clear information governance framework for a topflight law firm and the benefits it delivered.
An Information Governance Framework is a set of models, policies, procedures and guides which articulates how you manage information
Policy and compliance alignment
Information governance ensures that your information is managed and owned, and someone has responsibility for ensuring its integrity and security.
Here at Metataxis, we always ensure your information governance aligns with key regulations such as GDPR and other industry-specific standards. By embedding compliance within your information governance policies, you minimise the risk of legal exposure and non-compliance.
