Enterprise Content Management, Records Management and Information Culture Amidst E-Government Development

Proscovia Svärd

• Editore: Chandos Publishing
• Anno: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780081009000
• Argomento: Languages & Linguistics
• Categoria: Library & Information Science

This book identifies key factors necessary for a well-functioning information infrastructure and explores how information culture impacts the management of public information, stressing the need for a proactive and holistic information management approach amidst e-Government development.

In an effort to deal with an organization's scattered information resources, Enterprise Content Management, Records Management and Information Culture Amidst E-Government Development investigates the key differences between Enterprise Content Management (ECM) and Records Management (RM), the impact of e-Government development on information management and the role of information in enhancing accountability and transparency of government institutions. The book hence identifies factors that contribute to a well-functioning information infrastructure and further explores how information culture impacts the management of public information. It highlights the Records Continuum Model (RCM) thinking as a more progressive way of managing digital information in an era of pluralization of government information. It also emphasizes the need for information/records management skills amidst e-Government development. Ideas about records, information, and content management have fundamentally changed and developed because of increasing digitalization. Though not fully harmonized, these new ideas commonly stress and underpin the need for a proactive and holistic information management approach. The proactive approach entails planning for the management of the entire information continuum before the information is created. For private enterprises and government institutions endeavoring to meet new information demands from customers, citizens and the society at large, such an approach is a prerequisite for accomplishing their missions. It could be argued that information is and has always been essential to all human activities and we are witnessing a transformation of the information landscape.

• Presents research with broad application based on archives and information science, but relevant for information systems, records management, information culture, and e-government
• Examines the differences between Enterprise Content Management and Records Management
• Bridges a gap between the proponents of Enterprise Content Management and information professionals, such as records managers and archivists

1

e-Government development and its impact on information management

Abstract

e-Government has at its core the use of information and information technology, and entails the development of electronic services and the delivery of quality information to the citizens. It also endeavors to increase transparency and accountability and to create efficient government institutions. This development has led to an increase in the amount of information that government institutions have to capture, manage, and pluralize. European governments are encouraged to invest in e-Government development and to make their information flows available to the citizens. Europe adopted a Public Sector Information Directive since information is looked upon as a resource that can boost innovation and national development. Globally governments are enacting freedom of information laws to facilitate access to government information. However, this will also require a robust information management structure, which includes the archiving and registration of the information, common specifications to facilitate sharing of information among government institutions, the analysis of business processes to identify vital information and the management of the entire information continuum. Dealing with the challenges in the digital information environment will further require collaboration among lawyers, information security professionals, professionals in Archives and Information Science, Business Analysts and Systems Scientists.

Keywords

e-Government; information management; E-archiving; registration; business process management

1.1 e-Government development

e-Government development is now a global phenomenon and governments are investing in the transformation of the way their institutions operate, to make them more cost effective so that they can deliver efficient services to the citizens. e-Government is driven by policy goals of increased effectiveness, efficiency, information quality, improved interaction mechanisms, and in turn better governance tools. It aims to improve the performance of government institutions and has at its core the use of information technology and information. Scholl (2006) postulated that e-Government is a redefinition of information management in government with a strong institutional impact. It also means change in the way public authorities deliver services to the citizens and a redesign of ordinary ways of doing business. e-Government is therefore transformative in nature and affects the management of human, technological, and organization resources and processes (Grant & Chau, 2006). Archmann and Iglesias (2010) argued that e-Government requires thinking organizations, a change in processes and behavior. e-Government is defined by Layne & Lee, 2001 (p. 123) as the “government’s use of technology, particularly web-based Internet applications to enhance the access to and delivery of government information and service to citizens, business partners, employees, other agencies, and government entities.” Fang (2002) defined e-Government as “as a way for governments to use the most innovative information and communication technologies, particularly web-based Internet applications, to provide citizens and businesses with more convenient access to government information and services, to improve the quality of the services and to provide greater opportunities to participate in democratic institutions and processes.” Nordfors, Ericson, and Lindell (2016) postulate that e-Government links services, information and dialogue. e-Government initiatives have meant the use of web-based technologies to disseminate information to the citizens and hence, a two-way communication flow that has been established (Richard 1999; Worall, 2010). e-Government has therefore affected the information management landscape. This is a domain where the societal and political aims intertwine with the progress of information technology.

Democratic developments take place when there is an effective flow of information between the government and its citizens (Yong, 2004). European governments are, e.g., encouraged to develop e-Government in order to establish a common framework where technologies can be deployed to expand services, increase transparency, efficiency, and inclusion (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2012). The European e-Government Action Plan 2011–2015 promoted transparency and the reuse of data through the Public Sector Information Directive. The aim was to encourage the reuse of government information in order to produce new services but also to create more transparent decision making processes (The European Union, 2003). Governments around the world are promoting free access to government information. In the information society that we are all part of today, information is considered a major asset and vehicle for economic, cultural, and political achievements, enhanced by the use of information technology. Freedoms of expression and access to information are now cornerstones of modern democracies. Information is regarded as the oxygen of democracy and hence a promoter of good governance. Freedom of information (FOI) is underpinned by maximum disclosure and if information access is denied, there should be justification as to why (Article 19, 2002). Transparency is meant to create increased legitimacy, democratic participation, and trust in government institutions. Therefore, the principles of FOI laws include: transparency, accountability, public participation, and information to citizens (Worthy, 2010). The importance of the right to access information held by public bodies, sometimes referred to as the right to know, has e.g., existed in Sweden for over 200 years (Mendel, 2008).

Another aspect related to FOI laws that is not often discussed is the sustainability of long-term transparency. Jaeger and Bertot (2010) argued that the sustainability of long-term transparency requires that citizens can access the information that they seek regardless of format. The current digital environment has meant that governments disseminate information through social media and internet enabled technologies. This has long-term implications especially where the management of information is not proactively planned for. Therefore, governments need to put in place strategies that would allow long-term access to government information. The challenges of managing and preserving digital information over time are well known and call for enormous resources and a proactive approach (Bearman, 1994; Dollar, 2000; Duranti & Preston, 2008).

1.2 The public sector information directive

The implementation of e-Government has led to an increase in information and especially digitally born information, which puts new demands on information and records management practices (The International Records Management Trust, 2004). Central to transparent government is access to information by the general public and the media (Bohlin, 2010; Regeringskansliet, 2009). It is argued in the European Access to Official Documents Guide that: “The basic principle is that a broad right of access to official documents should be granted on the basis of equality and in application of clear rules, whilst refusal of access should be the exception and must be duly justified. It is not a question of recognizing merely the freedom of the public to have access to information which the authorities wish to give them, but rather to secure a genuine ‘right to know’ for the public. States must ensure, with due regard for certain rules, that anyone may, upon request, have access to documents held by public authorities” (Directorate General of Human Rights, 2004, p. 6). Therefore, one of the most important instruments of citizens’ control of public authorities is the principle of public access to government information.

As government institutions engage in e-Government development and hence use information technology, they are generating lots of information hereto referred to as the Public Sector Information (PSI). The United Kingdom’s Office of Public Sector Information stated that, “Information, particularly PSI, is at the head of the citizen’s relationship with government and the public sector” (Office of Public Sector Information, 2009, p. 18). Government information is currently looked upon as a “gold mine” that should be explored by various stakeholders to boost national development through the creation of electronic services. The PSI is regulated by the European PSI Directive on repurposing of public information that was enacted in December 2003 and was to be implemented in the member states by July 2005. The Directive focuses on the economic aspects of public information reuse (European Union, 2003). For example, Fornefeld, Boele-Keimer, Recher, and Fanning (2009) argued that in most European public administrations making information available to the private sector is an indication of a cultural change. They further argued that previously, the private sector has had to purchase government information. According to a report published by the European Commission (European Commission, n.d.), PSI is crucial to the well-functioning of the internal market, free circulation of goods, services, and people.

This new data that is being referred to as “open data” and “big data” is characterized by volume, velocity, and variety (Ballad et al., 2014). Its innovative and transformational power hinge on its quality which can only be achieved through information governance. Lundqvist (2013a) was of the view that European wide markets derived from PSI have been estimated at a turnover of 30 billion Euros per year. The PSI can be defined “as any kind of information that is produced and/or collected by a public body and it is part of the institution’s mandated role” (Dragos & Neamtu, 2009, p. 4). The PSI, e.g., constitutes data in geographical information systems, land registry, public weather services, and other types of information that are created by public administrations. The Directive even covers written texts, databases, audio files, and film fragments (The European Union, 2003). Access to PSI is meant to stimulate the development of information markets and to improve the quality of e-Government services. However, this data does not only offer opportunities, but also poses risks to organizations because it is gathered from different sources which can complicate the trace of its provenance. Further, it is big volume and flows at a speed which makes it difficult to be subjected to human review. It also offers an opportunity for correlation with other datasets which means that it can be used for different purposes, and even for criminal purposes which could be detrimental for organizations (Ballad et al., 2014).

The Swedish e-Government Delegation’s report, e.g., emphasized the effective management of information in the development of the third generation e-Government. The third generation e-Government aims to develop a demand driven e-Government that also considers the society around it, that is, the citizens and private companies. They are looked upon as capable e-Government co-developers with the capability to use government information to develop new services and hence increase the innovation and development potential of the society at large. The management of information, therefore, ought to be coordinated to reduce the administrative burden and to make it easily accessible in order to facilitate business transactions (Finansdepartmenetet, 2009:86). Research that was carried out in two Swedish municipalities however confirmed that as e-Government development projects are undertaken to improve service delivery, information management is not usually at the center of these projects. This is paradoxical because effective processes require good quality information and the reuse of information requires that government organizations put in place long-term preservation strategies to guarantee access to their information resources for current and future users (Svärd, 2010, 2014). The pluralization of government information resources will require a holistic approach that entails managing the information continuum if information is to be repurposed. The PSI is a good example of how information created to conduct government business can be made available to other actors to develop new services.

1.3 Information infrastructure

Information underpins the functions of government. Information management is therefore of paramount importance to e-Government development, an initiative with the ultimate goal of effective service delivery and increased accountability and transparency. Authors such as Headayetullah & Pradhan (2010) contended that the amalgamation of government information resources and the interoperation of autonomous information systems are crucial to the achievement of e-Government development goals. Some of the critical factors of e-Government development include information and data management and organizational collaboration (Melin & Axelsson, 2009). Satish and Thompson (2012) examined the complementary role of governance dimensions such as; voice and accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory control, rule of law, and control of corruption on the relationship between a country’s information infrastructure and its e-Government development. They posited that several studies that have examined e-Government development facilitators emphasize the need for a robust and reliable information infrastructure. Information infrast...

Indice dei contenuti

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. e-Government development and its impact on information management
• 2. Records management
• 3. Enterprise content management (ECM)
• 4. Two principles governing the management of records
• 5. Differences and similarities between enterprise content management and records management
• 6. Information culture
• 7. Accountability, transparency, and the role of information management
• Index