It’s not news: Today’s business environment is dominated by digital technology. We use it to create, access, and retrieve records and information. We use it for basic, day-to-day communications, and we use it for retaining and preserving information for long-term use. Digital information is here to stay and so is comprehensive information governance—the best way to address technology’s impact on organizational information assets.

The sheer volumes of information many organizations have to manage and govern are crippling the systems and tools that have been traditionally used. In a typical records and information management (RIM) framework:

Information governance (IG) fills the gaps left by traditional RIM programs. ARMA International defines IG as “a strategic, cross-disciplinary framework composed of standards, processes, roles, and metrics that hold organizations and individuals accountable for the proper handling of records and information. The framework helps organizations achieve business objectives, facilitates compliance with external requirements, and minimizes risk posed by sub-standard information-handling practices.”

IG is a strategic approach that begins with understanding the organization’s goals. Facilitating the organization’s ability to meet its goals through the use of information is the context in which IG is best understood.

IG is most effective when it is enterprise-wide in scope and perspective. Many internal entities have a vested interest in how an organization’s information assets are handled. For IG to be effective across the enterprise, the organization must take an intentional approach to identifying its:

• Business needs
• Regulatory compliance requirements
• Duty to protect privacy
• Procedures for processing information efficiently

These needs are sometimes at odds with one another. IG is about balancing the needs, identifying the repercussions, if some needs and requirements can’t be met, and mitigating the risk resulting from less-than-optimal solutions.

This foundation for IG elevates information assets into the same realm as corporate assets. No longer are records and information the leftover debris of organizational decision-making and transactions. The IG framework calls for the value of records and information to be maximized for the benefit of the organization while the information is active—when it is still being used in conducting business.

IG also embraces technology as the key business driver and seeks to integrate information management disciplines in that new context. As an organization considers implementing new technology systems for business productivity, it must address RIM needs at the onset.

This framework calls for a holistic approach in identifying the business needs from all areas of the organization. The needs of all business units (e.g., privacy, information technology, information security, legal, risk, and compliance) must be identified and considered at the project’s initiation. Only by collaborating will IG leaders have a complete picture of the organization’s information needs and understand the ramifications of decisions concerning how information is handled.

IG also requires that the organization establish metrics by which program and employee compliance will be measured and evaluated. These include establishing expectations and priorities for employee performance, evaluating performance against established targets, documenting progress toward stated goals, identifying opportunities for improvement, and showing progress in IG program maturity over time. The final distinctive element in this IG framework is auditing for program compliance. Auditing makes IG program requirements real and actionable and provides an objective basis for demonstrating IG compliance.