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Report 7 - Access to Information Review Task Force
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION - A VIEW INTO THE FUTURE
Published: November 2001
John McDonald, Christine Ardern
Table of Contents
- Background
- Objectives
- Scope and Assumptions
- Methodology
- Towards Effective Information
Management
- Information Management and Access:
Where Have We Come From?
- Government Information and Access
: An External Perspective
- The International Scene and Information
Management
- Information Management, Access
and The Government of Canada
- The Information Management Environment
- Elements Required to Move Forward
- Recommendations
- Conclusion
Appendix "A" TBS Information
Policy Domains
Appendix "B" Definitions of Information Management
Appendix "C" Resources
Appendix "D" Interviewees
Appendix "E" Endnotes
1. Background
In August 2001, The Honorable Lucienne Robillard, President of the Treasury Board of Canada, and Minister responsible for Infrastructure, and the Honorable Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice, Attorney General announced the establishment of the government's Access to Information Review Task Force.
The Task Force has a mandate to review all components of the Access to Information framework, including the Act, Regulations, policies and procedures. A final report will analyze the administrative and legislative aspects of Access to Information and provide recommendations for improvement. The Task Force is gathering data, conducting research, and consulting with individuals, organizations, the federal public service, the provinces, and other countries. As part of its mandate, The Task Force is working to build on the information management recommendations presented in the report "Information Management and the Government of Canada: A Situation Analysis" (2000), a joint initiative between the National Archives and the Treasury Board Secretariat.
Return to Table of Contents
2. Objectives
The objectives of this study are:
- To provide a view of information management and its impact on access
to information in the next ten years;
- To describe the information management infrastructure that would
need to be in place to support information access in the future;
- To review the perspectives of international experts in the field,
the experiences of other jurisdictions, and the views of senior officials
in the Government of Canada regarding the future of information management
and its impact on information access;
- To identify the building blocks of the infrastructure that are already
in place, to identify gaps in terms of what is required, and to propose
how those gaps should be closed, and;
- To suggest immediate steps the Government could take to set a course towards a strong information management infrastructure that would enhance access to information for Canadians.
3. Scope and Assumptions
For purposes of this report information management is defined as:
The coordinated management of an organization's information based resources,
including its information holdings and investments in technology. (Chapter
1-1 of the Treasury Board's Information Management Policy Volume, 1991
- "Strategic Direction for Government: Information Management")
The scope of the definition extends to embrace a series of information-based
activities which are illustrated in Appendix "A".
This report will restrict its attention to those information management
domains that address:
- The public's right of access to government information as well as
information about government programs and activities, and;
- The infrastructure of policies, standards and practices, systems, and people required to support the capability of the government to provide effective access to government information by Canadians.
The application of standard information management practices and methodologies
across all government institutions and the effective management of information
content on all media will have a substantial impact on the ability of
the Government to ensure that information is authentic, reliable and available.
A successfully implemented information management infrastructure will
enable Canadian citizens to have greater access to trustworthy government
information resources.
The authors provided examples of how information management is defined in other countries in Appendix "B".
3.1 Assumptions
Throughout the report the authors use the term "access" in
its broadest sense. That is, rather than focus specifically on the "access
to information" regime established through the provisions of the
Access to Information Act, they have examined the broader means by which
the Government provides Canadians with access to its information.
The authors have also made the assumption that openness and transparency
must be balanced against the Government's obligation to meet the requirements
of laws and policies which protect both personal information and other
information for which there is a public interest in protection. As more
government programs and services are delivered electronically citizens
will become more familiar with the electronic information resources that
are available. Having made this assumption, the authors believe that within
the parameters of existing and future laws and policies, government information
will become increasingly available, accessible and valuable if the current
information management problems are addressed.
The major assumption throughout the report is that the level of access
to government information is totally dependent upon an information management
environment in which:
- Staff are aware of their responsibilities and trained accordingly,
and that knowledge about information management (IM) requirements is
part of the culture of government institutions;
- Individual performance measurement programs include specific requirements
to manage information from creation to disposition in accordance with
the standards and guidelines approved through the Treasury Board Secretariat
(TBS);
- Policies, procedures, standards and practices are implemented;
- A measurement system is in place to monitor compliance with information
management policies and,
- The technology infrastructure enables access to government-wide information
resources.
The authors also assumed that any government-wide initiatives, such as Government On-Line, will address not only technological needs but also include associated information and content management strategies and implementation plans.
For a range of reasons described in this report, the authors believe that access to government information will be increasingly difficult unless there is strong support for the implementation of an effective information management infrastructure.
4. Methodology
The findings and recommendations in this report are based on a review of the literature and interviews with experts in the field.
- Reports and studies undertaken by leading internationally recognized
experts were reviewed as were documented discussions among experts about
demographic, cultural, economic legislative/policy and technological
trends that will affect information management and the public's access
to government information.
- The proposed strategies for information management within other jurisdictions
such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and Europe were also reviewed.
This was limited to an in-depth treatment of three jurisdictions and
a general review of others in both the government and private sectors.
- Existing information management initiatives were analyzed to identify
those that could serve as building blocks in support of the better control
of government information and by extension, access to government information;
specific attention was paid to the impact of the direction being taken
by the Government on the existing administration of the Access to Information
Act.
- Emerging government-wide initiatives, such as Government On-Line, were examined with respect to the impact they are expected to have on the public's ability to access government information and the government's ability to respond in an electronic environment.
The report provides a summary of the findings together with recommendations,
which support the development of an information management infrastructure.
