Report 7 - Access to Information Review Task Force

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION - A VIEW INTO THE FUTURE

8. The International Scene and Information Management

This section highlights the experiences of Australia, the European Commission, and the United Kingdom with respect to their efforts to set a national direction for the evolution of government service delivery and information access in an Internet-enabled environment. Each of the governments described below has set ambitious targets for making government information and services available to citizens on-line. While recognizing that other service channels are required to respond to the special needs of its citizenry, each is articulating a vision where the core service delivery and information access channels will be Internet and web-enabled.

The objective of this section is to demonstrate that Canada is not alone in addressing its information management issues as part of a strategy to become more responsive to the needs of its citizens and much more in line with what the new Internet enabled technologies have to offer in the area of information access. It is also intended to demonstrate that while each government is pursuing its own strategies for providing on-line access to government information and services, all are recognizing that, in one form or another, an information management infrastructure is required, especially if citizen expectations concerning access to government information are expected to rise.

8.1 Great Britain

In 1999, the Government of Great Britain released its white paper, entitled "Modernising Government", which provided a vision for government modernisation programs and included in it the need for effective information management. In November 2000, Great Britain's Freedom of Information Act 2000 received Royal Assent. As a result, the need to organize government information to make it more accessible has been further emphasized. These two initiatives have combined to create an environment in which a strong information management infrastructure is being developed.

Section 46 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Lord Chancellor to issue, and from time to time revise, a Code of Practice setting out:

"The practices which public authorities and other bodies subject to the Public Records Act 1958 and the Public Records Act (NI) 1923 should follow in managing their records; and the arrangements which public record bodies should follow in the review and transfer of public records to the Public Record Office, places or deposit or the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland."

Based on this provision of the Act, the Office of the Lord Chancellor issued a draft code, Code of Practice on the Management of Records under Freedom of Information.⁷ It was designed, in consultation with public authorities, to support the objectives of Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation by setting out the practices which public authorities should follow in relation to creating, keeping, managing and disposing of their records.

The importance of establishing an underlying infrastructure for managing records was reflected in Section iii of the preface:

"Any freedom of information legislation is only as good as the quality of the records to which it provides access. Such rights are of little use if reliable records are not created in the first place, if they cannot be found when needed or if the arrangements for their eventual archiving or destruction are inadequate. Consequently, all public authorities are strongly encouraged to pay heed to the guidance in the Code."

The Code addresses such issues as policies, competency models for staffing, training and awareness as well as departmental record keeping requirements and ongoing performance management. It forms the authority framework and direction for records and information management, which has helped reinforce the need for effective records and information management within UK government departments. Consideration should be given to developing a similar authority in Canada.

In addition to the Code of Practice, the development of an information management infrastructure has been further supported through the "Modernising Government"⁸ project which was announced in March 1999 and which is designed to change:

• The way the United Kingdom devises its policies and programmes.
  
• The way it delivers services to individual citizens and businesses.
  
• The way it performs all the other functions of a modern government."

To further support the overall information management strategy, the government has stated that:

"By 2004 all central government organizations must be able to store and retrieve their records electronically. This deadline was set in the Modernising Government White Paper to ensure that departments would be able to meet the demands of working in an electronic environment".

In order to meet the 2004 target date, the Public Record Office's Records Management Department has established a "route map and target milestones"⁹ to achieve the goal set by the government. In addition to the route map, the Records Management Department has provided a tool kit of resources that provides details about government information management policies and "how-to" create an electronic records management environment. The need for training in the area of information management and FOI has also resulted in the development of a series of training modules for institutions to increase the knowledge and understanding of IM and FOI among their employees.

These initiatives have resulted in a stronger information management infrastructure within Great Britain

8.2 Australia

In the Report, "Towards an Australian Strategy for the Information Economy" (Ministerial Council for the Information Economy, July, 1998), the Commonwealth government committed itself to the following:

• Delivering all appropriate government services online by 2001;
  
• Improving delivery of services by using the online environment to make them more efficient and accessible to all Australians;
• Developing online management frameworks to create an environment that benefits citizens, promotes industry development, provides opportunities for staff development and places Australia at the forefront of world-class standards in electronic service delivery. These frameworks include:
  • An information management framework to organize government information so it can be accessed easily and efficiently;
  • A public key authentication framework to provide security, privacy and trust in transaction and messaging systems

The need to establish an infrastructure had already been recognized in 1997 when the Information Management Steering Committee on Information Management in the Commonwealth Government issued its report "Management of Government Information as a National Strategic Resource"¹⁰. The report outlined how an information management strategy would support access to government information holdings. The Australian information management community which consisted of educators, government information managers, representatives from the private sector, public sector, associations and suppliers, were encouraged to work together towards a common set of objectives, one of which was the establishment of a strong infrastructure to support, operational, access and privacy objectives.

The report discussed the issue of service delivery channels in the following manner:

"On-line technology allows services to be available from multiple locations, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. But it is important to note that not all Australians will be able to access online services directly. Agents working on behalf of people or organizations will need to be able to provide necessary assistance, such as interpretation of the information (e.g. customs agent, tax agent, bank manager, social worker). Australia is a multicultural society, and not all people are fluent in English.

People in remote areas also have access to fewer methods of obtaining information. Thus, it will be important for communication channels of several kinds to be available if all members of our society are to participate fully in the services of government, and understand their rights and obligations. The dangers of creating further 'information disadvantage' must be avoided as online services develop."

The report addressed language issues and discussed the continued need to provide a range of communication and access channels based on such means as personal contact, voice, online, videoconferencing and unified messaging.

The Report went beyond the new information resources that are expected to form a component of the proposed on-line access environment to address the management of existing information sources.

According to the report, government and individual agencies will be required to establish a migration strategy through which existing and new information resources steadily become more visible, accessible, and interoperable, through the application of integrated and transparent mechanisms. Above all, the Report recognized the need for an effective IM infrastructure. In order to build a close relationship between the overall objectives of enhanced information access and the need for a strong underlying infrastructure, the Report presented the following set of objectives:

• Increase the visibility of government information holdings and raise community awareness of their availability;
  
• Share and organize 'best practice' access methods that are consistent in design;
  
• Develop common practices for information management;
  
• Facilitate remote access to information;
  
• Raise the awareness within government of information management issues and the asset value of information as a corporate and national strategic resource; and
  
• Address the issues relating to changes in work practice arising from process re-engineering.

8.3 The European Commission

As described in its report, Commission Initiatives in the Field of Openness and Information,¹¹ The European Union has taken a proactive role in defining its approach to openness and transparency and recently issued Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 Of The European Parliament and of The Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents . Article 1 of the regulation explains the purpose of the regulation:

(a) to define the principles, conditions and limits on grounds of public or private interest governing the right of access to European Parliament, Council and Commission (hereinafter referred to as "the institutions") documents provided for in Article 255 of the EC Treaty in such a way as to ensure the widest possible access to documents,
(b) to establish rules ensuring the easiest possible exercise of this right, and
(c) to promote good administrative practice on access to documents.

In addition to articulating the need to "promote good administrative practices on access to documents", the various articles within the regulation demonstrate the importance of establishing a strong IM infrastructure. They provide high-level requirements for managing documents and creating registers of documents created by the Commission to support access to information within the European Community.
Members of the archives and records management communities in Europe are currently working as members of Commission committees to address the information management requirements within the new regulations and to identify ways in which information management and access can be dealt with throughout the European Union.

Each of these jurisdictions has recognized the importance of and need for a solid information management infrastructure to support service delivery and access. Each has developed or is developing a framework for such an infrastructure, and is providing a series of policies, standards, and guidelines supported by training programs designed to educate public servants about their responsibilities for managing the information that will ultimately enable citizen access to government information. Collectively, the experiences of these jurisdictions demonstrate that a key component of any government-wide on-line initiative must be the establishment of an underlying information management infrastructure.

8.4 United States of America

The United States of America amended its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552 (1994), to include electronic records, through the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996. The consultants interviewed representatives from the National Archives and Record Service about plans to implement an IM infrastructure similar to those in Australia and Great Britain. While strategies have been discussed, no similar initiatives are in place at present.

The Government of Canada is no different from its counterparts in other
countries. The next section explores the Canadian government's approach
to information management and information access in a government on-line
environment."

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9. Information Management, Access, and the Government of Canada

In 1999, in the Speech from the Throne, the Governor General stated that:

"The Government will become a model user of information technology and the Internet. By 2004, our goal is to be known around the world as the government most connected to its citizens, with Canadians able to access all government information and services on-line at the time and place of their choosing."¹²

The authors met with a number of senior officials within the Government of Canada who are currently involved in the management of information and information management policy development to support the direction set by the Speech from the Throne and the new initiatives the Government has launched to support this objective. The senior officials were asked to provide information on current projects as well as their thoughts on future information management issues and any related access issues . Among the observations they made and points they raised were the following:

• Government must be willing to make its information resources available and accessible;
  
• Government institutions must develop information sharing cultures;
  
• Organizational culture must change so that people are aware that information is a corporate asset, which has to be managed across the organization, and that access to government information goes hand in hand with information management;
  
• Information management must be given a greater priority in operational delivery systems within government institutions;
  
• Although information management and access issues are being highlighted in both the public and private sectors and although policies, standards and technology solutions are in place, information management is a low priority and programs resources have been cut;
  
• Effective information management requires a common information management infrastructure across all government institutions and all levels of government. It must address information management between customers (both internal and external), private sector partners, third party contractors; it must also address access to information and privacy;
  
• Not all Canadians have the same ability to access information and services on-line. As a result, there will be a continued need to have information provided on various media and provided through different channels;
  
• Government On-Line is viewed as a major global thrust for e-business and electronic transactions but the capture, management and long-term preservation of information content are not viewed as a high priority. The expectations of the public are not only focused on the ability to carry out transactions but also to gain easier access to government information. The management of information content will need to be a critical part of the Government On-Line strategy;
  
• Information management has to be transparent and records must be identified. For example, records should be identified and captured automatically through a record keeping system;
  
• Each government employee is an information manager but each may not have the skills and knowledge required to manage the information resources at their disposal;
  
• Each government employee should be aware of the access requirements and the relationship with information management practices;
  
• Technology is an enabler and the business needs and processes should drive its application;
  
• Information must be treated as a valuable resource, rather than as a by-product of administrative and operational activities and,
  
• Information, including electronic records and web-site content must be managed and preserved for long-term access.

In his report, "Information Management in the Government of Canada: A Situation Analysis", John McDonald stressed that if the Government On-Line priority was to succeed, then careful attention would need to be paid to the quality and integrity of the underlying infrastructure of policies, standards and practices, systems and people involved. Before information can be made accessible, it has to be under control and organized in a manner that ensures its authenticity, integrity and reliability.

Such an environment (or infrastructure) needs to be designed in a way that engenders a sense of trust and confidence among those who depend upon it for accessing information. Above all, however, the Report emphasized that an information management infrastructure must be seen as an integral component of the business infrastructure of the organization.

"The IM Infrastructure does not exist in isolation. The Business Infrastructure of government is primary and sets the context for other supporting infrastructures. The IM Infrastructure supports and manifests the information requirements of the Business Infrastructure - it fuels and documents the business functions and supporting activities. The Information Technology Infrastructure serves mainly to support the Information Infrastructure. These three infrastructures are created, sustained and imbued with purpose and meaning through the government's Human Resources Infrastructure."

If information resources are not managed effectively people will be unaware of what information exists and where and in what format it can be found. If information is not controlled, accessing information will become much more difficult. An effective information management infrastructure is required, but to establish such an infrastructure will require a comprehensive approach where technology is viewed as an equal partner with other important components such as policy, standards, and people.

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