Page 12 - FCW, May 30, 2016

SPECIAL REPORT RECORDS MANAGEMENT
M-12-18 in 2012. This directive calls on agencies to manage all email in an accessible electronic format by the end of 2016. It further requires agencies to manage all permanent records electronically by 2019.
Email records management is the first step toward the overarching goal of information governance
for the enterprise. The goal of managing permanent records in entirely digital format by 2019
is aligned to a number of key federal government objectives such as World-Class Digital Services, including a Future Ready Workforce, Digital Government Strategy, Open Data Policy, and Cloud First for cloud-based storage and services.
By aligning CIO priorities and the Managing Government Records
be able to undertake a number of initiatives and requirements.
• Customer experience is the new lens through which agencies are looking at how they interact with
the public. The key to constant improvement of the experience citizens have with government agencies is accessible and up-to-date information. To add new services, agencies must often call on new sources of data and information. These data sources must be properly managed under an Electronic Content Management (ECM) system to give agencies greater power to launch new services to improve the citizen experience. This is in part the charter of the U.S. Digital Service.
• Open data has been the policy throughout the Obama administration. Agencies are
governance strategy.
• Government CIOs are also
dealing with myriad policies
that pertain to content and information management— namely, cybersecurity, the Cloud First mandate, and datacenter consolidation. An information management strategy that includes a strong governance structure
can help ensure the integrity and discoverability of data as it moves among physical infrastructures.
This is why the concept of electronic records management has evolved into the notion of Electronic Information Management (EIM). EIM takes a multidimensional view of agency records, including those “born” electronically, such as email, rulemaking documents, and legal briefs. It also encompasses the totality of electronic content such that records as disparate as agency financial records, procurement transactions, geospatial data, and so forth become part of the managed information resources. Beyond
that, EIM takes in unstructured or non-traditionally structured sources of data that agencies generate such as data from the internet of things, video, and PDFs.
LOOK TO THE FUTURE
Meeting the 2016 and 2019 deadlines requires careful planning and applying the right technology. It also requires a comprehensive approach to avoid future obsolescence. Adhering to M-12-18 should be more than an exercise in compliance for federal agencies.
Done properly, M-12-18 Information Governance Programs can bring greater transparency and efficiency to all agency business processes, especially when retrieving information and
FUNDING AN ECM SYSTEM
THE KEY TO GETTING FUNDING for M-12-18 is to include it in programs that are already funded, such as cybersecurity, email consolidation and move to the cloud, Digital Government Strategy, Open Data Policy, IT modernization, and so on.
Agency CIOs can amend priorities such as Data Center Consolidation and Optimization, IT Shared Services, TechStat, and PortfolioStat to include information governance in a way that accelerates deploying an enterprise Information Governance program. This will meet the M-12-18 objectives while contributing to the success of all major programs.
Directive objectives, agencies
can move towards the digital enterprise and realize its many benefits. The directive’s larger goals include improving openness and accountability, while lowering costs and increasing agencies’ operational efficiency.
The key word here is management. By actively managing electronic records, and not merely storing them, agencies can put themselves in a stronger position to
required to make data sets available in machine-readable for the public or anyone else in government that might need them. The open data policy calls on agencies to manage “government information as an asset throughout its lifecycle to promote openness and interoperability,
and properly safeguard systems and information.” Lifecycle management, interoperability and security are benefits agencies can derive from a solid information
Sponsored Content