Building Trust,
Adaptabilities and Capabilities A COLLECTION OF DISCUSSIONS HELD IN MAY 2021
A COLLABORATIVE EVENT
FOREWORD Information Awareness Month (IAM) is the opportunity for industry bodies and industry practitioners to work together to celebrate the amazing profession of managing information. The collaboration of industry groups continues to evolve by strengthening relationships which in turn, provides added exposure to all things information for all members. 2020 forced us to celebrate IAM virtually and we had 350 people logging in to what would have been for many people their first ever webinar. The IAM Collaborative Group organised events for 2021 with caution, as concerns with the pandemic were still amongst us and the group were unsure as to who could attend and how, so the need for hybrid events were a must and the concept of in person round tables live streamed across the world were agreed upon. Industry bodies worked together to determine the trending issues impacting Information Management (IM) in 2021 and agreed that the National Archives of Australia (NAA) new policy “Building Trust in the Public Record” provided guidance on the theme for this year’s IAM.
Building Trust – Refers to the overarching approach from NAA and suggests stability in what we do Adaptability – refers to the ongoing need for IM practitioners and industry bodies to be flexible and agile Capabilities – It was agreed that Information Management practitioners had gaps in their skillsets and was to be highlighted through the two-day event. This booklet provides collaborative group members a summation of the discussions that occurred at each of the round tables with ideas to follow up in the ensuing years. Involvement of our members in IAM activities is imperative to the success of what is trying to be achieved and we welcome ideas for 2022. On behalf of all the collaborative groups we thank you and hope you enjoy this book as a key takeaway for IAM 2021 Anne Cornish General Manager RIMPA
BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021
THE MEANING OF INFORMATION AWARENESS MONTH Information Awareness Month (IAM) is an opportunity to highlight the critical importance of libraries and information. ALIA is committed to supporting the library and information profession to: Promote the free flow of information and ideas through open access to recorded knowledge, information, and creative works Connect people to ideas; and Preserve the human record. IAM is a chance to work together to ensure that information professionals across the spectrum are building capability and safeguarding trust. Australian Library and Information Association
“Information Awareness Month provides a platform to highlight the importance of: - Practitioners across the organisational responsible for the governance and management of data and information, and celebrate the value they bring to their organisations; - Cross-disciplinary collaboration and the benefits of a unified approach to information governance to maximise the value of data and information and minimise the risks.” Information Governance ANZ
“Information Awareness Month is important to us as it aligns with our mission and values of supporting archives, archivists and recordkeeping in Australia to advocate for efficient management of records as evidence, memory and history of our democracy, business, and cultures.” Australian Society of Archivists
“IAM is important in building awareness that, despite differences in scope and boundaries of each association, there is consensus amongst us on what constitutes well-managed Information.It offers the opportunity for associations to share good practices, widely adopted methods and techniques. Provides the opportunity to identify common organisational and cultural issues impacting all organisations. IM guides participants additional resources for further understanding.” DAMA Australia
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“Information Awareness Month is important to us as it is a valuable opportunity to reinforce the vital importance of information management as the foundation of a functioning and transparent democracy.” National Archives of Australia
“Information Awareness Month is important to us as it provides us with the opportunity to: - Collaborate and explore the importance of the evolving profession of information management; - Appreciate and recognise information management; - Enables industry bodies collaborating, to expand the profile of information management.” Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia
IIM has been part of Information Awareness Month (IAM) since its inception 15 years ago. With the changes to the digital workplace because of Covid-19, it is even more important for the sharing of our collective knowledge during IAM 2021 and beyond. IIM is focusing on Digital Dexterity and Transformation during 2021. Institute for Information Management Ltd
INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021 BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES
BUILDING HUMAN CAPITAL Technology Technology provides great opportunities, but it isn’t the answer to everything. An over reliance of technology to solve problems can lead to an under emphasis on the information needs and patterns of the people who are creating and using the information. This people-centric approach is one of the key needs for professionals within the field.
Hosted by Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Sponsored by FujiFilM
Overview The single most important investment an organisation can make is in its people. As organisations create and deal with ever increasing amounts of information, they need people who are able to creatively and strategically deal with information and the people who are creating and using that information. Those people need a mix of technical and soft skills, and strong options for continuing professional development, to ensure that they are up to date in their practice and able to effectively advocate for the importance of good Information Management.
With increased technological advances, there are even greater needs for professionals to have strong ethical frameworks and grasps of legal and moral requirements. Machine learning, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies pose ethical challenges, and legal frameworks such as privacy and intellectual property laws are struggling to keep pace with the change. As technology changes, there are also challenges for the collection and maintenance of records. When the world moved to remote working, systems were not necessarily in place to capture information through Zoom or Teams. We are still struggling with authority in non-paper-based materials internally, and face even greater issues convincing others in organisations that there are issues to be solved that require resources. Disposal and lifecycles of record are another example of this.
Discussion Themes The discussion focused strongly on emerging issues faced by records and information managers, archivists, and librarians in the workplace, and in turn whether people were equipped with the right skills and knowledge to effectively deal with challenges, create solutions and improve practice. 4
BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021
Diversity
Where to from here?
Diversity is needed to make the sector stronger. Without a diverse workforce we are less likely to spot issues, much less be able to respond to them. Consciously supporting a more diverse workforce, and services that are accessible and desirable to a diverse workforce, is also an ethical decision. Panellists questioned how are we lifting up people from lower-socio economic backgrounds, who come from culturally diverse families, who live with a disability? How are we making records accessible, are we utilising technologies such as closed captioning, for example and how does that then factor into the information lifecycle?
The need, with tight budgets and increasing scope of work, to be analytical and creative is key. Excellent data collection and reporting is essential both to understand what is needed as well as selling the story about what is needed. To be able to do this we need to be confident on what is needed, and that assessment of needs must include a human element. Reporting can be storytelling and creative, as long as it fits the right audience. It is important to keep an eye on competitors, being able to do things differently. We have to think differently, having to do more with less.
It is important that people have a say in how materials are treated, especially for groups such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders for whom the materials in libraries and archives may be another form of colonial control. It is a responsibility of people working with sensitive records to ensure cultural safety, and we have more work to do in this area.
The ever-changing world of Information Management is demanding more constant upskilling on top of entry level courses. There were opportunities seen for micro credentials and short courses – training that is more immediate and able to be done while working and where the skills will be adopted in a timely manner. On the job skills transfer, mentoring, and communities of practice can all help in rapidly changing environments.
Embracing Change Embracing Change is a key attribute, and that means sometimes walking away from systems that have absorbed a lot of time and resources over the years. We know people are demanding retail level service from internal products, and we also know that there are standards and processes that are needed.
Increasing connections, research translation and experience across the information sectors would benefit all. Professional bodies, think tanks and the involvement of vendors could all deepen the thought leadership in the area across the sector and industry. The Information Management field is complex and growing. It requires flexible, analytical, strategic communicators, supported with strong fundamental skills, strong ethical frameworks, and opportunities to share knowledge, and upskill.
Clear communications, advocacy and successfully building a supportive and championing workplace are all important skills for information managers. Information managers need to be able to analyse not just the information needs in terms of systems and processes, but also in terms of people and their behaviours.
Professional Bodies Professional bodies were seen as having an essential role to play, both in setting and maintaining standards for professionals in the area, and also in keeping up to date and actively using new knowledge and skills.
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INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021 BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES
WHAT’S MISSING IN EDUCATION FOR IM PRACTITIONERS Also talked about the need to modernise look and feel of language – both within the educational content and also how education or professional development itself was sold and promoted. So, for example in Records Management we talk about professional status and upgrading that status or professional accreditation linked to both education and years of professional practice. Perhaps presenting education as an opportunity to ‘level up’ would be language that better attracts a younger audience to our education offerings.
Hosted by Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia (RIMPA), Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and Australian Society of Archivists (ASA)
Overview This is a summary of the Education Round Table held during IAM 2021. Contributing to the discussion were representatives from universities, IM associations, industry practitioners and students. Throughout the discussion three themes emerged.
‘Good Enough’ IM Education There was lengthy discussion on educational content, what an IM education meant, IM literacy and where the gaps existed due to technology and other changes such as new ways of working. The participants realised that no course could cover everything and that the best we can hope for is that our graduates are ‘well prepared to start’. That is to obtain a strong skills foundation and able to work out what they needed next and where to get that.
Discussion Themes Consistency Across IM Disciplines This relates to language used and the concepts that were dealt with. Bubbling up from this was the idea of cross discipline fundamental skills & influencer skills that all professionals needed. For example, regardless if you are a data manager, archivist, librarian, or records manger you need a fundamental understanding of the different types and use of metadata. As an industry we need to make sure we have consistent education of those cross-discipline concepts. Consistency will enable our professionals to easily move between the disciplines, should they choose, but also provide a strong skills foundation on which to design educational pathways of the future.
This concept isn’t new, Donald Winnicott popularised the idea of “the good-enough mother” in the 1950 & 60s, where being a good enough mother allows the child to mature. Starting out with full support, but as experience grows stepping back and ‘failing’ as a mother which allows the child to mature independently. In a similar fashion our formal IM education provides strong foundation skills and, as the IM professional grows and develops independently
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Partner with Uni / VET / industry to redefine educational pathways
in the workforce, they identify what skills they need to fill their own educational gaps. From that we realised that critical thinking becomes really important at all formal education and that offerings such as micro-credentials and industry based professional development need to work in tandem with formal education to provide content that will fill the gaps.
This is about making sure formal education and industry based professional development work in tandem, but also that we need to do more. If we accept that a formal IM education is a ‘good enough’ approach, then industry and education providers needs to work together better. We need to redefine the educational pathways so that when our maturing IM professional is navigating ‘filling the gap’, their choices aren’t a random, choose your own adventure. Rather, if the professional wants a particular skill set, there is a defined pathway of micro-credential, industrybased training and on the job activity to take. For some professionals, such pathways will need to be formally recognised across the industry.
Changing Perceptions The last theme that emerged was the perception of IM which can sometimes be seen as reactive work. As a profession we needed to work hard to change that perception, that an IM professional can and does add value and that problem solving is one of our strengths. So, whether it be information retrieval or data analytics, an IM education provides a unique set of skills to bring to an organisation. In essence, an IM education is valuable and provides sought after workplace skills.
Refresh content Lastly, we need a content refresh, acknowledging that the fundamentals and digitising the fundamentals is important. We also have to be mindful of supporting our learners to build knowledge from a reasoning approach, that would support developing those critical thinking skills. But, and perhaps not surprisingly, what came through loud and clear was the need for influencer skills such as, for example, being able to introduce and market a new business process, developing a business case, communicating and negotiation and solution design skills. These were some of the missing skills that a professional learns on the job but that would really set our professionals up for the future.
Where to from here? ‘IM Makeover’ – Not just education but the industry as a whole We need an IM makeover, not just in education but the industry as a whole. Making the concepts of IM attractive for multiple audiences which would necessitate multiple strategies. Younger generations – new workers, school leavers – changing the language to make IM more attractive and also more accessible. Think about the attractiveness of career position terms such as file clerk and records officer as opposed to document controller, corporate information steward and metadata leader. With the volumes of information produced these days an IM career should be a career of choice not something ‘you fall into and stay’.
In summary, IM education for the future needs to be a stronger partnership with formal education providing the solid conceptual foundation and critical thinking skills complemented by a combination of industry-based micro-credentials and professional development in both defined skills pathways and supplementary education offerings.
The flip side of that is educating employers and marketing the strengths of IM, IM education and professional development in better business terms. This is about improving that value proposing for the business – what does a professional with an IM education give me as an employer, what can I expect that they will bring to enhance my business?
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INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021 BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT Creating a Brand Hosted by Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia (RIMPA). Sponsored by Compu-Stor (please insert logo)
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What is your Brand
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Build trust and reliability
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Provide value add to the customer/ audience – early heavy lifting pays off longterm
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Successful Brand
Discussion Themes Marketing Information Management -
Power of storytelling – case studies help
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Clear messaging to the right audience
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IM practitioners benefit from soft skills e.g. influencing and strategic thinking
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Take advantage of internal support i.e. marketing areas
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Collaboration with internal stakeholders & external – IM can feel like an island at times
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Internal education sessions
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Turn a resistant person around and they can become your greatest champion
- Positive image of Information Management - Standing out – Putting yourself out there - Know what to avoid
Promoting and Communicating Services -
Promote the solution
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Be clear on your messaging
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Gain support from internal/external marketing people
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Emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technologies - The likes of AI will elevate the role and provide the value add
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Use technologies to support your strategy
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Utilise vendors to help build the communication story
BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021
IM Involvement in Enterprise Decisions -
Need to get a seat at the table!
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Understand your organisation’s drivers
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Need to be visible and market what you use and why
Where to from here?
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Provide the right information to support your manager, director, etc.
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Leverage off existing partnerships
Use of storytelling, find your story, engaging in how the info is used and impact it has. Needs to relate to everyone.
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Align and work with providers to support your value proposition
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Gamification to make the decision making more interesting and fun and competitive
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Seek advice both internal and external
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Newsfeeds are addictive why don’t all systems have one?
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Social media presence, modernizing the perception of a record
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Reporting/data representations like trending as this excites people
Effective Engagement -
Collaborative thinking about the whole picture – not just the IM’s perspective
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Explain the role & value – challenge perceptions of IM being ‘traditional and boring’
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Lean on vendors to provide advice & access to current and emerging solutions
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Provide time for change once a better option is available
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Identify what is important, where will you invest and ‘stick to your guns’
- Digital disruption, smart strategic, brave
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Promotion of RM/IM situation. Discussion of principles. Create culture of transparency with governance in place
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Support good ideas and don’t get stuck on competition between vendors and competitors.
INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021 BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES
ALIGNING DATA AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Discussion Themes
Hosted by The Data Management Association (DAMA)
From the discussions, three themes emerged around the challenges for data and information professionals in organisations today. These themes are about the need to:
Overview Until now, several information associations have focused on a particular community of data and information professionals. The purpose of this round table was to discuss:
1. Communicate consistently across the broad discipline of data and information, rather than focusing on individual areas of specialisation 2. Be seen as leaders in data and information within our organisations
1. What are the differences and similarities between data and information?
3. Be acknowledged as the experts in management and use of data and information for digital transformation
2. How to market the importance and the connection between data and information to our members
Communicate Consistently
3. How can data and Information Management professionals work collaboratively?
Information Professionals need to be consistent in communication with stakeholders around data and information. Given the scope of knowledge required to manage data and information effectively, each professional stream must understand the range of issues each other faces. Generally, amongst the executive, there is an understanding technology needs to be managed across various disciplines, applications, infrastructure, networks, etc. As Information Management and data professionals, we need to communicate broadly with professional specialisation in multiple fields.
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BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021
Seen as Leaders It is generally recognised that ICT requires specialist skills, leadership, and continual investment. This is not the case for areas where data and information professionals work. CIOs are seen as both leaders in technology and organisational change via technology. Even though organisational change stems from new uses of data, and information and technology is only an enabler. Not being seen as leaders in data and information is a significant challenge for our professions, limiting the impact we have in our organisations. Data and information underpin Digital Transformation, and it needs to be well managed as an enterprise resource to realise significant organisational benefits. There is lots of commentary on the need for ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and its need to be transparent and explainable. To achieves ethics, AI requires business definitions, taxonomies, metadata, reference data etc., which are concepts in common across data and Information Management professions.
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Concerns or issues
Where to from here?
The discussions focused on five challenges for all data and information professionals.
In considering how data and information
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2.
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professionals could work more collaboratively, four quadrants summarise the approach.
Lack of engagement with business. There are few strategic conversations with business executives limiting our ability to understand the vision and outcomes organisations seek from data and information.
What is required is a holistic action plan rather than a list of solutions and actions. The key questions which apply to each of the four quadrants are:
Lack of information architectures. Few organisations have information architectures that aren’t solely focused on technology. Lack of business data modelling means that requirements and knowledge of data structures are not being shared between business, Information Technology (IT), and stakeholders within IT. Information Communication Technology (ICT) centric view of business transformation. Without information architectures covering requirements and data sources, ICT investments are made without sufficient knowledge of information sources and their quality.
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Professional Skills. A lack of academic and other formal training for information professionals means that it’s difficult to take.
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Reliance on Volunteers. All information associations rely heavily on volunteers, limiting the capacity to prepare for significant organisational change.
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How to demonstrate the value of records, information, and data?
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How do we link the outcomes of good Information Management to our organisation’s capability for Digital Transformation?
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How do we develop an understanding that, in a world where technology is readily available, the differentiator is the critical thought and process of design that goes into data and information?
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What are the supply chains from raw data to the use cases for information? How do we ensure that all the business use cases and outcomes from data and information are reliable, repeatable, and usable in providing business insight?
The only clear step forward is for the professional information associations to communicate more frequently to develop a single voice around the importance of data and information.
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INS I T
GH I S
F O R E
O V ER
T
• Monitor and review what has happened • Meet regulation • Achieve more effective business
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GH SI
G
HIN D
HT
T GH SI
• Respond to current conditions • Use of structured and unstructured data • Analytics
• Learn the lessons of the past • Discoverable archives • Historical trend analysis
• Anticipate, predict, prepare for the future • Inform on future state of Information Management
INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021 BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES
DIGITAL PRESERVATION Hosted by Australian Society of Archivists (ASA)
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What are the skills and resources needed to improve our capacity in this area?
Overview
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What can we do in our own organisations to drive change?
This roundtable on digital preservation was the second hosted by the Australian Society of Archivists, with the first being on Digital Archiving in 2019. The discussion began with a reflection on this slight variation in name, and how that might be reflective of the settling in of digital preservation as the most pressing challenge as well as the most universally accepted language. The panel was attended in person by a cross section of professionals across the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) cultural institutions, government departments and universities, as well as vendors. The session was livestreamed, which enabled those watching live to contribute to the discussion via twitter.
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What are the key challenges when developing effective digitial archival programs?
In order to gain the input of digital preservation expertise around the world, we asked people participating on the livestream to send in their questions and comments using twitter.
Skills and Resources Needed to Improve When working with digital records it is necessary to ensure the correct records are safeguarded for evidence of decisions, for memory work and more. It is equally important that we aren’t keeping records for longer than we should. The adoption of a digital preservation strategy is inherently about selection and therefore reduction of storage need. The challenging question posed by the panel asked “is the short term effort of selection and appraisal inadvertently greater than the saving on storage in the long term?”
Discussion Themes The initial discussion was based around a prior/ current state analysis of the key issues reported in 2019, these being; •
What is the current state of digital archiving in Australia? 14
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A theme picked up from other panels was raised and picked up by the twitter participants; what is ‘good enough’ digital preservation?
As reflected by the panel, digital preservation strategies require an active and continuous program of work requiring specialist skills including ability to analyse digital content for format and metadata, design and implementation of migration strategies and continuous renewal.
Demonstrating the importance of a collaborative approach.
Collaboration Capacity across all sectors has grown with the establishment of the Australasia Preserves Digital Preservation Community of Practice and more recently an Office of the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) in Melbourne based at the University of Melbourne. Many of the organisations represented on the table have joined the DPC, a strategic decision to provide access to DPC resources to staff and members, particularly the Novice to Know How Training. Membership has also provided closer alignment for the organisations to work together, sharing resources and building the common understanding and strategic vision needed to tackle the challenges of digital preservation. As well as seeking to enhance digital preservation capability through providing various resources and opportunities, the DPC is also worth considering as a partner for developing collaborative projects and work that organisations may be considering - particularly in light of the need for skills and training, and advocacy.
The skills and resources discussion led to a longer one around education and whether current formal education has sufficient curriculum content to equip graduates with the digital skills that are needed in workplaces. Further to this, opportunities for experienced professionals to add to their qualifications and enhance their digital knowledge was identified as lacking. One of the solutions was that member organisations and universities could consider offering micro credentialing.
Where to from here? Finally, advocacy was an area identified as requiring more work, and was linked to uneven funding opportunities. There is a need for more work to identify skills for practitioners, managers and executives to understand core principles and frame conversations around digital preservation. This is crucial for a ‘bottom up and top down’ approach in organisations and for digital preservation to be considered during strategic planning and funding conversations. In summary, this roundtable mirrored the themes evident in all of the other roundtables, namely the need for collaboration, industry accredited education to have digital preservation included at all levels, and as with digital preservation itself, an acknowledgement that this needs to be sustainably resourced and ongoing.
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INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021 BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES
INFORMATION GOVERNANCE Discussion Themes Hosted by Information Governance ANZ. Sponsored by Activenav.
IG Drivers in 2021
Overview
Our discussion considered key trends in IG, noting that the InfoGovANZ IG Industry Report 2021 identified the three main drivers for IG as:
The Information Governance (IG) Roundtable had an engaged discussion covering a wide range of current issues and drivers for information governance.
• External regulatory compliance and legal obligations
Participants included Roxanne Missingham, Kathryn Dan, Alex Caughey Hutt, Dr Chris Colwell, Dani Wickman, Fiona Beatty, Judy Anderson, David Brous, Genevieve Dwyer, Brandon Voight, David Church, Amanda Dolman and Simon Costello. The roundtable was hosted by InfoGovANZ, facilitated by Susan Bennett and sponsored by ActiveNav.
The role of regulatory compliance as a mechanism to elevate the IG conversation to governing board level was discussed. It was agreed that we need to leverage regulation as a driver of good information governance in such a way that it helps and doesn’t hinder the business, using appropriate risk management to guide the implementation of solutions.
• Good business management practice • Internal technology restructuring or transitions
The largest increase in IG drivers for 2021 were external events, such as data breach, lawsuit, or investigation. What we know from the last 12 months or so is that there has been an increase on ransomware and other cyber-criminal activity, and this corresponds with the results of an increase in external events as drivers for IG projects.
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Compelling Reason to Act It was agreed that the ‘compelling reason to act’ in a post COVID-19 world is that we are more reliant on digital than ever before and that the pace of change in the digital world is accelerating. There is a culture change that has resulted from the pandemic and IG will assist in helping organisations to keep up with this transformation to minimise risks and maximise value of information resources. From an IG perspective the other impacts of COVID-19 discussed included: • The use of shadow IT has increased and been exacerbated by working from home and robust governance is key to ensuring information is created and remains on organisation platforms and apps • Improved checks and balances are needed to ensure records are captured and managed appropriately While the IG Industry Survey 2021 identified that for 1 in 5 projects, COVID-19 has been a driver of IG projects, it was also noted that COVID-19 had also impacted and, in some instances deferred projects.
Protecting Information Other points discussed during the roundtable included the important role of IG in protecting information, particularly during the procurement process. Examples discussed included, understanding data storage location as a basic and key issue when procuring new technology systems or SaaS, as well as ensuring appropriate controls were in place for the ongoing management of the system and data.
The role of the IG Steering Committee in driving strategic IG and IG projects was discussed. It was recognised that in different organisational settings the role of the IG Steering Committee will vary. However, its importance for less IG mature organisations in driving change is essential. An increasing IG maturity, which becomes embedded into business activities, will enable a strong information culture to develop.
It was recognised that organisations sometimes don’t fully understand the technologies they are implementing. For example, while the focus is on AI, many of the systems being acquired will incorporate augmented intelligence rather than pure AI. We need to ensure that provisions are made to enable decision makers to be humans in certain contexts, and further, that algorithms be made transparent to ensure there is access to information and decision-making processes. Proper guidelines for procurement and checks and balances are needed to ensure records are captured and managed appropriately. 17
INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021 BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES
Key Takeaways
Where to from here?
With the speed of digital transformation and the rate of new systems being developed and deployed there is a requirement for robust governance.
Marshalling the information resources requires commitment and endorsement by decision making bodies and key organisational stakeholders. This leads to drive and gaining better business outcomes from systems and strategic investments.
Successful IG requires top-down governance and active participation across the organisations. The IG culture needs to align with the overall values of the organisation to succeed.
Tips for building or improving IG included: • Gain executive stakeholder buy-in
Breaking down of organisational silos is crucial to an organisations successful IG. Cross-disciplinary communication needs to be embedded, quick, and nimble to break down silos.
• Develop robust policies and processes - from no documented policies to established, and then to regularly reviewed and updated • Understand organisational requirements and deliver regulatory compliance • IG, records & IM professionals need to be part of the conversation 18
BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021
• Understand and value people’s skills, need for effective communication and seat at the decision-making table • Benefits of quick commentary and providing alerts to impacted parties (don’t hide or delay) • Become the ‘Resilience Connected Tissue’
Keys to IG success • Effective organisation communication, active participation driven from the top-down
• Involve specialists internally from incl records, privacy & cybersecurity
• Up to date IG Framework and IG Steering Committee
• Foster and continually build the importance and awareness of IG and IM
• Engagement and participation from all silos and functional business areas: leverage professionals (vendors, specialists, other organisations and external advisors) and past experiences
• Don’t forget that in the digital transformation the need to preserve physical archives and nondigital continues.
• Build an ‘Information Culture’ that values and protects data and information 19
INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021 BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES
IMPORTANCE OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FOR A SUCCESSFUL DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Panellists included: • David Fricker, Director-General, National Archives of Australia
Hosted by the Institute for Information Management. Sponsored by Talend
• Thomas Ryan, First Assistant Commissioner, Australian Electoral Commission
Overview
• Dr Rohan Baxter, Director Analytics, Australian Taxation Office
As organisations step into the postcoronavirus era, they need to find a balance between what worked before and what needs to happen to succeed.
• Mark Fazackerley, Regional Vice President ANZ, Talend The webinar discussion was facilitated by IIM’s leaders: • Vladimir Videnovic, President, IIM • David Williams, Board Director, IIM
To survive and thrive, organisations will need to be agile to reconfigure strategy, structure, processes, people and technology toward value-creating and value-protecting opportunities.
Discussion Themes Panellists in this interesting discussion complemented each other with their thoughts, experiences and ideas about the importance of the information dimension in building a digital business.
The panel discussion was hosted by your IIM to discuss the importance of Information Management discipline and its role in a digital transformation.
Information Management Frameworks Initial topic was focused on the existing Information Management frameworks used in support of digital transformations. In his opening remarks, Mark Fazackerley from Talend highlighted that data integration and management end-to-end is a core initiative that underpins every successful digital transformation program, ensuring that the Right Information is provided to the Right People at the Right Time.
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BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021
Information Governance
David Fricker from the National Archives of Australia (NAA) explained that Information is their core business and outlined the importance of the information governance as a vital element of any digital transformation. Most often than not, the key outcome of any digital transformation is the information itself. The foundational elements of this journey include information governance, information registry and a good understanding of what information assets within an organisation are. Every digital transformation should start with the outcome in mind.
All panellists agreed that it is essential to identify and document an appropriate information stewardship model, with defined roles formanaging and implementing guidelines and policies around how data is acquired, processed, stored, protected and used. Mark added the increasing importance of what is often perceived as a basic capability, such as data lineage and information governance structures around usage of data and information and more importantly enforcing efforts around information stewardship aspects of the digital environment given to subject matter experts, rather than kept centrally in the “IT tower”. Sometimes this gets “lost in translation”, when it comes to selecting and acquiring technology to underpin that capability.
Modernisation Thomas Ryan from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) provided an insight into the modernisation program, which is currently under way in this organisation under his leadership. An important component of this program is the vision for a modern service delivery, which is grounded on the envisaged digitally enabled business model, in support of the Electoral Integrity, the core of the AEC’s mission. This transformation is focused not only on the Technology dimension, but also People, Process and Data.
Thomas added that in the AEC the key information domains were identified and looking for a new information stewardship model, having responsibilities for information systems and repositories given to people that have subject specific knowledge and getting them to contextualise Information Management problems and principles and focus on staff education and change management.
Data Wrangling and Modelling As pointed by Rohan Baxter from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), his organisation is service oriented, with focus on digital services, ensuring that the tax sand superannuation systems are easy to use. Rohan described a particular component that he was responsible for, which included using data from a range of external data sources (such as banks, insurance companies and share trading agencies) to pre-fill tax form and make tax return process simpler and easier to navigate.
McKinsey 2019 study was cited, revealing that according to their research of over 2,000 organisations worldwide, only 45% of digital transformation projects succeed. Associated statistics related to the Public Sector organisations are even more discouraging, with significantly higher rate of digital transformation initiatives failing to deliver the anticipated outcomes. Panellists agreed that the unreserved support is needed by the most senior executives to avoid siloed ambitions and ensure carefully planned activities and their disciplined execution. It requires Collaboration across all areas of the organisation.
The Information Management component of this endeavour includes wrangling and modelling of data, whilst taking care of privacy principles, ethics and ethical approaches, ensuring the appropriate understanding of terminology and that things actually mean what they are supposed to mean, enabling lineage tracking to understand where data comes from, with all the information services and governance that is needed to deliver those services.
Some innovative approaches were mentioned, such as the gamification approach involving diverse teams and cross-fertilisation of ideas between government and industry.
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INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021 BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES
Where to from here? • Clear purpose and priorities • Committed leadership and effective coordination • Focus on collaboration and people over processes and technology • Service-oriented: customer provided information collected once, used many times • Single digital identity balanced with privacy requirements and cybersecurity • End-to-end design and implementation to ensure best user experience and efficiency • Use “born digital” Data, avoid manual steps and pseudo-paper processes • The 7 Lenses of Transformation - consistent framework by UK government • Embrace innovation and readiness for change • Attain sponsorship from the top and champions at all levels Finally, towards the end of this online discussion, panellists agreed on the following recommendations for organisations who are still planning or are at early stages of their digital transformation journey: • Digital Transformation starts with a clear vision – What value it is creating? • Focus on “Why?” – what problem organisation is trying to solve • Digital Transformation to be successful needs unreserved support by the CEO • Digital Transformation is a program that requires proper planning and management • Design with stakeholders • Ensure that the Right Data is understood/ captured/available to support the grand vision. This panel discussion also included an online survey of audience.
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BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021
Survey 1 for Participants Question: Who should sponsor the digital transformation in your organisation?
Survey 2 for Participants Question: Level of success of your last or current digital transformation?
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INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021 BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES
Survey 3 for Participants Question: What do you look for in an industry partner for your digital transformation?
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BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021
THE MEANING OF INFORMATION AWARENESS MONTHYOU PLUSTO ONE LINE OF THANK OUR HEADING IF IT WILL FIT CONTRIBUTORS Hosted byyou Records information Professionals talked about the Awareness need to modernise Thank to and each of theManagement collaborative bodies whoAlso made Information Monthlook and Australasia (RIMPA), Australian Library and Information Association feelpossible of language – boththe within the educational 2021 success. This event would without collaboration and (ALIA) a and Australian Society of Archivists (ASA) not have been made content and also how education or professional contribution of each of the below organisations:
development itself was sold and promoted. So, for example in records management we talk about professional status and upgrading that status or professional accreditation linked to both education and years of professional practice. DAMA Australia Inc is a non-profit industry Perhaps presenting education as an opportunity to association dedicated to advancing the ‘level up’ would be language that better attracts a profession of data management. The organisation younger audience to our education offerings. is governed at the national level by a National Executive madeIM up Education of branches representatives. ‘Good Enough’
Overview ALIA
DAMA
This is a summary of the Education Round The Australian Library IAM and Information Association Table held during 2021. Contributing is the national professional organisation for the to the discussion were representatives Australian library and information services sector. from universities, IM associations, Together we seek to empower the profession industry practitioners and students. through the development, promotion and delivery Throughout the themes of quality library anddiscussion informationthree services to the nation, through leadership, advocacy and mutual emerged. In summary the themes were:
Each was branch has its own committee responsible There lengthy discussion on educational for localwhat events. DAMA Australia is affiliated with content, an IM education meant, IM literacy DAMA International, the worldwide network and where the gaps existed due to technology of and morechanges than 60such DAMA chapters. other as new ways of working. The participants realised that no course could cover everything and that the best we can hope for is that our graduates are ‘well prepared to start’. That is to obtain a strong skills foundation and able to InfoGovANZ a community of international work out what isthey needed next and where to get professionals across the data and information that. sphere - InfoGov, Legal, Data Privacy, Cyber & This new, Donald Winnicott Infoconcept Security,isn’t Records Management, eDiscovery, popularized the idea of “the good-enough Data & Infonomics, and AI & Ethics - with a mother” in the 1950focus & 60s,towhere being aand good multi-disciplinary collaborate share enough mother allows the child to mature. best practices and promote global information Starting out with full support, but as experience governance innovation. grows stepping back and ‘failing’ as a mother which allows the child to mature independently. In a similar fashion our formal IM education provides strong foundation skills and, as the IM professional grows and develops independently
professional support. We are governed by a constitution and guided by our vision, objects and values.
Discussion Themes
Consistency Across IM Disciplines
InfoGovANZ
This relates to language used and the concepts ASA
that were dealt with. Bubbling up from this was The Australian Society of Archivists Inc. (ASA) the idea of cross discipline fundamental skills &is Australia’s peak professional body for archivists Influencer skills that all professionals needed. For and recordkeepers. advocate on behalf of example, regardless We of you are a data manager, archivists, and the archival and recordkeeping archivist, librarian, or records manger you need a profession, seek to promote the value oftypes fundamentaland understanding of the different archives and records as well as support best and use of metadata. As an industry we need to practice standards and services. make sure we have consistent education of those cross-discipline concepts. Consistency will enable our professionals to easily move between the disciplines, should they choose, but also provide a strong skills foundation on which to design educational pathways of the future.
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INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021 BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES
IIM
NAA
IIM brings together practitioners and thought leaders in the Information Management industry and look at how evolving technologies can be used in innovative ways to produce new products and services. IIM work with the Information Management industry to look at evolving trends and challenges in the digital structured data world, and work to improve the understanding of digital technologies and its use in building relationships, influencing policy and engagement
The National Archives of Australia (NAA) holds the memory of our nation, setting national information management standards and preserving vital Australian Government records for access now and into the future. NAA does this so everyone can access evidence of government decisions and actions for transparency and accountability. Records connect you, your family and community with the stories and people that define our past, shape our future, and help safeguard our democracy.
RIMPA The Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia (RIMPA) is the longest serving peak body for industry practitioners in the southern hemisphere. RIMPA actively promotes best practice, sets industry standards, and fosters professional development across all business sectors and educational institutions.
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BUILDING TRUST, ADAPTABILITY AND CAPABILITIES INFOMATION AWARENESS MONTH 2021
THANK YOU TO OUR PEOPLE Behind the scenes of these organisations are the hardworking individuals who make these events come to life. A special thank you is in order to each of the below collaborative body representatives: • Sue McKerracher - ALIA
• Anne Cornish – RIMPA
• Trish Hepworth – ALIA
• Thomas Kaufhold - RIMPA
• Jessie Lymn - ASA
• Kate Bunker – ALIA
• Andrew Smailes - DAMA
• Nicola Laurent – ASA
• Susan Bennett – InfoGovANZ
• Chris Colwell – InfoGovANZ
• David Williams - IIM
• Robert Goode – IIM
• Vladimir Videnovic – IIM
• Jason McGuire – NAA
• Eric Swain - NAA
• Julie Carpenter RIMPA
• Genevieve Dwyer – NAA
Big thank you to Joanne Kane from RIMPA for all her marketing expertise and assistance at the events.
• Tatiana Antsoupova - NAA • Keith Young – NAA • Michaela Forster - NAA
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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS