Information Management in the Government of Canada: The Vision

Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada

Information Management in the

Government of Canada

The Vision

“Thinking of IM as a program, not as a problem”

 Version 2.2

April 2006

Table of Contents

Foreword

Executive Summary

Introduction

The IM Deficit

The IM Program Transformation Initiative

The Vision for IM

Key Areas of Improvement

Optimized Information Handling

Sound IM Rules and Practices

Strong IM Program Management

Mature IM Capability and Sustained IM Capacity

Well-developed IM Community and Culture

Indicators of Transformation Success

Key Principles and Strategies

Appendix A: Acknowledgements

For the Start Up Phase:

For the Vision Phase:

Appendix B: Glossary

Appendix C: Reference Materials

Business Transformation Enablement Program (BTEP)

Project Management Documents

Foreword

This document, The Vision, is the second of the two primary deliverables of the Vision Phase of strategic design and planning for the Government of Canada (GC) Information Management (IM) Program Transformation Initiative. It answers the question: “Where do we want to go with IM tomorrow?”  It is the logical follow-on to The Business Problem Assessment (BPA) for IM in the GC, the first primary deliverable of the Vision Phase, which answers the question: “What is wrong with IM today?” The Vision proposes improvements to address the root causes of business problems as identified in the BPA.  However, beyond just identifying what needs to change to solve current problems, The Vision defines what an IM Program must do to support the GC in the achievement of new and better outcomes for Canadians.

Many ideas have been proposed for taking IM forward, some of which are being implemented, to varying degrees, in the GC today. But these improvements are being pursued without the benefit of an overarching framework for an enterprise IM capability. This document is the first step in designing a coherent IM Program that will realize the business services necessary to meet the IM needs of all GC programs, both internal and public. This includes the special needs of “top of government” executive and integrated service delivery programs. It articulates the outcomes of the IM Program and describes activities and key innovations—new or improved ways of doing IM—that must be put in place to achieve those outcomes. The Vision conveys a compelling and actionable description of the target state for IM. Its aim is to provide stakeholders in the transformation of IM with a common picture of the future that they can work together to build. These stakeholders include the IM Program’s clients, providers to the IM Program, like HR and IT, and the IM community itself.

This draft is being circulated for the purposes of further input and comment by the federal stakeholder community prior to endorsement by the IM Program’s governing body, the Information Management Committee (IMC), following which it will go for approval to the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Canada.

During the Start Up and Vision Phases, more than 20 workshops and working sessions with participants from 14 departments and agencies were held to gather input and conduct analysis for the two Vision Phase primary deliverables. Over 100 individuals representing IM and its clients participated in this work (see Appendix A: Acknowledgement). Subsequent phases of the IM Program Transformation Initiative will continue to rely on, and indeed expand this participation.

When all phases are completed, the GC will have, for the first time, a government-wide strategic design and plan for an IM Program—a program that will enable it to treat information in much the same way as it treats other strategic assets critical to its business success such as human and financial resources.

At the conclusion of the Vision Phase its two deliverables – The Business Problem Assessment and The Vision – will be approved as the basis for developing a transformation strategy, business design, business case and master plan for realizing the IM Program vision. This does not mean that the Vision Phase deliverables will be “frozen.” The scope of the collaboration will expand through subsequent phases, as more stakeholders have the opportunity to participate. Their perspectives will be reflected in all deliverables, which makes the deliverables “living documents.” Depending on what occurs in the collaborative work, new versions of all the deliverables may well be published at the end of each phase.

Executive Summary

Within the Government of Canada (GC), needs at all levels are not being met because of problems with Information Management (IM). These problems undermine the ability of programs to function well and achieve their desired outcomes, and cause programs to incur unnecessary costs. Ultimately, problems with IM interfere with the ability of the Government of Canada to meet the needs of Canadians.

Work has progressed in many areas of IM across the GC, but no overarching design exists to bring solutions to IM problems together and no master plan coordinates the way forward across the many organizations that must participate. A piecemeal approach to solving IM problems has been largely ineffective. The GC needs one coherent, explicit, broadly supported IM capability: a formal IM Program accountable for IM outcomes.

When the target state for the IM Program is reached, we will be able to say that:

In the Government of Canada, information is safeguarded, as a public trust and managed as a strategic asset to maximize its value in the service of Canadians.

The IM Program is comprised of interrelated services that must work together to achieve this vision and meet the needs of GC programs, both internal and public facing.

The IM Program is defined by the following direct outcomes:

• All programs have quality information to function and be managed well and for the delivery of their services. They have information to trace decisions and processes. Their information is preserved and safeguarded and made available to collaborators as appropriate.
• Government-wide, corporate or executive level programs have the assurance that Government of Canada’s record of processes and decisions has integrity and that clients’ rights are being upheld in the conduct of Government business, specifically in the handling of personal information. These programs have the ability to aggregate information vertically for Ministerial accountability, and horizontally for programs and services spanning departments and jurisdictions, allowing the government to operate as an enterprise.  Executive programs’ information holdings are organized and information management processes are structured so that the Government can undertake change with agility. Finally, the IM Program operates effectively within the context of the whole enterprise of government.
• In order to achieve service integration – that is, to deliver programs and services that cross organizational boundaries – integrated service delivery programs have information that is capable of being interpreted correctly out of the context in which it was captured or created, and effectively and efficiently aggregated with information collected elsewhere.

The direct IM Program outcomes contribute to the following government outcomes[1]:

• Better-managed Government.
• Increased quality of program decision-making.
• Increased confidence that the Government is implementing the best standards, rules and practices.
• Increased confidence in the privacy and security of information entrusted to or generated by the Government.
• Increased confidence in the transparency and openness of Government.
• Greater relevance and effectiveness of Government through the achievement of higher valued outputs of integrated services.
• Better collaboration between programs and between programs and their delivery partners.
• Increased confidence that the Government upholds clients’ rights.

Innovation is needed in three “areas of improvement” so that the IM Program can achieve its direct outcomes, as follows: 

1. Optimized information handling will preserve and safeguard programs’ information and ensure its availability to deliver services, collaborate, manage and trace processes and decisions. It will be realized through the following innovations:
   • Business-aligned IM will provide the right information at the right time in accordance with the current and emergent business needs at that time.
   • Information requirements analysis and planning will identify and manage information needs through application of standardized methods and tools.
   • Information will be organized, structured and coherently stored regardless of storage media, in an architected GC information repository – coherently designed and configured across all GC institutions. This will make information from any program and service easily retrievable across departmental boundaries in the context of all other information held by the government.
   • Secure information exchange will provide uniform secure means to move information that accommodates all media types and communication methods.
   • Smart information will automate many IM processes, such as the protection of privacy, copy management, security and maintenance of an information audit trail, in a transparent manner.
   • Information source accreditation will certify information providers to help ensure that the quality of the GC’s information assets is maximized and that legal obligations are met.
   • Information availability insurance will protect information stored on any media type for its full life cycle.
   • Citizen-controlled information will allow citizens to control their own information through a set of policies, standards, services and tools.
   
   
   
2. Sound IM Rules and Practices will ensure that information and supporting processes are structured to support service integration, promote the GC’s agility, uphold clients’ rights, ensure the integrity of the GC record, and support the GC in operating as an enterprise. It will be realized through the following innovations:
   • Government of Canada information architecture will hold the shared understanding of and agreement on a common description of the information assets of the GC.
   • Information standards for business interoperability will enable federal organizations to work seamlessly with each other and with public and private sector partners, whether through information sharing or collaboration.
   • Information asset preservation framework will provide enhanced rules, authorities, accountabilities and tool requirements for disposition, archiving and retention of information.
   • TQM for IM will provide quality-controlled and managed information assets based on consistent standards and processes.
   
   
   
3. Strong IM Program Management will result in an IM Program that is structured to operate effectively throughout the GC and has a clear value proposition. It will be realized through the following innovations:
   • Policy and legal framework for IM will enable integration of IM policy and law into a coherent legislative foundation for an IM Program that supports business agility and growth.
   • Strategic design and planning for enterprise IM will promulgate a shared and comprehensive strategic design and plan for information management for the 21st Century throughout the federal government, and will maintain it over time.
   • Enterprise IM Governance will provide a common governance framework and enhanced roles for CIOs both at the GC and departmental levels.
   • Institutionalized IM accountability, responsibility and authority will ensure that all information management services and associated organizational roles are explicitly defined and that all positions created in the GC refer to those roles.
   • Federated governance of information will promote a culture of “privacy protective” information sharing across all levels of government.
   • Embedded IM change will link the majority of IM change directly to business changes driven by government priorities.
   • Measuring IM Performance will see a standard set of metrics for IM being used to measure the IM Program’s contribution to the GC’s business.
   • Demonstrating the Case for IM will establish how improved IM contributes to better decision-making, business outcomes and government priorities.
   • Return on information will assign financial value to the information assets of the GC.
   • IM context renewal will ensure that IT change initiatives that support IM outcomes are formulated in terms of contribution to those IM outcomes.

Innovation is required in two additional areas of improvement to ensure that effective tools and a community of motivated, skilled people are available to support information handling, promulgate rules and practices, and manage the IM program. These are as follows:

1. Mature IM Capability and Sustained IM Capacity, realized through the following innovations:
   • Integrated IM training will see IM training embedded in other required training, addressing information management knowledge, skills, practice, policy and legal obligations that are relevant to employees’ jobs.
   • Established IM professional group will enhance the current GC classification structure with a set of job classification and competency standards for IM professionals.
   • Sustained HR capacity will make sufficient human resources available to all programs to ensure that appropriate information management process responsibilities are fully exercised.
   • IM toolkit will have in place a complete, integrated suite of easy-to-use, scalable IM tools that are affordable for all departments and agencies.
   • Employee IM toolkit will make accessible to all Government of Canada employees the IM tools, responsibilities and legal obligations, best practices, training tailor-able to their individual needs and an inventory of information assets in the GC so they can readily carry out their IM process responsibilities.
   • Enterprise information packaging will provide a set of standard, reusable information packaging processes that operate at the level of the GC enterprise.
   
   
   
2. Well-developed IM Community and Culture, realized through the following innovations:
   • IM Community Management will implement a set of services to support the creation, management and interrelationship of IM communities within and across GC organizations and across other levels of government in Canada.
   • IM incentives for government employees will reward contributions to IM Program outcomes and good IM practices.
   • IM speaks with one voice will provide a consistent and comprehensive promotion and awareness program for IM in the GC.

The Vision for IM will have been achieved when the Government of Canada sees:

• Consistent and immediate availability of accurate, timely, complete and useful information needed for service delivery, program management and tracing decisions and processes.
• Appropriate access to and a significant reduction in the loss, corruption, and misuse of information.
• Information interoperability across programs and jurisdictions, and with collaborators in the not-for-profit/voluntary and private sectors.
• A significant reduction in the cost of, and time required for integrating information and information handling processes across services.
• The ability, across government, to view and easily aggregate information assets on demand.
• A significant reduction in the cost of and time required to effect changes to information holdings and associated processes.
• A significant increase in the confidence of the integrity of government reports.
• A significant improvement in the ease with which program clients/Canadians can realize their information-related rights (e.g. access to information, control over personal information, etc.) in doing business and interacting with the government. 

Introduction

The IM Deficit

Within the Government of Canada (GC), needs at all levels are not being met because of problems with IM. These problems undermine the ability of programs to function well and achieve their desired outcomes, and cause programs to incur unnecessary costs. Ultimately, problems with IM interfere with the ability of the Government of Canada to meet the needs of Canadians.

The gap between the GC’s current IM capability and what is required—the “IM deficit”—is not the same for all programs. IM needs fall into three categories according to the type of client program IM is serving: 1) any GC program; 2) executive programs; and, 3) integrated service delivery programs. Across the GC, the current level of IM capability is not uniform and is consistently lower than required for all three program clients. However, the level of need among the three program clients becomes markedly more sophisticated and demanding moving from any GC program to integrated service delivery programs, as illustrated below.

While individual programs and departments can “make do” in this environment, albeit operating at a level that is less than optimal, problems with IM make enterprise management at the executive or corporate level highly challenging, and horizontal initiatives for service integration are particularly difficult if not impossible to design and implement.

For a more detailed description of the problems with IM Today, see The Business Problem Assessment.

The IM Program Transformation Initiative

Work has progressed in many areas of IM across the GC, but no overarching design exists to bring solutions to IM problems together and no master plan coordinates the way forward across the many organizations that must participate. A piecemeal approach to solving IM problems has been largely ineffective. The GC needs one coherent, explicit, broadly supported IM capability. Without this, over time, the government will face steadily greater difficulty meeting its policy commitments to Canadians for the responsible stewardship of their information. Major transformation initiatives, under extreme pressure to deliver results, will be left to build their own solutions to IM problems. Barriers to collaboration, program alignment and service integration will only become more entrenched, undermining the government’s ability to adapt to change and achieve public outcomes. 

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), in cooperation with Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) and Library and Archives of Canada (LAC), is leading the GC IM Program Transformation Initiative to guide the creation of next-generation IM services for the Government of Canada.

The outcomes of the IM Program Transformation Initiative will, in turn, support better outcomes for the GC, as described in the following section.

The Vision for IM

In the Government of Canada, information is safeguarded as a public trust and managed as a strategic asset to maximize its value in the service of Canadians.

The IM Program will be comprised of interrelated services that work together to contributing to the needs of GC programs, both internal and public facing. The IM Program is defined by the following direct outcomes:

• All programs have quality information to function and be managed well and for the delivery of their services. They have information to trace decisions and processes. Their information is preserved and safeguarded and made available to collaborators as appropriate.
• Government-wide, corporate or executive level programs have the assurance that Government of Canada’s record of processes and decisions has integrity and that clients’ rights are being upheld in the conduct of Government business, specifically in the handling of personal information. These programs have the ability to aggregate information vertically for Ministerial accountability, and horizontally for programs and services spanning departments and jurisdictions, allowing the government to operate as an enterprise.  Executive programs’ information holdings are organized and information management processes are structured so that the Government can undertake change with agility. Finally, the IM Program operates effectively within the context of the whole enterprise of government.
• In order to achieve service integration – that is, to deliver programs and services that cross organizational boundaries – integrated service delivery programs have information that is capable of being interpreted correctly out of the context in which it was captured or created, and effectively and efficiently aggregated with information collected elsewhere.

These direct IM Program outcomes contribute to the following government outcomes[2]:

• Better-managed Government.
• Increased quality of program decision-making.
• Increased confidence that the Government is implementing the best standards, rules and practices.
• Increased confidence in the privacy and security of information entrusted to or generated by the Government.
• Increased confidence in the transparency and openness of Government.
• Greater relevance and effectiveness of Government through the achievement of higher valued outputs of integrated services.
• Better collaboration between programs and between programs and their delivery partners.
• Increased confidence that clients’ rights are upheld by the Government.

Achieving these outcomes will be made possible by innovations applied in broad “areas of improvement” described in the following section.

Key Areas of Improvement

Three areas of improvement will result directly in the outcomes of the IM Program:

• Optimized information handling will preserve and safeguard programs’ information and ensure its availability to deliver services, collaborate, manage and trace processes and decisions.
• Sound IM Rules and Practices will ensure that information and supporting processes are structured to support service integration, promote the GC’s agility, uphold clients’ rights, ensure the integrity of the GC record, and support the GC in operating as an enterprise.
• Strong IM Program Management will result in an IM Program that is structured to operate effectively throughout the GC and has a clear value proposition.

Two other areas of improvement will support these:

• Mature IM Capability and Sustained IM Capacity; and
• Well-developed IM Community and Culture.

Capability, capacity, community and culture for IM are required to ensure that effective tools and a community of motivated, skilled people are available to support information handling, promulgate rules and practices and manage the IM program.

In each of these broad areas of improvement there are a number of innovations that include new or improved IM services as well as activities needed to ensure they are well used and maintained. These innovations were developed collaboratively using over 300 ideas generated by project participants. Subsequent phases of the project will develop strategies and designs to implement them (and may produce additional innovations to pursue). 

Please note that isolated work may be proceeding in these areas. Work on the IM Program innovations will take note of these initiatives in developing strategies and designs.

Innovations for each area of improvement are discussed below.

Optimized Information Handling

Business-aligned IM

Providing the right information at the right time according to existing and emerging business needs, particularly in relation to decision-making in the organization, will be instituted in a new information delivery service.  By using tools such as metadata and taxonomies, the information delivery service will function like a highly organized whole of government Intranet for information retrieval, guaranteeing a high degree of relevance of search results in relation to business needs. This new delivery service will be realized in a business environment that has standards in place for information use privileges and information access rights.

Information requirements analysis and planning

A standardized method will be in place for identifying the information needs of business clients. Established requirements management tools will be used to manage these requirements.

Architected GC information repository

A fully architected federated GC information repository – in other words, one that is coherently designed and configured across all GC institutions – will be in place. In it, information will be organized, structured and coherently stored, regardless of storage media. It will work in an analogous way to how books and other media are organized in a modern library using the Dewey Decimal Classification System for easy retrieval.

The architected GC information repository will not only make information from any program and service retrievable across departmental boundaries, but the information will always be placed in the context of all other information held by the government. It will take advantage of information standards for business interoperability and will be built on the foundation of a robust GC enterprise information architecture. All users, both within and outside government, will have the ability to find any GC information item while seeing how it fits into the big picture of all GC information holdings.

Secure information exchange

The GC will handle the secure movement of information in a standardized way that accommodates all media types and communications methods.

Secure information transportation is available today in many GC business areas for some types of communication channels. However, the information management services surrounding this capability are not complete, nor are they uniformly implemented across organizations, media and channels.

Smart information

Every information object will be packaged with key information about itself such as where all of its copies are stored and who is responsible for each one, and the rules for its use. Every use of smart information will involve the automatic negotiation of a short-term contract between the information object and the information user, based on the rules. Many of the processes surrounding information management, such as the protection of privacy, copy management, security and maintenance of an information audit trail, will be automatic and transparent to information users.

Information source accreditation

A new service that certifies information providers to help ensure that the quality of the GC’s information assets is maximized and that legal obligations are met will be in place. Information source accreditation will be captured in information asset catalogues and tied to the information stored in repositories to assure information consumers that the information they receive is authoritative and has been captured for the purpose intended. As the IM Program matures, source accreditation information will be packaged with every information object.

Information Availability Insurance

Information stored on any media type will be protected for its full life cycle.  Mechanisms in place to do this will include consistent and effective backup and recovery, appropriate security, protection against inappropriate access, and assignment of a level of insurance related to the value of the information asset.

Citizen-controlled information

A set of policies, standards, services and tools that allow citizens to control their own information will be in place along with the processes to maintain them.

Sound IM Rules and Practices

Government of Canada information architecture

Government of Canada information architecture will hold the shared understanding of and agreement on a common description of the information assets of the GC. It will be the foundation for organizing information; the basis for a Government-wide common vocabulary; and, the point of departure for understanding the relationship between information and other aspects of the business of the Government of Canada.

The enterprise information architecture will be an integral part of the Government of Canada’s enterprise architecture.

Information standards for business interoperability

Standards for structuring, labelling, classifying and processing information and the services to monitor, support and maintain them will be in place. They will enable federal organizations to work seamlessly with each other and with public and private sector partners, whether through information sharing or collaboration.

Information standards for business interoperability will be clear, consistent, comprehensive and easily understood, and will have been implemented in a way that minimizes the compliance burden on departments.

Information asset preservation framework

Enhanced rules, authorities, accountabilities and tool requirements for disposition, archiving and retention will be consistently and completely applied across all media types, as well as supported by an appropriate business infrastructure for governance, monitoring and control.

TQM for IM

Consistent standards and processes for the quality control and management of information assets will be in place and resultant levels of satisfaction with the quality of information will be high. The degree of investment in quality control will be linked to the value of the information. Both IM and business staff will understand the roles each plays in improving the quality of information.

Strong IM Program Management

Policy and legal framework for IM

A policy and legal framework that integrates IM policy and law into a coherent legislative foundation will be in place. This framework will support the treatment of information as a strategic asset, form the legislative foundation for an IM Program and define accountabilities for the management of information. It will include mechanisms for improved information sharing, such as collective information sharing agreements that support information exchange and collaboration between multiple organizations while meeting privacy requirements.

The integrated policy and legal framework for IM will be architected to support business agility and growth, and will be flexible enough to account for the wide variety of information activities that occur across the GC.

IM policy instruments revamped under the new framework will ensure consistent and comprehensive support for information management outcomes. The revamped policy instruments will be comprehensive, user friendly and accessible for IM practitioners and others.

Strategic design and planning for enterprise IM

The GC will have a shared and comprehensive strategic design and plan for information management for the 21st Century promulgated throughout the federal government, and will have the mature information management planning capability in place to sustain it. 

The strategic design and plan will make explicit the relationship between IM outcomes and those of other programs. It will be continually refreshed in step with the GC’s planning cycle to reflect and/or accommodate necessary changes to IM outcomes driven by changing program outcomes as well as the IM program’s own performance measurement regime.

Continued maintenance or (re-)development of the strategic design and plan will be performed collaboratively with the IM Program’s stakeholders and will use and promote a common methodology and toolset for strategic design and planning in the GC.

This innovation is foundational. It supports the development of all others and is necessary for the coherence, completeness and cost effective realization of the IM Program.

Enterprise IM governance

The transformed IM Program will be supported by a common governance framework and enhanced roles for CIOs both at the GC and departmental levels. Enterprise IM governance will embody an appropriate accountability framework for IM through which the GC will be able to manage information as a strategic asset.

Institutionalized IM accountability, responsibility and authority

All information management services and associated organizational roles will be explicitly defined and all positions created in the GC will refer to those roles.

IM responsibilities of every user of GC information will be clearly articulated. Employees will have the fulfillment of their IM responsibilities included in their performance assessment. Similarly, each organization’s performance targets will refer to the IM outcomes for which it is responsible and will include appropriate performance measures. This innovation will support enterprise IM governance.

Federated governance of information

Inter-jurisdictional governance mechanisms for managing, exchanging and growing information assets will be instituted, promoting a culture of “privacy protective” information sharing across all levels of government in order to better serve Canadians.

Embedded IM change

IM change will be directly linked to business changes driven by government priorities. The continuous alignment between major transformation initiatives and the strategic design and plan for the IM program will ensure improvements to the GC’s IM capability support its key priorities. This alignment will also ensure that changes are designed to be applied across the GC and that IM outcomes continue to contribute to business outcomes. The strategic nature of IM solutions will also be assured by the organizational breadth and horizontal nature of major transformation projects.

Measuring IM performance

A set of specific metrics for IM will be in place, based on a clearly defined set of program outcomes described in a standard manner in the IM strategic design and plan. These will be used to measure the IM Program’s contribution to the GC’s business through an explicit understanding of the relationship between IM outcomes and those of other programs. 

Performance measurements will be used to improve operational management of information assets and will be input to periodic updates of the IM Program’s strategic design and plan.

Demonstrating the Case for IM

A powerful business case methodology tailored to IM that clearly establishes how improved IM contributes to better decision-making, business outcomes and government priorities will be in place. Using such tools as a program logic model and cost-benefit analysis, this business case method will convincingly demonstrate the value proposition of IM investments.

Return on Information

Through a common, agreed upon method of valuation, the information assets of the GC will be assigned financial value and the record of this  “information capital” will be maintained in an “information asset register”. Comparing the value of information assets to the cost of capturing and managing them will provide departments and the government as a whole with an important tool for prioritizing the allocation of operational resources and for strategic design and planning. Return on information will support demonstrating the business case for IM.

IM context renewal

IT change initiatives that support IM outcomes will be formulated in terms of outcomes as described in the strategic design and plan for the IM Program, demonstrating their contribution to IM and through IM, their contribution to the business of the GC. Business cases for these initiatives will be developed accordingly and project plans will include relevant IM changes.

Mature IM Capability and Sustained IM Capacity

Integrated IM training

IM training will be fully integrated with other required training. Training for all GC employees will address information management knowledge, skills, practice, policy and legal obligations that are relevant to their jobs.

Established IM professional group

The current GC classification structure will be enhanced by a set of job classification and competency standards for IM professionals. A dedicated training program will support the IM professional group and the competency requirements for IM professionals will be formalized through certification. Institutionalized IM accountabilities will be reflected in the new IM classifications.

Sustained HR Capacity

Sufficient human resources will be available to all programs to ensure that appropriate information management process responsibilities are fully exercised.

IM toolkit

A complete, integrated suite of easy-to-use, scalable IM tools that implement all IM processes will be in place. The tools will be configured in a manner that supports interoperability and enterprise management of information. The toolkit will be maintained in a manner that ensures, on an ongoing basis, that it is affordable for all departments and agencies.

Employee IM toolkit

All Government of Canada employees will have their own IM toolkit. The kit will include tools such as a catalogue of all IM tools available to them; clearly documented IM responsibilities and legal obligations; a set of IM best practices; standard IM learning plans that they can easily tailor to their needs, and an inventory of information assets in the GC. A sustainable set of business services to maintain and promulgate changes to the toolkit will be in place.

Enterprise information packaging

A set of standard, reusable information packaging processes that operate at the level of the GC enterprise will be in place. Enterprise information packaging will enable the separation of content from presentation to facilitate the re-use and re-purposing of information. While similar to a comprehensive and effective content management system, it goes beyond that by ensuring completely re-engineered information processes within the organization.

Well-developed IM Community and Culture

IM Community Management

A set of services that support the creation, management and interrelationship of IM communities within and across GC organizations and jurisdictions in Canada will be in place.

IM incentives for government employees

GC employees will be rewarded for their contribution to IM Program outcomes and good IM practices through a comprehensive and sustainable incentive program. The IM incentive program will be linked to institutionalized IM accountabilities and measurements of IM performance.

IM speaks with one voice

A consistent and comprehensive promotion and awareness program for IM in the GC will be in place.

Promoting the GC’s IM

A new service that promotes the good work that is being undertaken in IM in the GC will be in place.

Taxpayers and citizens expect their government to be on the vanguard of best practices in information management, particularly with regard to the protection and safeguarding of personal or commercially sensitive information. Today, Canadians are largely unaware of the state of IM in the Government of Canada. Promoting advances by the GC in IM will build higher levels of confidence in the priority that the GC affords good IM. This service will be supported by information gathered through IM performance measurement.

Indicators of Transformation Success

The Vision for IM will have been achieved when the Government of Canada sees:

• Consistent and immediate availability of accurate, timely, complete and useful information needed for service delivery, program management and tracing decisions and processes.
• Appropriate access to and a significant reduction in the loss, corruption, and misuse of information.
• Information interoperability across programs and jurisdictions, and with collaborators in the not-for-profit/voluntary and private sectors.
• A significant reduction in the cost of, and time required for integrating information and information handling processes across services.
• The ability, across government, to view and easily aggregate information assets on demand.
• A significant reduction in the cost of and time required to effect changes to information holdings and associated processes.
• A significant increase in the confidence of the integrity of government reports.
• A significant improvement in the ease with which program clients/Canadians can realize their information-related rights (e.g. access to information, control over personal information, etc.) in doing business and interacting with the government.

Key Principles and Strategies

The next phase of strategic design and planning will provide comprehensive strategic guidance for designing and building the target state of the IM Program. The key areas of improvement and their corresponding activities and innovations need strategic guidance to ensure that the new and improved IM capabilities that constitute the target state of the IM Program are implemented in the most timely and effective way.

The following core set of principles and strategies have guided work to produce The Vision and they will continue to provide a foundation for subsequent work in the Strategy Phase. (The origins of these principles and strategies are indicated in brackets.)

• The Management of Government Information Policy (MGIP) will serve as a foundation for the design of the IM Program.  (IM Program decision)
• Information is a valuable asset. (MGIP)
• Government of Canada must manage information as a public trust on behalf of Canadians. (MGIP)
• All employees are responsible for the management of information under their control and custody.  (MGIP)
• Responsibility for information management should be as close to the final, public business output as possible.  (IM Program decision)
• Every program in the Government of Canada is either a provider (internal) program or a public program.  (Business Transformation Enablement Program (BTEP) and the Governments of Canada Strategic Reference Models (GSRM))
• The IM Program is a provider program. (IM Program decision)
• In order to achieve integrity in program outcomes and consistency in service outputs, the realization of a program’s services in departments and agencies must follow an integrated program design. (BTEP/GSRM)
• The IM Program is made up of services that are executed in central agencies and all services that contribute to its outcomes in all organizations of the Government of Canada. (IM Program decision)
• Adopt global best practises for the management of information. (IM Program decision)
• Take leading edge information management practices into account when designing the IM Program. (IM Program decision)
• Measurement of program outcomes and of service outputs is necessary for the sustainable achievement of program outcomes. (BTEP/GSRM)
• The effective, efficient and repeatable retrieval of information requires that information be organized. (IM Program decision)
• The authority of a provider program is realized through the implementation of rules. (BTEP/GSRM)
• Re-use and share information to the greatest extent possible. (MGIP)
• Information management is most effective in a culture that values information and adopts supportive governance and accountability structures. (MGIP)

Appendix A: Acknowledgements

For the Start Up Phase:

In the Start Up Phase of the GC IM Program Transformation Initiative, representatives from TBS (CIOB), Library and Archives of Canada (LAC) and Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) began work to identify the nature and scope of an IM Program, IM-related services of the lead agencies that make up an IM Program and to begin to clarify agency responsibilities for IM services with reference to current mandates.

From September 2004 to June 2005, an inter-agency project team of IM specialists and business architects consulted with working level staff from the three agencies to develop a detailed inventory of the current IM services of the three agencies and a business model that identifies target group needs and strategic outcomes and service types of an Information Management Program. This work resulted in the first formal business design of an IM Program for the Government of Canada.

Participants acknowledged for their work in the Start Up Phase include:

For the Vision Phase:

Since November 2005, the GC IM Program Transformation Initiative has been engaged in the Vision Phase of the transformation.  The purpose of this Phase has been to define a transformed business having the desired business outcomes that meet stakeholders’ real needs.

The Vision Phase involved representatives, from 14 GC agencies and departments, nominated by the members of the Information Management Committee.   From November 2005 to March 2006, the project team consulted with 62 nominees from the 14 GC institutions through two major workshops and four series of working sessions to delineate the IM Program problem domain in business terms and to define a transformed IM business.

Participants acknowledged for their work in the Vision Phase include:

Appendix B: Glossary

In order to facilitate reader understanding of the Target Business Vision, the following terms have been defined:

Appendix C: Reference Materials

Two categories of reference materials are key in understanding the development and contents of Information Management in the Government of Canada: The Vision.

Business Transformation Enablement Program (BTEP)

The IM Program Transformation Project is using the Business Transformation Enablement Program (BTEP) Strategic Design and Planning (SD&P) methodology.  The methodology documentation and other BTEP materials can be found at:

www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/btep-pto/index-eng.asp

www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/btep-pto/index-fra.asp

Project Management Documents

Three project management documents form the basis of work on this project:

1. Government of Canada Information Management Transformation Initiatives Project Charter
   
   
2. Government of Canada Information Management Transformation Initiatives Project Tailored BTEP Approach
   
   
3. Government of Canada Information Management Transformation Initiatives Project Consultation and Collaboration Strategy

[1] This list is informed by the outcomes identified in Canada's Performance 2005 – The Government of Canada’s Contribution; Budget 2005: Strengthening and Modernizing Public Sector Management; and the MGI Policy

[2] This list is informed by the outcomes identified in Canada's Performance 2005 – The Government of Canada’s Contribution; Budget 2005: Strengthening and Modernizing Public Sector Management; and the MGI Policy