Information Governance: Concepts, Strategies, and Best Practices

CHAPTER 3

Information Governance Principles^*

Principles of information governance (IG) are evolving and expanding. Successful IG programs are characterized by ten key principles, which are the basis for best practices and should be designed into the IG approach. They include:

1. Executive sponsorship. No IG effort will survive and be successful if it does not have an accountable, responsible executive sponsor. The sponsor must drive the effort, clear obstacles for the IG team or committee, communicate the goals and business objectives that the IG program addresses, and keep upper management informed on progress.
2. Information policy development and communication. Clear policies must be established for the access and use of information, and those policies must be communicated regularly and crisply to employees. Policies for the use of email, instant messaging, social media, cloud computing, mobile computing, and posting to blogs and internal sites must be developed in consultation with stakeholders and communicated clearly. This includes letting employees know what the consequences of violating IG policies are, as well as its value.
3. Information integrity. This area considers the consistency of methods used to create, retain, preserve, distribute, and track information. Adhering to good IG practices include data governance techniques and technologies to ensure quality data. Information integrity means there is the assurance that information is accurate, correct, and authentic. IG efforts ...