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Information Management Strategy - Executive Summary

1. Introduction

Context

Monash University faces a number of information-related challenges as it moves into the 21st Century:

  • growth in the volume and complexity of information upon which the university depends
  • an increasing number of information islands
  • convergence in digital content and media
  • cultural issues around information ownership and collaboration.

Who

The Information Management Strategy Project, guided by a steering committee, has sought to respond to these challenges. This committee is made up of senior leadership from the major university stakeholders responsible for information as well as experts from the Faculty of Information Technology and representatives from a number of areas of the university. The current membership of the steering committee is:

  • Mr Alan McMeekin, Executive Director, ITS (Chair)
  • Ms Cathrine Harboe-Ree, University Librarian
  • Ms Kathryn Dan, Records and Archives
  • Professor Chris Browne, President Academic Board
  • Professor Sally Joy, Vice-President Academic Board/Faculty of Business and Economics
  • Professor Sue McKemmish, Faculty of Information Technology
  • Professor Don Schauder, Faculty of Information Technology
  • Mr Peter Yates, Director SSCS
  • Ms Bronwyn Shields, Faculty Manager, Faculty of Arts
  • Mr Eric Skuja, University Planning and Research
  • Ms Sally Stafford, Director University Academic Projects & Services
  • Mr Jeremy duVé, Applications Services, ITS
  • Dr Andrew Treloar, Information Management Project, ITS

How

Over the last two years, the Information Management Strategy Project has developed a comprehensive response to the information challenges at Monash University by:

  • undertaking a study tour investigating practices at relevant overseas universities issues
  • carrying out a series of semi-structured interviews with senior staff at Monash University
  • analysing the information management landscape at Monash University
  • investigating issues that need to be addressed
  • and identifying a range of possible solutions.

Why

Information resources are as important as the university's other key assets – human, physical, and financial assets. We have systems and structures in place to manage these key assets but our systems and structures for managing information resources need attention.

In order to excel the University needs to improve the quality of its information management. The first step in improvement is recognising responsibility for managing information and ensuring that attention is given to reviewing current practices.

Definition

The Information Management project has drawn on world-leading theoretical work done in this area by the School of Information Management and Systems in the Faculty of Information Technology. This work is grounded in a rich and multi-dimensional analysis of information and its context. As a consequence of this decision, the committee chose to adopt a definition of information as selectively encoded and communicated knowledge.

Vision

Monash University has the following as its statement of purpose:

Monash University seeks to improve the human condition by advancing knowledge and fostering creativity. It does so through research and education and a commitment to social justice, human rights and a sustainable environment. (Monash Directions 2025, p. 2)

The Information Management Strategy takes this statement and focuses on supporting the advancement of knowledge through research and transmitting that knowledge through education. The resulting vision for information management at Monash University is therefore:

Managing information to better create and share knowledge

Strategy document

The result of this work is a comprehensive strategy document covering all aspects of the university’s activities. This strategy will be made available for public comment as an exposure draft to be progressively refined and aligned with the developing Monash University planning cycles.

2. Principles

In undertaking its work of developing the Monash Information Management Strategy, the project was informed by the following Monash Information Management Principles:

1. Corporate Importance: Information is a strategic resource, and will be managed appropriately. In general, university-wide information will be centrally managed. Information needs and how information is managed should be identified as an integral part of strategic and project planning. An appropriate governance framework and adequate resourcing should be established to ensure this occurs.

2. Information Sources: University-created information may be made available from a core source or a derived source. The core source for any item of university-created information must be identifiable and accessible. Any derived sources of information must be identified as such. Each core source should have an identified custodian, an identified access community and an identified set of maintenance responsibilities. Where possible different manifestations of information expressions should be derived from a single source. As with core and derived sources, changes should ideally be made to this single source and the derived manifestations should be automatically re-generated.

3. User-centredness: Information systems and services should be designed (or re-designed) to operate in a way that is user- and task-centred. This should inform all aspects of system or service design.

4. Availability: Information should ideally be accessible (subject to security and acceptable use guidelines) to anybody who needs it, at anytime, anywhere, and anyhow (i.e. on any device).

5. Staff and student involvement: The process of developing and implementing the information management strategy and its accompanying policies should be as open, transparent and inclusive as possible. The university needs to provide an adequate, relevant and ongoing development programme to enable staff and students to create, access, manage and disseminate information resources effectively.

6. Productivity and efficiency: Information, and the way it is managed, should contribute to the productivity of members of the Monash University community.

7. Statutory requirements: Information must be managed in accordance with external statutory and regulatory requirements. Information must be stored in such a way as to allow a timely response to freedom of information and local requests, as well as legally-mandated controlled discovery. Information arising from research involving human subjects must be dealt with in accordance with the Human Ethics Committee requirements.

8. Trustworthy information and systems: Information provided by Monash University should be, and be perceived to be, trustworthy (that is, relevant, accurate and timely) to the maximum extent possible.

9. Retention and disposal: Essential information must be retained while required and then appropriately disposed of. While it is retained, it must be managed in such a way as to be recoverable in the event of loss on a timescale consistent with university requirements.

10. Information management principles determine IT principles: The information management principles in this strategy should be used to derive a set of IT principles. These IT principles will support and enable the implementation of the information management principles, as well as determine the deployment of IT systems.

3. Implementation

The implementation of the Monash University Information Management Strategy will be supported by a communication plan as well as a work plan structured around four themes and running through to 2008.

Communications plan

This communications plan will involve four sets of activities to take place in 2005:

  • information management website to be developed at
    http://www.monash.edu.au/staff/information-management/
  • a range of documents (print or equivalent versions of the strategy plus summary versions)
  • communication through global emails and Monash Memo
  • targeted presentations to key stakeholders

Theme 1: Working with information efficiently and effectively

This group of activities seeks to assist staff and students to improve their ability in working with information. Particular sub-themes are staff development, classification, document and records management, and search and discovery.

Activities for 2005 include developing an information management coaching program, and starting to develop a series of information management HowTo Guides.

Planned activities for 2006–2008 include implementing an electronic document and records management system, improving information filing record-keeping and discovery systems, assisting researchers with information management needs, developing an email strategy, and providing information management training for new and existing staff.

Theme 2: Using the web to deliver information and services

This group of activities seeks to build on the existing progress Monash has made in web technologies. Particular sub-themes are the roles of the public web, intranet technologies and solutions, and web content management.

Activities for 2005 include developing an overarching web strategy, implementing a new web search engine, completing the development of the prospective students website, and continuing the rollout of the web content management system.

Planned activities for 2006–2008 include developing an intranet to support a range of different staff roles and communities, implementing new portal technologies to improve the ability to deliver information and services, and building on the new portal to provide access to particular frequently-used functions in SAP and Callista via the web.

Theme 3: Providing high quality management information

This group of activities seeks to provide managers with the information they need to make effective decisions. Particular sub-themes are integration across applications, business intelligence/reporting, and data quality.

Activities for 2005 include enhancing TARDIS, implementing phase 1 of the Load Planning project, and continuing to improve research data quality and reporting.

Planned activities for 2006–2008 include improving the ability to integrate information across applications, developing an overall reporting and business intelligence strategy, improving the quality of corporate data, completing phase 2 of the Load Planning project, and developing a range of improved reporting and business intelligence offerings.

Theme 4: Supporting collaborative activity

Collaboration is fundamental to everything the university does. This group of activities seeks to enable greater collaboration and improve existing collaborative practices. The sub-themes here are the new collaboration offering and its relationship with other information management services.

Activities underway for 2005 include a thorough review of workgroup collaboration services with recommendations for implementation in 2006.

Planned activities for 2006–2008 include implementing the recommended workgroup collaboration solution, integrating this with the electronic document and records management offering, and investigating new and emerging collaboration technologies that might be applicable for parts of Monash.

4. Benefits

The benefits of improved information management at Monash University include the following:

  • Better decision-making through improved quality of data and tools to analyse that data.
    • for researchers, this will mean better targeting of research support and opportunities to more accurately measure Monash performance against the Research Quality Framework
    • for teaching staff, this will mean better information about student performance
    • for administrators, this will mean reduced risk of making decisions on incomplete, incorrect or outdated information pertaining to all aspects of the university’s functions
  • Better management of information resources.
    • for researchers, this will mean more efficient management of research data, as well as reduced risk of data loss, corruption or compromise
    • for teaching staff, this will mean more efficient management and deployment of learning content
    • for students, an improved Monash student experience through better access to a range of targeted resources
    • for administrators, this means greater ability to manage and allocate resources and to improve services
  • Better collaboration between working groups with membership from within Monash and external to Monash.
  • Better communication through targeted delivery of information and services to communities of interest through a Monash intranet.
  • Reduced risk of information being lost, misfiled, kept beyond its use-by date, or used incorrectly.
  • Greater productivity for most by providing improved methods to locate and manage information.
  • If staff have accurate, authentic, useable information they can do their job better. Improvement in information management will thus increase effectiveness and enhance reputation.

In conclusion, it is worth stressing that good information management doesn't just happen. It needs to be consciously managed and supported. The proposed Information Management Strategy and its implementation will ensure this occurs. The SMC members have a vital role to play in this implementation by supporting improved information management practices, ensuring staff understand their responsibility for information resources, and by supporting the actions proposed in the Information Management Strategy.