Understanding the components of information governance is becoming crucial for all organizations that are increasingly relying on data driven decision making processes to ensure data quality, security, and compliance.
The components of information governance are records and information management, IT governance, data governance, information security, risk management, regulatory compliance, long-term digital preservation, and business intelligence.
These elements should be mentioned clearly in any IG strategy to increase the chances of having an effective and smooth implementation for an IG program. In addition, organizations should always follow the latest trends related to IG in order to keep on improving and staying up to date with the latest developments.
Let’s delve into a deep discussion about these IG components and explore how they contribute to the successful management and utilization of valuable organizational data.
What are the components necessary for information governance?
Every organization need to be compliant with industry rules and regulations to minimize the risk of data breaches and reduce or better eliminate law cases and financial penalties. It is through an effective IG implementation which clearly handle these elements that businesses will achieve their target.
The key components of information governance are:
1- Records and IM
This element is considered a foundational component of IG and it involves the identification, categorization, retention, use, and eventually disposition of records.
Effective RM ensures that data is organized, accessible, updated, and archived in the most proper way that will enable the business to rely on it to make more informed business decisions.
The ultimate aim is to confidently track the origin, usage, and disposal of data which not only strengthens data integrity but also enhances data security and privacy.
2- IT governance
This element is primarily concerned with empowering stakeholders to ensure that investments in information technology create tangible business value and effectively contribute to achieving overall business objectives.
The essence of IT Governance lies in aligning strategic IT initiatives with the organization’s overarching goals, thereby delivering optimal business value. To achieve this, the focus of IT Governance revolves around software development and maintenance activities, striving to attain desired outcomes with the least possible costs.
3- Data governance
This component lays the ground for establishing and maintaining the quality, availability, and security of an organization’s data assets. At its core, it focuses on defining clear policies, procedures, and responsibilities for managing data throughout its lifecycle.
Without a solid data governance, other aspect of IG such as records management, data privacy, and information security will fail which will lead to inefficiencies, data silos, and data loss.
4- Information security
At the core of IG is making sure that information is secure and only authorized personnel can see what they are allowed to see. Information security involves implementing proper access controls, audit trails, single sign on, two-way authentication, and role-based access.
This also involves implementing various security measures such as digital signatures, which authenticate the origin and integrity of electronic documents, and document encryption to protect data from unauthorized access during transmission or storage.
Furthermore, information rights management (IRM) solutions offer an additional layer of protection by allowing organizations to specify and enforce access restrictions and usage policies on individual documents or files.
5- Risk management
One of the most important components of information governance is acting proactively by identifying risks before they happen and implementing changes that will minimize the act of risk happening.
Through risk assessments and vulnerability analyses, organizations can identify their most critical assets, potential weaknesses, and exposure to threats. With this knowledge, appropriate controls, safeguards, and preventive measures can be put in place to protect sensitive information from unauthorized access, loss, or manipulation.
6- Regulatory compliance
This IG aspect revolves around ensuring that organizations adhere to industry standards, laws, and regulations.
The main aim of this component is to help establish and maintain a working procedure that guarantees best data handling performance aligned with the requirements set beforehand by the authorities. This includes compliance with data protection laws, industry-specific regulations, financial reporting requirements, and any other applicable mandates.
7- Long term digital maintenance
As organizations increasingly rely on digital technologies for data storage and management, the need to preserve and protect valuable information becomes paramount. This is very important due to its role in ensuring the longevity, accessibility, and authenticity of digital information over time.
Digital maintenance involves implementing strategies, policies, and technologies to safeguard digital assets from obsolescence, data degradation, and technological changes.
8- BI
All organizations that we worked with in the past have one common goal from properly managing data and investing unconditionally on different technologies. The most important goal is to be able to use this information to better understand how their customers interact with their company, how a specific product is performing, and how to gain more insights about their daily operations.
Using business intelligence tools, these organizations have the ability to slice and dice their data to perform deep analysis and better serve their clients.
sources: Arma Utah
