It turns out that electronic records management and data management have something extra in common; poor management and lack of forethought can be detrimental and used against your government. Both data and information management are in the spotlight not just domestically, but internationally as big business websites, government entities, and medical providers fall victim to cybercrime.

The responsibility of protecting this data, information, and records falls squarely on those who obtain it and, in the case of records, are responsible for providing continued access.

Public information acts, including the Freedom of Information Act on the federal level, have a time frame for turning over responsive information for a reason.  An array of open government groups have complained about the Environmental Protection Agency for their “selectively slow-walked responses to public requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act”. While your government may not be under such insistent and watchful eyes as federal agencies, heeding the need to be timely and transparent with your information releases can only benefit your government entity.

To use a metaphor most Texans will identify with, “data is a new strategic asset for organizations, like oil. But like oil, it isn’t useful until it is refined. That means turning it into information and insight”. The challenge lies not in access to data, government has more data than ever before, but in the processing and analyzing of the data to reveal insight into the future of work in the public sector.

Read the article for four trends as we look to the future. Do these resonate with your and your office?