ABSTRACT
The formulation of organisational policies and strategies should serve as a road map for both the short-and medium-term development of structures and practices. Thus, the development of an overarching policy in the area of information management should be seen as critical in providing the rationale and operational direction for the appropriate emergence of strategies for deployment of IM tools and techniques. In the public sector, there are increasingly examples of policy development activity in this area. Encouragingly, the development of such policies and subsequent strategies is clearly demonstrating an emerging awareness of the importance assigned to managing the information itself, as opposed to focusing almost in totality on the role of the associated technologies. This is a view developed by Strassman, who argues that:
To manage information successfully, policy makers must set forth explicit principles for information governance and secure cooperation… Full disclosure of the rules for governing must indicate who will deliver what results and how the policy will be enforced. Therefore, policy pronouncements should be made only after allowing for adequate time and consideration, especially if they publicize the rules of information governance.
