Public Sector Information Governance Coalition Formed

By Ally Kutz, contributing writer

A group of organizations, compiled by ARMA International, that represents the information management and governance community recently announced the formation of the Coalition for Public Sector Information Governance Leadership.

The coalition is made up of six different organizations: the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), ARMA International, the Information Governance Initiative (IGI), the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID), and Professional Records and Information Services Management (PRISM International).

“With the support of the private sector, we believe that federal agencies will be better able to meet their legal and regulatory responsibilities with regard to managing information,” states director of government affairs at ARMA International Liz Icenogle. “Beyond just facilitating a transition to a digital government, we want to increase awareness about the benefits of creating an information governance mindset and standards of conduct with respect to records and information management policies and procedures.”

The coalition will be able to supply training and resources needed to agency officials and federal specialists to help manage information governance practices. According to a 2012 Directive, all federal agencies will be required to direct both permanent and temporary e-mail records in electronically accessible formats by the end of 2016. The directive also states the need for preservation of all permanent electronic records created after 2016 in a digitally compatible format for transfer to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

The coalition will also offer a private-sector-based practices information forum so that agencies can learn more from industry leaders.