Information management is fundamental to any public sector body readying itself for digital transformation. But what is it, and how can it improve service delivery? John Millar of BIM Academy explains
In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the need for higher quality and more dependable public services. This trend has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has pushed to the fore the importance of digital services and information management and the need for more flexible, accessible, and user-friendly service delivery models.
In responding to these challenges, many local authorities and other public sector organisations have been looking closely at how they deliver their services and the ways in which this could be improved. This has resulted in a high degree of digitised information and digitalised service delivery, as well as a growing appreciation for the role of user experience and engagement in service design.
While these are important, positive developments, there is a much more fundamental issue requiring attention for any local authority or public sector body looking to prepare itself for digital transformation: information management.
Understanding information management
In this first instalment of a two-part series, I will look at what information management is and how the way in which we interact with it is perhaps not the first issue that comes to mind when considering the current socio-economic challenges faced by the public sector.
It is important in this context to consider both the ubiquity of valuable information and the criticality of good management practice to harness this, extract maximum value and ultimately prepare for success in developing new modes of operation.
Typically, information management is something that is considered within the context of a project – but the term “project” can be taken very loosely. For example, it could be a new construction project, where a new school facility is to be delivered by a local authority to support a new catchment area; it could be the local authority’s wider provision of an education service; or it could even be the high-level management of the local authority itself as an organisation or business.
Regardless, each of these cases – as with any project – all relies on the individuals involved playing their own part, and each of these individuals relies on having the right information at the right time and in the right format in order to play their part in the most timely and effective way.
Therefore, information can be considered to be the lifeblood of any organisation. It’s what keeps the wheels of business turning from day to day and allows for that all-important reflection, research and improvement as a service provider.
With that in mind, if a local authority or other public body is able to understand its information need and set out a detailed plan for how it can manage its information at an organisational level then it holds the key to unlocking new levels of efficacy in its day-to-day operations.
This is particularly true when these relate to the built environment, the venue for the delivery of the services that the organisation provides. Let’s consider this in more detail.
What is information?
Information is a collection of facts, arranged in some form or another, conveyed within a given context. It can come in the form of emails, reports, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings or any other deliverable format. It communicates to the recipient what they need to know in order to make informed decisions and progress work. It is everywhere, with exchanges taking place constantly, to the point where it, more often than not, goes unnoticed.
How can we manage information?
The process begins with understanding our information needs – what information we need to support our daily operations. From there, we can derive a series of information requirements that express this need in the form of short, simple and explicit statements.
For example, an information requirement could be stated as “I require completion of an F10 form to notify the Health & Safety Executive of a new construction project”. Each of these statements sets out what information is required for a particular task, action or service, and, therefore, what information should be available to the involved parties in order to enable timely completion, monitor performance against key performance indicators (KPIs) and drive continuous improvement.
These information requirements should not only reflect current practices but desired practices too – how do we want to work in 10 years’ time, and what information should we begin to gather to support this?
These requirements can then be developed further to consider responsible parties, delivery formats and key dates. Additionally, where built assets are concerned (ie supporting buildings and infrastructure), we can also consider what information needs to be available to support their ongoing operation and maintenance (eg as-built information, COBie data, point clouds etc).
These detailed information requirements (Project, Exchange and Asset Information Requirements, respectively, in ISO 19650 nomenclature) can then support the granular management of activity across the organisation from department to department, ensuring the informational availability that is required for smooth operations and developing a deep information base from which a significant number of valuable insights can be drawn.
How does this improve service delivery?
Service delivery is ultimately based on the intersection of people, place and process. Understanding these three factors, and further still, the golden thread of information which ties each of these together, is critical for success.
The more we can understand and draw upon the interactions between these three factors and their respective informatics, the more effective our services will be in responding to public needs.
The benefits of good information management to this end are manyfold. It creates opportunities for analytical techniques to enable evidence-based decision-making. It assists in managing compliance with statutory requirements and associated recordkeeping. It breaks down silos between different teams or departments within the organisation to enable greater collaboration and coordination in service delivery.
It can also greatly enhance engagement, opening new avenues for public and stakeholder involvement. All of this improves service design on a region-to-region basis and ultimately leads to better societal outcomes at a national level.
But what does this look like in practice?
In part two, I will explore some practical examples of how information management can be leveraged to improve service delivery and achieve better outcomes in the public sector.
John Millar
Technologist
BIM Academy
Tel: +44 (0)191 269 5444
