General principles of information management
These principles address those aspects of the information infrastructure that underpin all University strategies. For convenience these are treated under the headings
of: Consistency; Culture; Principles; Governance and IT strategy.
Consistency
At the core of the Information Strategy is the recognition that the
University is an integrated organisation. It follows therefore that:
_
_
_
there should be consistency and standardisation in ways of
working and this is achieved through guidance;
that the information systems infrastructure must be treated as
a whole;
that this is supported by the adoption of good practice in
information management.
The University must have a single integrated IT infrastructure and
data which represents a “single version of the truth” to facilitate
robust decision-making.
Governance
Governance structures are relevant to the Information Strategy
because they need to ensure that high-level plans are capable of
delivering that which they set out to deliver. As information
technology is now so fundamental to the life of the University it
follows that all strategic plans need to be informed by technology.
This is achieved through an overarching Information Strategy and it
is the responsibility of the Information Systems Development
Committee (ISDC) to ensure the strategy remains relevant. It also
requires ISDC to oversee the procedure for considering all
proposals for the purchase/development of information systems
and IT infrastructure along with an agreed project management
framework for implementing these.
Culture
An accepted information management culture provides a
framework for how information is used across the University. Thus
information:
_
_
should be shared (unless restricted for particular reasons)
and easily accessible.
should be fit for purpose i.e. it is accurate, current and
complete.
Furthermore all staff need to understand their own responsibilities
vis a vis information.
Principles
The following principles of information management apply:
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
Information should be openly available and accessible to
enable members of the University to carry out their work;
Information should be fit for purpose;
Information should not be duplicated;
Data quality standards should be defined and measurable;
Information should be integrated across systems;
Responsibility for information (i.e. ownership) should be clear;
Information management processes must adhere to current
legislation and/or regulation;
Data security must be defined to levels of sensitivity and
confidentiality.
IT Strategy
A framework is required to ensure that our IT infrastructure is
designed and developed to support an integrated institution.
The following principles support this:
_
_
Major IT projects are led by the owning department.
IT projects must be interoperable with existing and planned
infrastructure. This implies development along serviceoriented architecture (SOA) principles.
Edinburgh Napier University Information Strategy 2013
6