Technology has increased the ability to harvest, process and store information, but the ability to manage, control and exploit it has failed to keep pace. The tendency of public sector organisations to overlook the management of its information, and the training of managers and staff in how to handle it will compromise their ability to deal effectively with the current crisis. This is the conclusion of a report from the Society of IT Management.

The report provides an analysis of how organisations use information, and how information management, or lack of it, affects people ‘at the sharp end’ trying to do complex and difficult jobs with limited resources. The report includes case studies from Hackney and Bridgend councils, both of which have acknowledged the importance of information management and set about tackling the huge task of managing their information assets properly.

Failure to provide access to the right information at the right time, and lack of competence in information handling, says the report, leads to many everyday mistakes and inefficiencies, but also to headline grabbing tragedies like the Baby Peter, and Soham cases.

Managing information: managing the lifeblood of the organization, £205.63, is available from SOCITM.
http//www.socitm.net/retail/product/16/managing_informationmanaging_the lifeblood_of_the_organisation