Post on 11-Oct-2020
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InformationAccessibility,Archivingand
OrganizationalAccountabilityinadigitalage
DrG.J.vanBussel
HogeschoolvanAmsterdamand
UniversityofAmsterdam
g.j.van.bussel@hva.nl
Abstract
Theworld ischanging rapidly. It isbecomingan increasingly information-richand information-dependentplat-form. Information is easily and (mostly) automatically recordedand stored tobe accessed and retrievedon alater date. ICTs contribute to a (seemingly) inescapable loss of privacy, because this information is processedwithoutknowledgeorconsentfromindividualpeople.Companiesarebuildingnewecosystemsonline,andarebuilding online shops, communities, user groups, and otherways to promote their products. The economy isdeveloping intoadigitizedeconomy.All boundariesbetween thevirtual and the realworldsareblurring. Thedigitaluniverse isexpanding inunprecedentedways.But there is somuch informationgenerated, stored,andused, that its accessibility is in jeopardy, because the possibilities to identify information are becomingmoredifficult. To protect privacy and to enhance accessibility, the global legal frameworks are expanding, creatingproblemsinimplementingcomplianceframeworksforpublicandprivateorganizationsalike.Organizationalac-countability is dependent on accessible information. Public expectations do want objectives as transparency,privacy, due process, compliance, and security of organizational information implementedwithin legal frame-works.Notmeetingthoseobjectivesisextremely‘badforbusiness’.Forrealizinginformationaccess,archivingisextremelyimportant.Archivingismanaginginformationovertimeusingthe‘informationvaluechain’toguaran-teethefourdimensionsofinformation(quality,context,relevance,andsurvival).Itisquitesurprisingthatthereisalmostno researchdoneabout the relationshipbetween informationaccessibility, archiving,and thepublicdemand for organizational accountability. For eGovernment to succeed, those three subjects are of vital im-portance.
Keywords
Accountability;Informationaccess;e-government;informationvaluechain;socialdynamics.
LecturerFrom1997onwards,DrGeert-JanvanBusselisseniorlectureratheHogeschoolvanAmsterdamandassistantprofessorattheUniversityofAmsterdam,specializedininformationandarchivalscience.HewaslecturerattheDutchSchoolforArchivesfrom1994until2009andprofessorofDigitalArchiving&ComplianceattheHogeschoolvanAmsterdamfrom2012-2016.Heisoneofthemostprominentaudi-torsofarchivingstandardsintheNetherlands.Heisowneranddirectorofaninternationalauditingandmanagementconsultancyfirm,specializedinenterpriseinformationmanagement,informationgovernanceandcompliance.HeisalsomemberoftheboardofseveralICTandconsultancyfirms.Hehaswrittensixbooks(inDutch)andmorethan200papersandjournalcontributions(severalinEng-lish).
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Introduction(Slide1)
TheUnitedNationsE-governmentSurvey2016givesanoverviewofthe
worldwideinitiativestousetheWorldWideWebfordigitalservicesandcitizen
participation1.Itcoversthestatusquoandelaboratesonresults,challengesand
‘things-to-do’.Itpaysalotofattentiontorankings,toonlineservicedelivery,e-
participation,governmentandcollaborativegovernance,opendata,andthedi-
gitaldivide.Thereisnotmuchattentionforwhatare,Ithink,themostessential
subjectsfortheultimatesuccessfore-government:organizationalaccountabili-
ty,archiving,andaccesstoinformation.Inthislecture,Iwilldiscusstheseissues
andthechallengestheyentail.
Online(Slide2)
Ourworldischangingrapidly.Businesspracticesandexistingtechnolo-
gies,ways,andmethodsofcommunicationaretransforming.Informationand
communicationtechnologies(ICTs)movequicklyinandoutoffashion.Wehave
becomeusersofmobile,wirelesslyinterconnecteddevices,usingweb-based
communitiesandsocialnetworkingsitesaschannelsforsocializing,sharingwith
friendsandcolleagues,collaborating,interacting,andparticipatinginprocesses
1DepartmentofEconomicandSocialAffairs,TheUnitedNationsEgovernmentSurvey2016.E-GovernmentinSupportofSus-tainableDevelopment(NewYork:UnitedNations,2016).
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ofinnovation,production,government,andcreatingvalue2.Companiesare
buildingonlineshops,communities,usergroups,andotherwaystopromote
theirproducts.Theyareusingandanalysingthedatatheyaregatheringfrom
theircustomersandtheusersoftheironlineservicestopersonalizetheirad-
verts,andtoquicklydevelopnewservices.Governmentstrytodothesame
whencommunicatingwiththeircitizens.Libraries,archives,andotherreposito-
riesaredigitizingtheircollectionsandaremakingthemavailableusingtheIn-
ternet.
(Slide3)Thesemanticweballowsapplicationsanddevicestounderstand
themeaningofnaturallanguageandtocommunicatewithouthumanin-
terference3.Thetechnologiesthatletmachines‘talk’toeachother(machine-to-
machinecommunication)areevolvingfast,enabledbythedevelopmentof
(wireless)networkswithouthumanorcentralizedcomponents.These(let’scall
them)‘talkingmachines’includeeverythingfrompowerandenergymetersthat
reportusagedataautomatically,towearableheartmonitorsandtocarsthat
automaticallyreporttheirpositionandconditionintheeventofanaccident.
Informationiseasilyand(mostly)automaticallycaptured,recorded,and
storedtobeaccessedandretrievedonalaterdate.Thatbecomesaproblem
2Akamai,TheHyperconnectedWorld.Aneweraofopportunity(Cambridge(Ma):Akamai,s.d.).3J.Davies,F.vanHarmelen,D.Fensel,Towardsthesemanticweb:ontology-drivenknowledgemanagement(NewYork:JohnWiley&Sons,2002).
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whenthecollection,recording,anduseofdataaboutusershappen(asitisof-
ten)withouttheirknowledgeorconsent.ICTscontributetoan(seemingly)ines-
capablelossofindividualprivacy4.Mostofthisbehaviourtakesplacebehindthe
scenes,isbarelynoticedbyusers,andisdonewithonlyourtacitconsent.The
‘ease’ofaccesstoinformationin‘thecloud’(onathird-partydeviceremotely
locatedfromtheuser)makesausersrelationshipwithhisorherinformation
moretenuous5.Inshort:wearelivinginaninformation-richandinformation-
dependentworld,collecting,creating,andusingalotofinformationwithour
onlineactivitieseveryday.Wemaycallit‘World2.0’6.
(Slide4)Physicalobjects,devices,andmachinesacquireartificialin-
telligence.Theycreatethe‘InternetofThings’asaconnectedintelligencethat
augmentsindividualactions,automatesprocesses,andintegrates‘intelligent’
machinesintopeople’slives7.Theabilitytoanalysethese‘bigdata’inrealtime
4Theproblemofpersonalprivacyinaninformationageisamuch-debatedandhighly-controversialsubject.Thereisalargebodyof literature.Asan introduction:H.Nissenbaum, ‘Protectingprivacy inan informationage.Theproblemofprivacy inpublic’,LawandPhilosophy 17 (1998),no. 5-6,pp. 559–596;H.Nissenbaum, ‘Privacyas contextual integrity’,WashingtonLawReview79(2004),no.1,pp.119–158.Abouttheeffectsoftechnologicaldeterminismonprivacy:K.K.Stylianou,‘HastaLaVistaPrivacy,orhowtechnologyterminatedprivacy’,C.Akrivopoulou,A.Psygkas(eds.),PersonalDataPrivacyandprotectioninasurveillanceera.Technologiesandpractices(Hershey(Pa.):IGIGlobal,2010),Ch.3,pp.44-57.AbouttheeffectsofPriva-cyEnhancingTechnologies(PET):J.vandePas,G.J.VanBussel,‘Privacylost-andFound?Someaspectsofregainingcitizen'sprivacybymeansofPETintheageofBigData’,J.Devos,S.DeHaes(eds.),Proceedingsofthe8thEuropeanConferenceonISManagementandEvaluation.ECIME2014.UniversityofGhent,11-12September2014(ACPI:Reading,2014),pp.278-285.5AboutthemoralaspectsoftheuseofICTsandthegatheringofpersonalinformation:J.Sullins,‘Informationtechnologyandmoralvalues’,E.N.Zalta(ed.),TheStanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy(Stanford:StanfordUniversity2014).Availableonlineat:http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2014/entries/it-moral-values/.Archivedat:http://www.webcitation.org/6buXajRFL(September29,2015).6F.Karakas,‘WelcometoWorld2.0:thenewdigitalecosystem’,JournalofBusinessStrategy30(2009),no.4,pp.23-30.7TheInternetofThingsisapopularsubject,especially incombinationwithdataminingandartificial intelligence.Seeforacriticalreview:D.Helbing, ‘Societal,economic,ethicalandlegalchallengesofthedigitalrevolution.FromBigDatatoDeepLearning, Artificial Intelligence, andManipulative Technologies’, Jusletter, 21mei 2015. Archived at: http://arxiv.org/ftp/-arxiv/papers/1504/1504.03751.pdf.
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makesitpossibletoloopinsightsimmediatelybackintodecisionprocessesand
allowsforautomationofresponsiveactions.Organizationsshouldbeextremely
careful;ethics,transparency,andaccountabilityshouldbeassured,forthese
manipulativetechnologiescouldbedisastrousfortrust.
Thishyperconnectedworldpresentsmanypossibilitiesforinnovationand
evolution,butonlywhencompaniesandgovernmentsunderstandthedynamics
oftheonlineworld8.Thereisverylittletimetoaddressthesechanges:therate
technologyisadoptedcontinuestoaccelerate.Google+,forexample,thesocial
mediatoolfromGoogle,tooksixteendaystoreachtenmillionusers,compared
with780daysforTwitterand852daysforFacebook9.
Informationliteracy(Slide5)
Youngpeopleespeciallyaresaidtobeembracingthedynamicrealityof
World2.0.Theyaresaidtobehyperconnected,havinghadlife-longuseofICTs,
earningthemnicknamesas‘netgeneration’,‘digitalnatives’,or’homo-
zappiens’10.Literatureascribesyoungpeoplewithspecialtechnologicalcapabili-
tiesthatdistinguishthemfromolderpeople.Youngpeopleareaccordingto8ForacomprehensiveviewabouttherelationshipbetweenICTsandinnovation:C.Antonelli,Theeconomicsof innovation,newtechnologies,andstructuralchange(Oxford-NewYork:Routledge,2014).9The digitisation of everything. How organisationsmust adapt to changing consumer behaviour (London: Ernst & Young,2011),p.4.10D.Tapscott,‘Educatingthenetgeneration’,EducationalLeadership56(1999),no.5,pp.6-11;M.Prenksy,‘DigitalNatives,DigitalImmigrants’,OntheHorizon9(2001),nr.5,pp.1-6;W.VanVeen,B.Vrakking,HomoZappiens.Growingupinadigitalage(London:Continuum,2006).
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MarcPrensky‘fluentinthedigitallanguageofcomputers,videogamesandthe
Internet’11.Butthe‘digitalnative’literatureisnotaboutdocumentingyoung
people’suseofICTs,butmoreaboutthepracticesthatICTssupportandfacilita-
teintheirlives12.Itdoesnotprovideanaccurateorobjectiveaccountoverthe
digitalskillsandabilitiesofyoungpeople13.Theabilitiesofyoungpeopletoac-
cessICTsaredeterminedbysocio-economicstatus,socialclass,gender,andge-
ography14.SomegroupsofyoungpeoplearejustasexcludedfromaccesstoICTs
asolderpeopleare.WhilemoreyoungpeopleusetheInternetandothertech-
nologiesthanolderpeople,therearedifferencesinhoweffectivelytheyuse
ICTs15.Thereisapredominanceofgaming,textmessaging,retrievalofonline
music,movies,orinformation,anduseofsocialmedia,especiallySnapchat,
Facebook,Instagram,Twitter,Vine,andPinterest16.Theengagementofyoung
11M.Prensky,‘Listentothenatives’,EducationalLeadership63(2005),no.4,pp.8-13.Citation:p.8.12N.Selwyn,‘Thedigitalnative-mythandreality’,AslibProceedings:NewInformationPerspectives61(2009),no.4,pp.364-379,esp.p.366;N.Selwyn,‘DoingITforthekids’,Media,Culture&Society25(2003),no.3,pp.351-378.13Selwyn, ‘The digital native’, pp. 370-371. For other critical reviews of Digital Native literature: S. Bennett, K.Maton, L.Kervin,‘The‘digitalnatives’debate:Acriticalreviewoftheevidence’,BritishJournalofEducationalTechnology39(2008),no.5,pp.775-786;E.Helsper,R.Enyon,‘Digitalnatives:whereistheevidence?’,BritishEducationalResearchJournal36(2010),no.3,pp.503-520;andespecially:R.Schulmeister,‘VomMythosderDigitalNativesundderNetGeneration’,BerufsbildunginWissenschaftundPraxis41(2012),no.3,pp.42-45.14ForthedeterminantsofICTaccessibility:P.Golding,‘Forthcomingfeatures:informationandcommunicationstechnologiesandthesociologyofthefuture’,Sociology34(2000),no.1,pp.165-184;andE.Hargittai,‘Digitalna(t)ives?VariationinInter-netskillsandusesamongmembersofthenetgeneration’,SociologicalInquiry80(2010),no.1,pp.92-113.15Selwyn,‘Thedigitalnative’,p.372.Also:S.Livingstone,E.Helsper,‘GradationsinDigitalInclusion:children,youngpeopleand theDigital Divide’,NewMedia& Society9 (2007), 671-696; E. Hargittai, A. Hinnart, ‘Digital Inequality: differences inyoungadultsuseoftheInternet’,CommunicationResearch35(2008),no.5,pp.602-621;andN.Selwyn,K.Facer, ‘Beyonddigitaldivide:towardsanagendaforchange’,E.Ferro,Y.Dwivedi,R.Gil-Garcia,M.Williams(eds.),HandbookofresearchonovercomingDigitalDivides.ConstructinganequitableandcompetitiveInformationSociety(Hershey(Pa.): IGIGlobal,2009),Ch.1,pp.1-20.16S. Colwyn, ‘Which social networks aremost popularwith teenagers? [#DigitalInsights]’: http://www.smartinsights.com/-social-media-marketing/social-media-platforms/teen-usage-of-social-media/. Online source. Archived at: https://web.ar-chive.org/web/20160405170624/http://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-platforms/teen-usage-of-social-media/(May31,2016).
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peoplewithtechnologyispassive,sporadic,unspectacular,andoftentimessoli-
tary.Itismostoftenpassiveconsumptionofinformation17.Thereislittleeviden-
cethatyoungpeoplearedifferentinthewaystheyuseandprocessinformati-
on18.Thatdoesnotmean,therearenoproblems.Thereisa‘digitaldivide’and
thereisaproblemwithdigitalliteracy.
Wemustbehonest:adigitaldivideisasymptom,notacauseofsocio-
economicinequalities.Itreflects(oftendeep)social,cultural,racial,economic,
andeducationaldividesinsociety.TohaveaccesstoICTsandtheInternetisnot
asolutionforthoseproblems19.Beyondaccesstotechnology,peopleneedto
knowhowtoemploythattechnology20.Or,asPaulGilstersaid,‘Digitalliteracyis
aboutmasteringideas,notkey-strokes’21.Asaconsequence,itisbettertotalk
aboutinformationliteracy,theability,competences,andskillsneededtofind,
obtain,access,comprehend,andcontextualizeinformationitself,usingeveryICT
availabletoreachthatobjective22.
Anditisherethatweengageseriousproblems.Thesocialandeconomic
17M.Madden,A.Lenhart,S.Cortesi,U.Gasser,M.Duggan,A.Smith,M.Beaton,Teens,SocialMedia,andPrivacy(Washing-ton, DC: Pew Research Center, 2013). Available online: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/05/21/teens-social-media-and-privacy/.Archivedat:http://www.webcitation.org/6bw5IMLjn(September30,2015).18Bennett,Maton,Kervin,‘The‘digitalnatives’debate’,pp.775-786.19A.B.Potter,‘Zonesofsilence.Aframeworkbeyondthedigitaldivide’,FirstMonday11(2006),no.5(May).Availableonline:http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1327/1247.20Gunkel,‘Secondthoughts’,p.504.21P.Gilster,DigitalLiteracy(NewYork,Chichester:WileyComputer,1998),p.15.22M.B.Eisenberg,‘Informationliteracy:Essentialskillsfortheinformationage’,JournalofLibrary&InformationTechnology28(2010),no.2,pp.39-47.Seealso:D.Bawden, ‘Informationanddigital literacies:areviewofconcepts’,JournalofDocu-mentation57(2001),no.2,pp.218-259.Anearlyproponentofinformationliteracyasamindset:P.Drucker,‘Bedataliterate-knowwhattoknow’,WallStreetJournal,1992,12(1),A16.
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impactonsocietyofdigitalexclusion,thesituationthatpartsofthepopulation
arenotliterateenough(ordonothavetheeconomicandsocialpossibilities)to
access,retrieve,ormakeuseofinformationusingtheICTsofthistime,are
enormous.PartsofthepopulationcannotcopewithWorld2.0becausetheydo
notutilizethetechnicalandcognitiveskillsneeded.Theaccessibilityofinforma-
tionreflectsbothexistinginequalitiesinsocietyanddeficienciesininformation
literacy.In2014,thirtypercentofallEuropeanslackedthedigitalskillstoper-
formonlinetasks23.Literacyisanessentiallifeskill,viewingtheenormousa-
mountsfodigitalinformation.Itwill,intheend,definesuccesfore-government.
Expandingdata(Slide6)
Thedigitaluniverseisdoublinginsizeeverytwoyears24.Thegrowing
amountsofinformationarecreatedbytheseeminglyinfiniteopportunitiesto
publishontheInternet,byglobalelectroniccommunications,byanexplosionin
deviceslocatedattheperipheryofthenetworklikeembeddedsensors,
smartphones,andtabletcomputers,byaerialsensorytechnologies,software
23G. Vitiello,M. Sebillo, G. Tortora, P. Di Giovanni, A. Ginige, ‘Overcoming the Digital Divide in Europe: Let’s learn fromemerging countries’, L. Mola, F. Pennarola, S. Za (eds.), From Information to Smart Society (Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer,2015), pp. 209-220. Eurostat states that eighteen per cent of the Europeans never uses the internet (‘Internet and cloudservices-statisticsontheusebyindividuals’,H.Seybert,P.Reinecke,StatisticsinFocus(Brussels:Eurostat,2014),16/2014.Availableonlineat:http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Internet_and_cloud_services_statistics_on_-the_use_by_individuals).Archivedat:http://www.webcitation.org/6bxBNPZEx(October1,2015).24V.Turner,D.Reinsel,J.F.Gantz,S.Minton,TheDigitalUniverseofopportunities.RichDataandtheincreasingvalueoftheInternetofThings(Framingham(Ms.):IDC,2014),ExecutiveSummary,p.1.Availableonlineat:http://www.emc.com/leader-ship/digitaluniverse/2014iview/index.htm.Archivedat:http://www.webcitation.org/6bxBgaxbB(October1,2015).
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logs,cameras,microphones,radiofrequencyidentificationreaders,wireless
sensornetworks,andbylarge-scaledigitizationoforganizationalprocesses25.It
createsnewopportunitiesforanalytics26,butwithoutbeinginformationliterate,
itwillbealmostimpossibletogainaccesstotheinformationneededtoliveyour
life.
Someexamples.
InSeptember2013,onaverage350millionpictureswereuploadedon
Facebookeveryday27.Twitterprocessed7,127 tweetseverysecondinFebruary
2016,almost616millionaday28.YouTubeusersareuploadingonehundred
hoursofnewvideoeveryminuteoftheday29.TheUniversityofOntariocollects
nearlyonehundredmilliondatapointsperdayfromprematurebabies,analyses
theminrealtime,andstoresthemforre-use30.In2014and2015,205billion
emailsweresenteveryday,ofwhichalmost54billionwerespammessagesand
973millionmalwareemails31.Andsoon,andsoon.
25J.Armitage,J.Roberts(eds.),Livingwithcyberspace.Technologyandsocietyinthe21stcentury(London,NewYork:Con-tinuum,2002); J.Manyika (ed.),BigData.Thenext frontier for innovation, competition,andproductivity (McKinseyGlobalInstitute,2011).26B.Golden,‘Cloudcomputing:Howbigisbigdata?IDC’sanswer’,CIO,May7,2010.27ForFacebook:Afocusonefficiency.AwhitepaperofFacebook,Ericsson,andQualcomm(Internet.org,2013),p.33.Availa-ble online at: https://fbcdn-dragon-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-akxpa1/t39.23656/12057133_958179554220316_12360-52925_n.pdf.Archivedat:http://www.webcitation.org/6bxOVnFFg(October1,2015).28 Twitter Usage Statistics: http://www.internetlivestats.com/one-second/#tweets-band. Online source. Archived at:http://www.webcitation.org/6ffBYggwN(February29,2016).29 YouTube statistics, https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html. Online source. Archived at: https://web.ar-chive.org/web/20141208221847/https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html(October2,2015).30B.Hopkins,B.Evelson,ExpandyourdigitalhorizonwithBigData(Cambridge(Ms.):ForresterResearchInc.,2011),p.2.31 S. Radicati, J. Levenstein, Email Statistics Report, 2015-2019 (Palo Alto (Ca.): Radicati, 2015). Available online at:http://www.radicati.com/wp/wpcontent/uploads/2015/02/Email-Statistics-Report-2015-2019-Executive-Summary.pdf. Ar-chived at: http://www.webcitation.org/6c0BsKSck (October 3, 2015); Internet Threats Trend Report (Palo Alto (Ca.):
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Toquantifytheglobalgrowthintheamountofinformationisalmostim-
possible.Researchresultsdifferbecauseofthedifferentdefinitionsandme-
thodsused.Researchagreesononebasicfact:theastonishinggrowth-ratein
theamountsofinformationintheworld.IDCexpectstheZetabyteeratostart
somewherearound2020.Itillustratestherapidevolutionofdigitizationinthe
firstfifteenyearsofthe21thcentury32.
Therecanbenodoubtthattheexpandingdigitaluniversehasanimpact
onsociety.Apracticalindication,forinstance,oftheconsequencesofthegro-
wingamountofinformationaretherisingamountsinspendingonICTsfordo-
cument-,content-andrecordsmanagement,informationretrieval,ediscovery,
capture,classification,andstorage,despite(large)economicproblems33.The
growingmassofinformationisinfluencingthewaymanyorganizationsmanage
andoperatetheirbusinessprocesses,approachtheircustomers,unlockecono-
micvalue,analysetheirmarkets,spotbusinesstrends,andaddvaluefortheir
Cyberoam, 2014). Available online at: http://www.cyberoam.com/downloads/ThreatReports/CyberoamCYRENInternet-Threats2014April.pdf.Archivedat:http://www.webcitation.org/6c0CuG8Lx(October3,2015).32P.Lyman,H.R.Varian,Howmuch information? (Berkeley:Schoolof InformationManagementandSystems,UniversityofCalifornia, 2003). For the executive summary of this research: http://groups.ischool.berkeley.edu/archive/how-much-info-2003/execsum.htm.Archivedat:http://www.webcitation.org/6c0IPx1NH(October3,2015);J.F.Gantz,D.Reinsel(eds.),Theexpandingdigitaluniverse.Aforecastofworldwideinformationgrowththrough2010(Framingham(Ms.):IDC,2007),Execu-tiveSummary,p.2.Availableonline,andarchivedat:https://web.archive.org/web/20141023090736/http://www.emc.com/-collateral/analyst-reports/expanding-digital-idc-white-paper.pdf(October4,2015).Other IDCreportsused:J.F.Gantz, (ed.),Thediverseandexplodingdigitaluniverse.Anupdatedforecastofworldwideinformationgrowththrough2011(Framingham(Ms.):IDC,2008);J.Gantz,D.Reinsel(eds.),Astheeconomycontracts,thedigitaluniverseexpands(Framingham(Ms.):IDC,2009); J. Gantz, D. Reinsel (eds.),The digital universe decade. Are you ready? (Framingham (Ms.): IDC, 2010); J. Gantz, D.Reinsel (eds.),Extractingvalue fromchaos (Framingham(Ms.): IDC,2011);and J.Gantz,D.Reinsel,TheDigitalUniverse in2020:BigData.Biggerdigitalshadows,andbiggestgrowthintheFarEast(Framingham(Ms.):IDC,2013);and,ofcourse,M.Hilbert,P.López,‘Theworld’stechnologicalcapacitytostore,communicate,andcomputeinformation’,Science332(2011),no.6025,pp.60-65.Seeesp.p.63,table1.33QuarterlyStatistics:diskarraystorage,allregions,allcountries,4Q13update(Stamford(CT):Gartner,2014).
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stakeholders.Informationprovidesinsightsintopublicandprivateaccountabili-
ty.Thegloballyexpandinglegalframeworksaremakingorganizationalaccoun-
tabilityextremelyimportant.Theseframeworksaremakingincreasingdemands
fororganizationalICTstoprocessinformationsecureandtransparent,togene-
ratetrustedinformation,toprotectprivacy,andtorealizetheaccessibilityof
information34.
Expandingregulations(Slide7)
World2.0ischangingrequirementsfororganizationalbehaviour,mostly
asaresultofantiquatedlegislationandpublicandgovernmentalexpectations.
Bothhavebeenviolatedmanytimesinthepastdecades,resultinginaglobal
increaseinthenumberofregulations,guidelines,andstandardstoenforcepu-
blicaccountabilityandtransparency.
Althoughtherearemanyexamplesofmisconduct,fraud-likefictitious
transactions,andfalsifyingfinancialresultsbefore,thebusinessscandalthat
reallyresultedinstringentnewregulationswastheAmericanenergycompany
Enron,revealedin2001.Thisscandalalsoresultedinthedissolutionoftheac-
34M.Stefik,TheInternetEdge.Social,technical,andlegalchallengesforanetworkedworld(Cambridge(Ms.):TheMITPress,2000).Also:K.Cukier,‘Data,dataeverywhere’,TheEconomist.Aspecialreportonmanaginginformation,February27,2010,pp.1-3.
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countancyandauditcompanyArthurAndersen35.Asaconsequence,newlegis-
lationwasintroducedtoincreasepenaltiesfordestroying,altering,orfabrica-
tinginformation,fordefraudingshareholders,andtoincreaseaccountabilityof
accountancyandauditingfirms(Sarbanes-OxleyAct(SOX),andequivalentleg-
islationinothercountriesaroundtheworld)36.TheEnronscandalwasfollowed
withotherexamplesofgravemisconductofpubliclytradedcompaniesandban-
kingandfinancialsystems.ExamplesareSwissair(2001),WorldCom,Kmart,
Merck,Qwest,AOL(allin2002),RoyalAhold,Parmalat(2003),ChiquitaBrands
International(2004),BernardL.MadoffInvestmentSecurities,AngloIrishBank
(2008),LehmanBrothers,GoldmanSachs(2010),LIBOR(2012),Volkswagen
(2015),andmanymore37.Followingthosescandals,apublicdesireforgreater
accountabilityandtransparencyintheconductofpublicandprivateorganizati-
onsleadtoanexpandinglegalframeworktoenforcejustthat.KimberlyBarata
andPiersCainprovedthataccountabilityandtransparencywithoutaccessto
35ForEnronandArthurAndersen:M.S.Salter,Innovationcorrupted:theoriginsandlegacyofEnron'scollapse(Boston:Har-vardUniversityPress,2008)andB.L.Toffler, J.Reingold,FinalAccounting:ambition,greed,andthefallofArthurAndersen(New York: Broadway Books, 2003). For other cases: P. Patsuris, ‘The corporate scandal sheet’, Forbes, August 26, 2002:http://www.forbes.com/2002/07/25/accountingtracker.html. Online source. Archived at: http://www.webcitation.org/-6c1a42SEI(October4,2015).36J.C.Coates,‘ThegoalsandpromiseoftheSarbanes-OxleyAct’,TheJournalofEconomicPerspectives21(2007),no.1,pp.91-116. For the European equivalents: L. Enriques, P. Volpin, ‘Corporate governance reforms in continental Europe’, TheJournalofEconomicPerspectives21(2007),no.1,pp.117-140.37Patsuris, ‘The corporate scandal sheet’, cf. note 73. For general descriptions of corporate scandals, fraud and/or or-ganizationalmisconductsee:J.C.Coffee,‘Atheoryofcorporatescandals:WhytheUSAandEuropediffer’,OxfordReviewofEconomic Policy 21 (2005), no. 2, pp. 198-211; K.R. Gray, L.A. Frieder, G.W. Clark,Corporate scandals. Themany faces ofgreed:thegreatheist,financialbubbles,andtheabsenceofvirtue(St.Paul(Min.):ParagonHouse,2005);J.W.Markham,Afinancial history of modern US corporate scandals. From Enron to reform (Armonk (NY): ME Sharpe, 2006). For theVolkswagenemissionscandal:T.K.Burki,‘Dieselcarsandhealth:theVolkswagenemissionsscandal’,TheLancetRespiratoryMedicine3(2015),no.11,pp.838-839.Formoralaspectsofthismisconductsee:M.O.Benediktsson,‘Thedeviantorganisa-tionandthebadappleCEO.Ideologyandaccountabilityinmediacoverageofcorporatescandals’,Socialforces88(2010),no.5,pp.2189-2216.
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trustedinformationasevidenceof(past)organizationalpolicies,decisions,pro-
ducts,actionsandtransactionsisimpossible38.Itshouldnotbesurprisingthat
mostofthisnewlegislationisinessenceabouttheaccessibilityofinformation.
(Slide8)Mostorganizationsareattemptingtomeetpublicexpectations
andtrytocomplywithlaws,regulations,standards,andotherframeworksto
enforceaccountability,transparency,accessibilityofinformation,security,and
privacy39.Mostorganizationstrytocomplytothemeaningtheyhaveconstruc-
tedofpublicexpectations,laws,andcompliance.Complianceisbasedonthe
institutionalizedinterpretationsofsociety’sbeliefsaboutlegality,morality,and
rationality.Itisquitepossiblethatsuchaninterpretationdiffersfrominterpreta-
tionsinotherorganizations40.Thisinitiatesthewaycomplianceisimplemented
indailyorganizationalpractice.
Boardsmaychoosebetweentwogeneralstrategiesforimplementing
compliance.Bothstrategiesareoftentimescombined.Thefirstapproachisthe
‘enforcementstrategy’,bywhichanorganizationpledges(andworks)tomeet38K.Barata,P.Cain,‘Information,nottechnology,isessentialtoaccountability:electronicrecordsandpublic-sectorfinancialmanagement’,TheInformationSociety17(2001),pp.247-258.39M.ElKharbili,S.Stein,I.Markovic,E.Pulvermüller,‘Towardsaframeworkforsemanticbusinessprocesscomplianceman-agement’,S.Sadiq,M.Indulska,M.zurMuehlen(eds.),ProceedingsoftheWorkshoponGovernance,RiskandComplianceforInformationSystems(GRCIS2008),CEUR,WorkshopProceedings,Vol.339(Montpellier,2008),pp.1-15.Aninterestingcollec-tionofpapersabouttheresponseofbusinessorganizationstotheexpectationsofcomplianceis:C.Parker,V.LehmannNiel-sen(eds.),Explainingcompliance:Businessresponsestoregulation (Cheltenham(UK):EdwardElgarPublishing,2011).Whyregulatorycomplianceisoftentimesverydifficulttorealise:E.Bardach,R.A.Kagan,Goingbythebook:Theproblemofregula-toryunreasonableness(Piscataway(NJ):TransactionPublishers,2002).Complianceismadeextremelydifficultby‘regulatoryunreasonableness’, according to Bardach and Kagan, governmental requirements that seem sensible in principle but thatmakelittlesenseinparticularsituations,inwhichthoserequirementsarequitedifficulttooperate.40L.B.Edelman,S.A.Talesh,‘Tocomplyornottocomply–thatisn’tthequestion:howorganizationsconstructthemeaningofcompliance’,C.Parker,V. LehmannNielsen (eds.),Explainingcompliance:Business responses to regulation (Cheltenham(UK):EdwardElgarPublishing,2011),pp.103-122.
14
therequirementsof(theirinterpretationof)publicexpectations,locallaw,and
the(quality)standardsithasaccepted.Thesecondapproachisa‘businessethics
strategy’,bywhichanorganizationdefinesaprogramofcompanyethicstomeet
publicexpectations.Thesevaluesindicatehowitwantstotreatitsemployees,
customers,stakeholders,shareholders,suppliers,businesspartners,citizens,
andgovernments.Thisstrategymanagesorganizationalbehaviourandorganizes
thewayorganizationswilltrytobecompliant.Thedifficultiesinimplementing
bothstrategiesdiffer,varyingfrompoorlydeveloped‘ruleoflaw’,non-
consistentlegislation,notaddressingcrucialareasoforganizationalbehaviour,
anorganizationalculturenotfocusedonchangingorganizationalbehaviour,and
more41.
Informationisneededtoenableorganizationstodeliverobjectivessuch
astransparency,privacy,dueprocess,regulatorycompliance,andinformation
security.Theyareadirectresultofthesocialquestfororganizationalaccounta-
bility.Notmeetingthesepublicexpectationsisextremely‘badforbusiness’42.
Withoutaccessibleinformationasevidencefororganizationalcomplianceto
laws,regulations,standards,andframeworks,claimsofbeingcompliantcannot
41K.O.Hansen, ‘Beyondcompliance.Globalizationdemandsmoreeffectiveprograms’.MarkkulaCenter forAppliedEthics,Santa Clara University: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/business/beyondcompliance.html. Online source.Archivedat:http://www.webcitation.org/6c1aKBPG1(October4,2015).Forevaluatingthesestrategies:T.R.Tyler,‘Thepsy-chologyof self-regulation:normativemotivations for compliance’,C.Parker,V. LehmannNielsen (eds.),Explainingcompli-ance:Businessresponsestoregulation(Cheltenham(UK):EdwardElgarPublishing,2011),pp.78-101.42A.Willis, ‘Corporategovernanceandmanagementof informationand records’,RecordsManagement Journal 15 (2005),no.2,pp.86-97.Seealso:Barata,Cain,‘Information-nottechnology’.
15
beupheld.Organizationsmayfaceincreasedoperatingcostfromtheinabilityto
accessandretrieveinformation.Therightofindividualpeopleofaccesstoen-
titlementsmaybeinjeopardy.Theorganizationalcapacityfordecision-making
maybeweakened.And,lastbutnotleast,transparency,accountability,privacy,
andtrustmaybereduced,possiblybeyondrepair43.Itisamazing,especiallycon-
sideringthecostsofcompliance,thatthereishardlyresearchdoneaboutthe
relationshipbetweentheaccessibilityofinformationandthesocialdemandfor
organizationalaccountability.
Informationaccessibility(Slide9)
Letusconcentrate,first,oninformationaccess.
Informationaccessibilityishardlyconceptualized44.Ininformationscience,
twotheoriesmodellingtheconceptofinformationaccesshavebeendeveloped.
Boththeorieshavecontributedtotheunderstandingofthedimensionsofin-
formationaccess.Iwillnotgointothemnow,butnoneofthesetheorieshave
explainedwhattherequirementsofaccessare45.
43A.Dikopoulou,A.Mihiotis,‘Thecontributionofrecordsmanagementtogoodgovernance’,TheTQMJournal24(2012),no.2,pp.123-141.44M.K.Buckland,Informationandinformationsystems(GreenwoodPublishingGroup:Westport,1991),p.77.In2008itwasstatedthat‘explorationsoftheconceptualnatureofinformationaccesshavebeenlimited’,by:G.Burnett,P.T.Jaeger,K.M.Thompson, ‘Normative behavior and information: the social aspects of information access’, Library& Information ScienceResearch30(2008),no.1,pp.56-66.Citation:p.56.45M.McCreadie,R.E.Rice,‘Trendsinanalyzingaccesstoinformation.PartI.Cross-disciplinaryconceptualizationsofaccess.PartII.Uniqueandintegratingconceptualizations’,InformationProcessing&Management35(1999),nr.1,pp.45-76,pp.77-
16
Informationaccesshastoberealizedregardlessoftechnology,language,
disability,orpersonalcapabilities.Becauseofitscomplexity,itcan‘beabur-
den’46.Irecognizefiverequirementsforinformationaccessthattogetherdefine
if(potential)usershaveaccesstoinformation(Slide10).
Thefirstrequirementis‘findability’,thepossibilityanindividualhasto
discoverwhereinformationiscreated,published,blogged,kept,stored,orpre-
served.Findingsomethingreferstolocatingsomethinginaknownspace.Sofin-
dinginformationisnotasearchproblem(whichlocatesinformationinunknown
spaces),butaninformationmanagementproblem47.Findabilityisanessential
partofbothsocialandorganizationalinformationarchitectures.Thesearchitec-
turestrytoensurethatuserscanfindinformationeasilyinspaceswherecom-
plexity,informationoverload,andunfamiliarityhamperfindability48.Sucharchi-
tectureisnecessarybecausetheinter-subjectivitybetweenthepersonororga-
nizationthatorganizedinformationandthepersonslookingforthatinformation
complicatesfindingit49.Finding-aidsareoftheutmostimportanceforusersto
99.Fortheconceptualizationsofaccess:I,pp.49-57.Fortheinfluencesonacces:pp.61-71;Burnettetal,‘NormativeBehav-ior,pp.56-66.46R.O.Mason,‘Fourethicalissuesoftheinformationage’,MISQuarterly10(1986),March,pp.5-12.Citation:10-11.47M.Baker,‘Findabilityisacontentproblem,notasearchproblem’(May28,2013):http://everypageispageone.com/2013/-05/28/findability-is-a-content-problem-not-a-search-problem/. Online source. Archived at: http://web.archive.org/web/-20160405191132/http://everypageispageone.com/2013/05/28/findability-is-a-content-problem-not-a-search-problem/.48A.Resmini,L.Rosati,‘Fromphysicaltodigitalenvironments(andback).Sevenlawsoffindability’,TranslatingInformationArchitecture:proceedingsofEurope'sthirdInformationArchitecturesummit(EuroIA)(Barcelona:ASIS&T,2007),pp.162-170.49L.M.Berlin,R.Jeffries,V.L.O'Day,A.Paepcke,C.Wharton,‘Wheredidyouputit?Issuesinthedesignanduseofagroupmemory’,B.Arnold,G.VanderVeer,T.White(eds.),ProceedingsoftheINTERACT'93andCHI'93conferenceonHumanfac-tors in computing systems (NewYork:ACM,1993),pp.23-30;andB.Narayan,M.Olsson, ‘Sense-makingacross spaceandtime.Implicationsfortheorganizationandfindabilityofinformation’,F.Bouthillier,B.Yu,A.Grove(eds.),Proceedingsofthe
17
findtheinformationtheyneed.
Thesecondrequirementis‘availability’,whichmeansthatevenifinfor-
mationis‘findable’,thatdoesnotmeanitcanberetrievedandbemade‘availa-
ble’atacertainmomentintime.Theremaybebarriersthatcouldmakeobtai-
ningitdifficultor,even,impossible.Theremaybelegalownershiprestrictions
thatdonotallowtheavailabilityofspecificinformation.Theinformationmay
bedeemedconfidentialbytheorganizationthatpreservesit.Itmayhavebeen
irreparablydestroyed.Websitesorblogsmayhavedisappeared.Recordedin-
formationmaybeinarepositorythatishostedbehindapaywall.TheICTsnee-
dedtoobtaintheinformationmaynotbeavailable.EvenifICTsareavailable,it
isnotunlikely,especiallywhentryingtoretrieve‘older’information,thatsoft-
warecannotdecipherthedataformatsoriginallyused.Recordedinformation
maybedeemedasnotofhistoricalimportanceandnotbecapturedinarchives.
So,althoughauserknowswhereinformationis(‘itisfindable’),heorshecannot
obtainit(‘itisnotavailable’).
Wheninformationisfindableandavailable,itshouldbeperceivable,it
shouldbepossibletoperceiveit,tohear,feel,smell,taste,orviewit.Ifpotential
usersaredisabledinwaysthatprohibithearing,feeling,smelling,tasting,or
viewing,thereshouldbeassistiveandinteractivetechnologiesinoperationthat76thASIS&TAnnualMeeting:BeyondtheCloud:RethinkingInformationBoundaries(SilverSprings,MD:AmericanSocietyforInformationScience,2013),Article72,pp.1-9.
18
allowthemtoperceiveinformation50.Wheninformationisheard,felt,smelled,
tasted,and/orviewed,theuserhasthepossibilitytogatheritsmeaning51.Itis
onlypossible,forevenifinformationisfindable,available,andperceivable,that
doesnotmeanitis‘comprehensible’.Toensureaccessibilityandusabilityat
bothperceptualandcognitivelevelsofhuman-computerinteraction,designers
ofe-governmentservicesneedtobeconstantlyawareofsuchdesignissuesand
shouldintegratethoseissuesinevaluatingtheirdesigns52.
Thefourthrequirementis,thus,‘comprehensibility’.Understandingisonly
possibleiftheinformationliteracycapabilitiesofusersenablethemtodoso.
Facilitatingcomprehensibilitymaybeaburdenfororganizations,becauseeven
inveryliteratecountrieslargeminoritiesofthepopulationcanonlyreadsimple
textsintheirownlanguage53.Muchabovethelevelof‘simpletext’isformostof
thosepeopleincomprehensible.Forthatreason,forlargeminoritiesofthepo-
pulationaccessinginformationwillbeproblematic.TohaveaccesstoICTswill
notsolvetheproblem,whichmakesthedisseminationofknowledgequitediffi-
cult.
Informationmaybefindable,available,perceivable,andcomprehensible,50H. Hill, ‘Disability and accessibility in the library and information science literature: A content analysis’, Library & In-formationScienceResearch35(2013),no.2,pp.137-142.51W. Jones, ‘Noknowledgebut through information’,D.J. Pauleen,G.E.Gorman (eds.),Personal knowledgemanagement:Individual,organizationalandsocialperspectives(Farnham:GowerPublishing,Ltd.,2011),pp.143-166.52T.Kato,M.Hori, ‘BeyondPerceivability.Criticalrequirementsforuniversaldesignof information’,Proceedingsofthe8thInternationalACMSIGACCESSConferenceonComputersandaccessibility(Portland(Or.):ACM,2006),pp.287-288.53OECDSkillsOutlook2013.FirstResultsfromtheSurveyofAdultSkills(Paris:OECD,2013).
19
butifthefifthrequirementofaccess,‘contextuality’,isinjeopardy,itmaybe
impossibletoreconstructthecontextinwhichinformationisgenerated,used,
andmanaged.Informationiscontextual;ithasaspecificmeaninginthecontext
inwhichitisgeneratedandused.Ifcontextcannotbereconstructedbyauser,
themeaninginformationwasmeanttohaveatthemomentofitscreationoras
aconsequenceofitsuse,willbelost.Atthatmoment,informationlosesitsfunc-
tionasreference,asevidenceofactionsandtransactions,orassourceofknow-
ledge.Ifthatcontextisunavailableorimpossibletoreconstruct,information
maybeinterestingforusers,butonlyintheirowncontextofinformationsee-
king54.Thisiswhatopendataareatthismomentintime:interesting,butde-
contextualizedandassuchquiteuselessforreachingmanye-governmentobjec-
tives.
Archiving(Slide11)
Archivingconcerns,inshort,thegeneration,processing,use,access,dis-
posal,andpreservationoftrustedinformation.Itemphasizesthefactthatsome
informationwillbekeptforeveranditsmanagementwillbeaninfiniteconti-
nuum.Especiallyindigitalenvironments,collectionsofinformation(likearchi-
54C.C.Kulthau, ‘Kuhlthau's InformationSearchProcess’,K.E.Fisher,S.Erdelez,L.McKechnie(eds.),Theoriesof InformationBehavior(NewJersey:InformationToday,2006),pp.230-234.
20
ves)areconstructedbodies,configuredtoretainalltheinformationorganiza-
tionsorpersonschoosetoretainandenrichedwithallthemetadatathatare
allowedtobeincludedinorganizationalorpersonalmetadataschedules.They
arecriticalforbusinessprocessperformance55.Theyareusedtoreconstructthe
pastfororganizationalorpersonalaccountabilityandretain(ataminimum)all
informationorganizationsandpersonsarelegallyobligedtokeepforspecified
periodsoftime56.Theseconstructsshowthepreoccupations,moralcodesand
preconceptionsembeddedinprocedures,businessprocesses,legislation,and
socialenvironments.Asaconstruct,itisasubjectivebody57.Notallinformation
iscapturedinanarchive:employeesofanorganizationmaydecidetodeleteit
prematurely.Newinformationisaddeddailytothoseconstructs,metadataare
addedorchanged,andinformationthathasreachedtheendofitsretentionpe-
riodisirreparablydestroyed.Onlya(small)partoftheinformationgeneratedby
anorganizationorapersonispreservedindefinitelyforits‘historicalvalue’58.Its
businessimportancemeansthatitneedstobeidentifiedandcontrolled59.
55D.A.Marchand,W.J.Kettinger, J.D.Rollins, InformationOrientation:TheLinktoBusinessPerformance (NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,2001),Chapter6.56G.J.vanBussel, ‘ReconstructingthePast forOrganizationalAccountability’,TheElectronicJournalof InformationSystemsEvaluation,15(2012),No.1,pp.127-137.57D.Greetham,‘Who’sin,who’sout.Theculturalpoliticsofarchivalexclusion’,StudiesintheLiteraryImagination,32(1999),No.1,pp.1-28.58Manyoftheideasproposedhereareexpressedin:G.J.vanBussel,‘ArchivesintheDigitalAge.Thetheoreticalframeworkfor theArchive-as-Is’,R, Jonker,A.Glaudemans,F.Smit (eds.),ArchivalScienceand InformationPhilosophy (working title).Manuscript,tobepublishedin2017.59J.VandePas,G.J.vanBussel,M.Veenstra,F. Jona, ‘DigitalDataandtheCity.Anexplorationof thebuildingblocksofaSmartCityArchitecture’,D.P.Baker,W.Evans(eds.),DigitalInformationStrategies.FromApplicationsandContenttoLibrar-iesandPeople(Waltham,MAUSA:ChandosPublishing,2015),Chaper13,pp.185-198.
21
Transparencyinmanagement,processingandaccessof(personal)infor-
mationisextremelyimportantforcustomersandcitizenstotrustorganizations
theyarebargainingwith.Itisessentialforbothorganizationalaccountabilityas
e-government.
Incomplexcomputerizedenvironments,thistrustworthinessofinfor-
mationisconstantlychallenged.Fourdimensionsofinformationallowforareli-
ablereconstructionoforganizationalpolicies,decisions,products,actionsand
transactions:quality,context,relevanceandsurvival60.
(Slide12)ThedimensionQualityisaboutthequalityrequirementsofin-
formation.Wecandistinguishfourqualityrequirements:integrity(information
cannotbemanipulated),authenticity(informationpresentstherequired(and
original)contentandstructure),controllability(informationcanbetestedon
integrityandauthenticity),andhistoricity(thecontent,contextandstructureof
informationcanbereconstructedatanymomentintime)61.Thesefourrequire-
mentsrealizethefixityofinformation.Thismeansthatitis(orcanberecon-
structedas)an‘immutablemobile’62.Fixityisanecessitybecauseinformationis
meantforlaterconsultationandisusedrepeatedlyforthereconstructionof
60G.J.vanBussel,Archivingshouldbejustlikeanapple,enachtandere(nuttige?)stellingen(Amsterdam:AmsterdamUniver-sityPress,2012).61G.J. vanBussel, F.F.M.Ector,Opzoeknaardeherinnering.Verantwoordingssystemen, content-intensieveorganisatiesenperformance(Helmond:VanBusselDocumentServices,2009),pp.181-214.62B.Latour,‘Postmodern?No,simplyamodern!Stepstowardsananthropologyofscience’,StudiesInHistoryandPhilosophyofScience,21(1990),No.1,pp145-171.
22
pasthappenings.Fixityenablesuserstotrustinformationandtouseitasevi-
dence63.
(Slide13)Theseconddimension,Context,isneededforsensemakingof
socialsituationsandtheinformationgeneratedwithinthatsocialsituation.Con-
textprovidesmeaningforinformationitself64.Knowledgeoftheindividualor-
ganizationalpolicies,decisions,products,actionsortransactionsforwhichin-
formationwasgenerated(andtheirrelationships)isnecessaryforextracting
meaningoutofsituations(cases,processflows,decisions,etc.)65.This
knowledgeappliestotheexistingregulationforthebusinessprocessitispartof,
thebusinessprocessitself,thestructureofthespecificcase,theproceduresby
whichrecordedinformationisgenerated,processed,andused,anditsplacein
theinformationstructureitbelongsto.Thecontextofinformationobjectsis
capturedinmetadata,whentheyareconfiguredtodoso.Thesemetadatatryto
generateanimageofthespecificactionortransactioninformationispartof,the
changesthereinovertime,theprocessinganduseoftheinformation,andits
63D.M.Levy,Scrollingforward.Makingsenseofdocumentsinthedigitalage(NewYork,ArcadePublishing,2001),Chapter2.64K.Weick, The Social Psychology of Organizing (New York:McGraw-Hill, 1979); K.Weick, Sensemaking in Organisations(London:Sage,1995).Seealso:B.Dervin,‘From,themindseyeoftheuser.TheSense-MakingQualitative-Quantitativemeth-odology’,B.Dervin, L. Foreman-Wernet (eds.),Sense-MakingMethodologyReader (NewYork:HamptonPress,2003). Firstpublishedin1992.65J. Barwise, J. Perry, Situations and Attitudes (Cambridge (Ma):MIT Press, 1983); K. Devlin, ‘Situation Theory and SocialStructure’,M.Masuch,L.Polos(eds.),KnowledgeRepresentationandReasoningunderUncertainty (Berlin:Springer-Verlag,1994),pp.197-237.
23
management66.
(Slide14)Thethirddimensionisrelevance.Informationisonlyrelevantfor
usersifitfitsthecontextinwhichitisused,managedandretrieved.Itneedsto
berelevantfororganizationalorpersonalobjectivesofperformanceandac-
countability67.Aspecialkindofrelevanceisappraisal,determiningthe‘value’,
relevance,ofinformationovertime.Itmeansthecomplex(andsubjective)eval-
uationofinformationtodetermineitseconomic,organizational,financial,fiscal,
juridical,legal,societal,andhistoricalrelevanceandtodeveloporganizationalor
personalretentionschedules68.Disposingofirrelevantinformationsaves(poten-
tiallyhigh)costsforretentionandaccessibility.Besidesthat,irrelevantinfor-
mationmakesorganizationsvulnerabletolegalproceedings,forinstanceinthe
contextofprivacylaw,fraudorcorruption69.
(Slide15)Thefourthdimension,Survival,concernsthesecurityanddura-
bilitychallenges,whichhavetobeovercometorealizeaccess,retrieval,and
66G.J.vanBussel, ‘AnAccountabilityChallenge:CapturingRecordsandTheirContext inEnterprise InformationSystems’,P.Silva,R.Quaresma,A.Guerreiro(eds.),Proceedingsofthe10thEuropeanConferenceonInformationSystemsManagement,TheUniversityofEvora,8-9September2016(Reading:ACPI,2016),pp.204-211.67T.Saracevic,‘Relevance:Areviewoftheliteratureandaframeworkforthinkingonthenotionininformationscience.PartII: nature and manifestations of relevance’, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58(2007),No.3,pp.1915-1933andT. Saracevic, ‘Relevance:A reviewof the literatureanda framework for thinkingon thenotion in information science. Part III: Behavior and effects of relevance’, Journal of theAmerican Society for InformationScienceandTechnology,58,(2007),No.13,pp.2126-2144.68R.J.Cox,H.W.Samuels,‘Thearchivist’sfirstresponsibility.Aresearchagendatoimprovetheidentificationandretentionofrecordsofenduringvalue’,TheAmericanArchivist,51(1988),Winter/Spring,pp.28-42.69G.J. van Bussel, H. Henseler, ‘Digital Archiving and eDiscovery. Delivering evidence in an age of overload’, B. John,M.Nkhoma and N. Leung (eds.), Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Information SystemsManagement andEvaluation.ICIME2013,HoChiMinCity,Vietnam,13-14May2013(Reading2013),pp.281-288.
24
preservationofrecordedinformationovertime70.Itstressestheimportanceofa
reliableanddurableICTinfrastructuretoenablethecontinuousandsecurestor-
ageofinformation.Thefeaturesofthisinfrastructurearefragileandcontinu-
ouslyinfluencedbytherestructuringoforganizations.Thechallengeofpre-
servationisalmostoverwhelming71.
(Slide16)Archivingorganizestheinformationvaluechain72.Thischainof
informationprocessesrealizesthefiverequirementsofinformationaccessand
thefourdimensionsofinformationinthebusinessprocessesoforganizations
andmanagesinformationtoreachcompetitiveadvantage.Theorganizational
archivingfunctionorganizestheinformationvaluechaintoidentify,control,and
manageinformationandICTsinandbetweenorganizations.Thischainensures
thattheinformationalandevidentialvalueofinformationisutilizedinandbet-
weenbusinessprocessestoimproveperformance,privacyandsecurity.Imple-
mentingtheinformationvaluechainwouldimproveorganizationalaccountabili-
ty,accesstoinformation,trustandperformance.Itwouldallowforaneasier
implementationofe-government.
Butthereisoneenormouschallenge:archivalization.
70D.Bearman,‘Momentsofrisk.Identifyingthreatstoelectronicrecords’,Archivaria,62(2003),pp15-46.71F.Boudrez,H.Dekeyser,J.Dumortier(2005).DigitalArchiving.Thenewchallenge(MontSaintGuibert:IRIS,2005).72Firstintroducedin:VanBussel,Ector,Opzoeknaardeherinnering,pp.181-354.
25
Archivalization(Slide17)
EricKetelaarintroduced‘archivalization’,meaningthe‘consciousorun-
consciouschoice(determinedbysocialandculturalfactors)toconsidersome-
thingwortharchiving’73.Understandingofthewaypeopleandorganizations
createandmaintaininformationandhowtheyconsciouslyorunconsciously
choosetoconsidersomethingworthkeepingiscrucial.
Forarchiving,butfororganizationalaccountability,too.
Itdetermineswhetherandhowitispossibletoreconstructactionsand
transactionswithinformation.Itdetermineshowpeoplecreate,process,and
useinformationandarchives,andhowarchivistsacquire,contextualize,andap-
praisethem.The‘softwareofthemind’(Ketelaarborrowedthisphrasefrom
GeertHofstede74)isconciouslyorunconciouslyinfluencedbyculturalandsocial
factors.Differentorganizationsareimplementingtheinformationvaluechainin
differentways.Professionalstandardsleadtodifferentwaysofcreatingandus-
inginformationandarchives.Forunderstandinginformationandarchives,cul-
ture,employees,andarchivistsoforganizationsaretobeknownintheirsocial,
73E.Ketelaar, ‘Archivalisationandarchiving’,ArchivesandManuscripts,27(1999),pp.54-61.Quotation:E.Ketelaar, ‘Archi-visticsresearchsavingtheprofession’,TheAmericanArchivist,63(2000),pp.322-340,p.329.74G.Hofstede,CulturesandOrganizations:SoftwareoftheMind(NewYork:McGraw-Hill,1997)(mostrecent(third)edition:2010).
26
religious,cultural,political,andeconomiccontexts75.Archivalizationimpresses
thefactarchivesarenotneutral,notcomplete,andtheresultofmanychoices.
Theyreflectmorals,preconceptions,andlimitationsoftheirsocialandcultural
environmentandofferonlyadistortedviewofreality.Or,maybebetter,they
allowforthecontructionofrealities,excluding,throughappraisalandchoices,
otherrealities76.Theinformationvaluechainisembeddedandlargelyconfig-
uredbythisbehaviouralcomponentofarchivalization.Reconstructingthepast,
asisnecessaryfororganizationalaccountability,isnotaneasyventure.
Archivalizationhasdetrimentaleffectsonarchivingandorganizationalac-
countability.Accountabilityisstronglydependentoftheworkingoforganizatio-
nalsystemsofcontrolsandthemethodsandinstrumentsusedtostrengthen
suchcontrols.AsMelvinDubnickandGeorgeFrederickson77explain,account-
abilityrelationshipsaremostlyinevidenceafteranevent(‘postfactum’).These
relationshipsinclude‘postfactum’attemptstohandleresponsibilityforhuman
ororganizationalerrors,basedon‘prefactum’(beforeanevent)expectations
andassumptionsonhumanororganizationalbehaviour,configuredinICTs.Such
attemptsarelargelybasedoninformationaboutthesefactsandonarchives.
75Ketelaar, ‘Archivistic Research’, pp. 322-340. E. Ketelaar, ‘Tacit narratives. The meaning of arhives’, Archival Science, I(2001),pp.131-141.76J.Ihanus,‘Thearchiveandpsychoanalysis:Memoriesandhistoriestowardfutures’,InternationalForumofPsycho-analysis,16(2007),No.2,pp.119-131.77M.J.Dubnick,H.G.Frederickson,Publicaccountability.Performancemeasurement,theextendedstate,andthesearchfortrust(Washington,D.C,KetteringFoundation&NationalAcademyofPublicAdministration,2011),pp.7-12,
27
ICTsaredefinedandconfigured‘prefactum’andreflectexpectationsandas-
sumptionsofbehaviour,buttheydonotreflecttheactivitiesandbehaviour‘per
factum’,duringthefact78.Organizationstrytoeliminatethisstagebydesigning
ICTstoavoidsocialrelations,toavoidpoliticaldiscussionanddebate,andto
avoidinfringementonrules.These‘perfactum’activitiesare‘spacesofcon-
testation’,spacesfilledwithpoliticaldiscussions,negotiations,anddebates,
spaceswheredecisionsarereachedandwhereaccountabilityshouldbepromi-
nent79.Butbecause‘perfactum’isneglected,theseactivitiesarenotormargi-
nallycapturedinICTs.(Slide18)
TheaccountabilitymetaphorsoftheAgoraandtheBazaar,proposedby
CiaránO’KellyandMelvinDubnick80,stresstheimportanceofsocialrelations-
hipsinthe‘perfactum’stage.AnAgoraisasocialenvironmentinwhichpurpo-
ses,reasons,andnormsaredeveloped.Itis‘afluid,contingentandlocalisedac-
countabilityspace,foundedonanunendingcascadeofsocialsituationsandrela-
tionships’inandbetweenorganizations81.Thisspaceislinkedtocollaboration
betweenparticipantsinthatspace,basedonnormsthatfocusonthefairnessof
aimsandprocedures.Organizationalprocedures,managerialpowerstructures,
78R.I.Heidelberg,‘Politicalaccountabilityandspacesofcontestation’,Administration&Society,April142015,pp.1-24.79Heidelberg,‘Politicalaccountability’,pp.10,18.80C.O’Kelley,M.Dubnick(2015).‘Accountabilityanditsmetaphors.Fromforumtoagoraandbazaar’,PaperpresentedtothePSG VII track (Quality and Integrity of Governance) of the 2015 EGPAAnnual Conference August 24-29, 2015, Tou- louse,France,Toulouse,EGPA,pp.1-25.Online:http://pure.qub.ac.uk/portal/files/13032528/COK_MJD_EGPA_Paper.pdf.81O’Kelley,Dubnick,‘Accountabilityanditsmetaphors’,p.9.
28
andorganizationalpurposesare‘informed’aboutthestandpointsanddecisions
emergingasresultsfromthesecolloborativerelationships.Theseresultsarede-
velopedwithinacontextwherepeoplecombinemoralsentimentswithethical
requirementsandconstraints.Thedefiningreasonsforactionaregenerated‘per
factum’.WithintheAgora,themetaphoroftheBazaardescribesexchangein
mutualpursuitofeachother’sinterests.ThefocusoftheBazaarisonthenego-
tiationsthatgenerateresults,andtheexchangesneededforthosenegotiations
tobesuccessful.Theseexchangesassistpeopleindevelopingstandpointsand
decisions,tryingtofindamutualinterestandwillingtotradefavours,informati-
on,oresteemtoachievetheirpurposes82.Itiswhatishappeningindailyorgani-
zationalpractice.
ExchangeswithintheBazaarmaynotbeopentodescription,formal
scrutiny,codifiedrules,orbureaucraticcontrol.Suchspacesmayinvolvepsycho-
ticandpathologicalbehaviours83.Inconfiguringtheinformationvaluechainthe-
sespacesshouldberecognized,althoughmuchoftheseexchangesarenotcap-
turedininformationuntilaftertheevent(‘postfactum’)and,atthatmoment,
accordingtosetproceduresand,thus,distortingsocialandsituationalreality.
Contextualizingsuchspaceswillbecomeveryimportanttominimizetheeffects
ofarchivalizationonthearchive’spossibilitytoreflectorganizationalrealities.82O’Kelley,Dubnick,‘Accountabilityanditsmetaphors’,p.9-16.83B.D.Singer,‘CrazySystemsandKafkaCircuits’,SocialPolicy,11(1980),pp.46-54.
29
Conclusion
Let’scometoaconclusion.
Designinganddevelopingonlineservicesanddisseminatingopendataare
easy.Thoseareactionsthatdonotneedinteraction.Realizingthemtowork
needscitizensthatwanttousethem,dohavetheliteratecapabilitiestodoso,
andtrusttheorganizationtobetransparentaboutthewayinformationispro-
cessed,secured,archived,andmanaged.Theyneedaccessibleinformation.That
is,mostoften,quiteaproblem.
E-participation,governance,andbeatingthedigitaldividearenoteasy.
SolvingthemhasnothingtodowithaccesstoICTforcitizens.Theyneedinfor-
mationliteratecitizens.Theyneedinformationaccessforeveryone.Andthey
needaccountableorganizationsthatcanbetrustedtoberesponsible,transpa-
rent,andindependent,andthatbehaveinanethicalway.
Thatisthechallengeofe-government.
Ithankyouforyourattention.