Information Governance

More and more companies are operating throughout the world, so the impact of differing requirements for e-discovery is increasing, especially those relating to privacy. The rules tend to be much more rigorous outside the United States, particularly in the European Union.

Europe has adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was promulgated in April 2016 and has a two-year implementation timeframe. It regulates the manner in which data can be collected and moved across international borders. The regulation makes an e-discovery company or law firm responsible for any compliance failure. If there is a breach, the data handling entity can be held liable for up to 4 percent of its gross revenues worldwide, whether the breach was intentional or not.

The fact is that most people will either embrace or decline information governance depending on their individual situation at a certain point in time. Information governance is closely allied with privacy and security. Knowledge as internal currency that needs to be managed wisely, which is where a governance procedure would be helpful.

It is entirely possible that someone might curse a rule as arbitrary while simultaneously recognizing the necessity of it from a security standpoint. Someone else could easily applaud relevant search results without actually realizing the role information governance played in facilitating that relevance. And there’s always “that guy” who complains regardless of whether the complaint is justified.

When organizations have the need for a taxonomy, they focus on taxonomy development and they do not take into consideration the need for taxonomy governance. Taxonomy governance is part of information governance and should be taken seriously.

Taxonomies exist to support business processes and the associated organizational goals. A well-managed taxonomy provides the structure needed to manage content across multiple internal systems and gives users options and flexibility for how content is accessed and displayed. Taxonomy governance plans ensure that the taxonomies are maintained in a way that satisfies current and future needs and provides the maximum return on investment.

Data is not just critical to business it is core. It is the essence of a company’s function. Big data is a major part of that flow, and the more customer data that is out there, the more it needs protection.

As big data gathers momentum, incorporating security into planning and processes in the early stages of a project are becoming more important. The big data revolution is just getting started,” adds Munshani, “and will present major security challenges if its data management is not carefully planned.

Formerly the exclusive domain of IT, information security has now become the domain of everybody including content and knowledge managers.

Data security should be a priority in your organization.

For hackers, large-scale data breaches such as Home Depot, Neiman Marcus, and Staples are gold mines. For businesses, keeping valuable customer data out of the hands of cyber-thieves is a constant battle. Companies need to safeguard against every possible vulnerability across their entire infrastructure.