#Sebbari# Principles

Owned by Xiaoxia Chen
Last updated: Nov 26, 2021 by sebbari
6 min read

The Principles of Information Management provide a framework of basic rules and understandings that underpin the management of data and information across their lifecycle. They are independent of information type, are largely independent of technology, and therefore are expected to remain stable over time. There are various versions of Principles related to Data and Information management in existence such as the GEO Data Management Principles and the FAIR Principles (Ref to be added) [EF1] , but most versions have common aspects.

Well managed information according to the principles cited hereafter will help to reach the following benefits:

  • Information/Data can be found, retrieved, and used when needed

  • Information/Data can be trusted as reliable and accurate.

Information/Data is preserved for as long as needed. The Principles on which the Guidance in this publication (and subsequent Technical Regulations) rest, may be summarised briefly as follows:

P1 – Information is a valued asset:

Information should be understood and valued as much as other organisational assets such as buildings, machinery, people or money. To this end, information management must be thought of as an integral part of a NMHS' responsibilities, and accordingly needs to be properly resourced. This principle is the foundation for what follows and highlights the need for information to be valued in the same way as these other types of asset. It is important to note that the full value of information lies not just in its original purpose but in its potential to be reused for other purposes.

An information asset can be described as information or data that is of value to the organization, such as climate data and weather forecasts, and which is defined and managed as a single unit so it can be understood, shared, protected and used efficiently. These information assets can exist in physical form (e.g paper format) or electronically (e.g datasets, files).

So Information (including weather and climate Data and products) is an asset, and to maximize its value, it should be fully exploited by the organization and make available to different users. To this end, information management must be thought of as an integral part of a NMHS' responsibilities, not a "nice-to-have", and accordingly needs to be properly resourced. It should be noted that Information assets have recognizable and manageable value, risk and lifecycles.

Information can have a short lifecycle (e.g short range forecast). The speed at which information loses its value depends upon the type of information the asset represents and how accurate the information can remain over time. A data classification system can be implemented to make the organization's information assets easy to find, share and maintain. Information is an asset which is fundamental to the efficient and effective delivery of climate services

 

P2 – Information is managed:

Information is an asset, and has to be managed throughout its lifecycle, from creation to use to eventual disposal, in a way that makes it valuable and reflects its value in time and different uses. The organisational culture must support best practice in data and information management, and make sure everyone responsible for processing these business assets is appropriately skilled[TB2] . This principle therefore also includes the processes, roles, responsibilities, training, and organisational structure and culture needed to ensure the effective and efficient use of information.

Information is an asset, and has to be managed throughout its lifecycle, from creation to use to eventual disposal, in a way that makes it valuable and reflects its value in time and different uses. Data and information managers need to consider the whole lifecycle of the information, from identification of need, creation, quality assurance, maintenance, reuse and ultimately to archiving or destruction once the information has ceased to be useful. Clear roles and responsibilities of professionally qualified and appropriately skilled staff, in a good custodianship system, should be defined with respect to security, confidentiality and other statutory requirements of different types of information.

P3 – Information is fit for purpose:

Information must be good quality and fit for both its primary purpose and potential secondary uses. It will not always be possible for the originator to foresee secondary uses, so it is important that the quality of the information is communicated consistently so future users can decide if it is suitable.

Information should be developed and managed in accordance with its importance for internal and external users. This means that information assets should be assessed to see if they are fit for purpose. Quality includes factors such as accuracy, validity, reliability, timeliness, relevance, and completeness. Ensuring processes and procedures as well as documentations are adequate to ensure that data/information are "fit for purpose" for the user communities. Processes should be consistent with the General provisions and principles of quality management as described in WMO No 49, Volume 4, including a focus on continuous improvement of quality management capabilities.

 

P4 – Information is standardized:

To be usefull widely, the information should be provided in agreed standards format in order to be accessed and interpreted easily by users. The standards help determine how information is described, stored and shared. Standardisation is important for structured information such as dataset definitions and metadata. It’s also important for unstructured information such as metadata tags applied to documents. Standardisation within an NMHS is important for staff to fully exploit the information; if an NMHS uses widely accepted open standards it will unlock even more value for other users.

 

P5 – Information is reused: These could include:

  • Internal reuse – making the most of information for its primary purpose and identifying secondary uses. For example, operational data can sometimes be reused to support performance improvement or research.

  • External reuse – sharing information with other organisations, either within the public sector or with private businesses and citizens.

Reuse involves considering what information an organisation can make available to others, and looking at how an organisation might reuse information held by others. Whilst this principle strongly encourages reuse, it is important to appreciate that reuse does require a careful risk-based judgement to be made with regard to exploiting versus protecting information, as well as consideration to the costs and benefits involved, and any rights or other commercial considerations.

P5 – Information is documented:

All processes and procedures are to be comprehensively documented, and the documentation retained and kept current, to ensure full traceability of process along the data/information lifecycle and particularly for its creation.

P6 [AJM3] – Information is discoverable, accessible and available for use and reuse:

Information shall be easy to find and discoverable through strong cataloguing and indexing systems for example, in electronic accessible [GP4] forms, with licensing conditions and any restrictions on use clearly defined.

Wikipedia defines Discoverability as “the degree to which something, especially a piece of content or information, can be found in a search of a file, database, or other information system “. It is recommended that metadata are accessible, even when the data are no longer available as underlined in the FAIR principles. It is recommended that the information be interoperable across systems and tools and that protocol used to retrieve it is open, free, and universally implementable.

Information should be created and managed to enable trusted access and reuse by internal and external users. The reuse of information should be done with respect to any rights or other commercial considerations including NMHs Data policy.

P7- Accountability/Governance.

Information needs to be governed as it moves through its lifecycle. All information shall have a designated owner/steward/curator/custodian [TB5] who is responsible for ascertaining:

a.     Definition and enforcement of appropriate retention policy, taking into account of stakeholder needs and variations in value over the information lifecycle;

b.     Licensing, and defining and enforcing any access restrictions;

The designated owner has budget and decision-making authority about preservation and data usage[TB6] .

 [EF1]Move this in a reference. OK

 [TB2]What does it mean to be ‘qualified and appropriately skiled’?  How would this apply to some aspects of information management such as crowd sourcing? Need response

 [AJM3]I recommend referencing, citing or reusing FAIR principles here. OK

 [GP4]“electronic accessible”? Need response

 [TB5]How is a designated owner determined?  Is it the measurement funder, measurement acquirer, data manager, archiver? Need reponse!!! Taking into account that at its stage during the information lifecycle there should be someone responsible for : observer that climatologist etc . But here I think we talk about the organization ?

 [TB6]How is this achieved? Need response