accountability : Note that neither definition [of information governance or IT governance] includes any notion of coercion, but rather ties governance to accountability that is designed to encourage the right behavior. There is something buried in the definition which I think is at the heart of what I consider to be the problem that most of us face when we start talking about information governance. The word that matters most is accountability. The root of all of our problems with information, and we do have lots of problems with it, is the fact that there is no accountability for information as such. (†604)
information governance : Gartner’s own (official, which means we argued about every word) definition of is as follows:
¶The specification of decision rights and an accountability framework to encourage desirable behavior in the valuation, creation, storage, use, archival and deletion of information. It includes the processes, roles, standards and metrics that ensure the effective and efficient use of information in enabling an organization to achieve its goals.
¶It is derived from our definition of IT governance which ‘may be defined as the processes that ensure effective and efficient use of IT in enabling an organization to achieve its goals’.
Note that neither definition includes any notion of coercion, but rather ties governance to accountability that is designed to encourage the right behavior. There is something buried in the definition which I think is at the heart of what I consider to be the problem that most of us face when we start talking about information governance. The word that matters most is accountability. (†603)
