| Information Management in the Government of Canada: The Business Problem Assessment |
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This document, The Business Problem Assessment, is the first of the two primary deliverables of the Vision Phase of strategic design and planning for the Government of Canada (GC)
Information Management (IM) Program Transformation Initiative. It answers the question: “What is wrong with IM today?” Serious problems with IM in government are documented in many
authoritative sources (see Appendix D: Reference Materials). The Business Problem Assessment summarizes the results of a broad collaborative process to review these sources, consolidate,
confirm, and elaborate upon these and other known problems, uncover any missing ones, and analyse them to discover their root causes. It provides the motivating reasons for designing and planning a
transformed IM Program. Its aim is to make executives, managers and staff sufficiently aware of issues with the status quo to accept the need for concerted change.
This draft is being circulated for the purposes of comment and further input by the federal stakeholder community prior to endorsement by the IM Program’s governing body, the Information
Management Committee (IMC). Following that, at the end of the Vision Phase, it will go for approval to the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Canada.
During the Start Up and Vision Phases, more than 20 workshops and working sessions with participants from 14 departments and agencies were held to gather input and conduct analysis for the Vision
Phase primary deliverables. Over 100 individuals representing IM and its clients participated in this work (see Appendix A: Acknowledgment). Subsequent phases of the IM Program Transformation
Initiative will continue to rely on and broaden this participation.
When all phases are completed, the GC will have, for the first time, a government-wide strategic design and plan for an IM Program—a program that will enable it to treat information in much the
same way as it treats other strategic assets critical to business success such as human and financial resources.
At the conclusion of the Vision Phase, The Business Problem Assessment and The Vision will be approved as the basis for developing a transformation strategy, business design, business case and master plan for realizing the IM Program vision. This does not mean that the Vision Phase deliverables will be “frozen”. As the collaboration scope is broadened through the remaining phases, more stakeholders will have an opportunity to participate. Their perspectives will be reflected in all deliverables, which are “living documents” with new versions being published at the end of each phase (where required).
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