Ngā rawa mōhiohio – Te Whakahaere
Information assets – Management
Learn how to appropriately manage, understand, access, share and dispose of information assets.
Using an information asset register
To appropriately manage, understand, access, share and dispose of information assets, your organisation should document and maintain details about them in an information asset register.
In its simplest form, an information asset register is a structured list that captures information about an organisation’s information assets. Once established, it can help you identify, control and monitor those assets with business value. Managing information assets in a register helps you avoid unnecessary or unknown duplication of information, systems and processes.
Benefits of an information asset register
Information asset registers are part of an effective information governance program. They help you understand and manage information, records and data that are created and maintained across your organisation. An information asset register can help your organisation by:
providing a single location for documentation about information assets, facilitating maintenance
documenting the links between business requirements and information assets
defining and managing the accessibility and usability of assets
identifying who is accountable and responsible for them
identifying and mitigating any risks and changes that might affect the assets
managing the relevance, currency, retention and disposal of the assets.
Deciding which assets to include
When adding information assets to a register, you should consider the purpose of the register, the business value and context of the asset, and its’ relevance to the register.
Purpose of the register
Why was the register created?
What business requirements does it help address? For example, does it focus on a single function, business area or storage location?
Business value of the asset
How important is the information asset?
What risk or potential benefit does it present to your business?
What critical workflows does it contribute to?
Business context of the asset
How is the asset used in general business?
Relevance of the information asset to the register
What does the information asset contain?
How does this help address the purpose of the information asset register?
Designing an information asset register
New Zealand public sector organisations have legislated requirements for how they manage, use, share and access their information assets. These responsibilities—combined with an organisation’s specific business requirements—form a basis for identifying what should be captured in a register and the most efficient way to do so.
This table lists examples of key attributes that we recommend you include in an information asset register. Your organisation may build on these to design a register that will best suit your specific business requirements.
Key attributes | Description |
|---|---|
Name/Identifier | Identifies and categorises the information asset |
Description | Summarises the content of the asset and it's relationship to the business function(s) of the organisation. |
Users | Documents who created the asset, who is responsible for it, how often it is updated, to what extent it is managed and so on |
Value | Describes the significance of the asset to the organisation (its business value) and if it meets any of our criteria for long-term or archival value |
Lifecycle | Manages the retention and disposal rules of the asset—in other words how long it needs to be retained—including what the disposal triggers are, what the final disposal action is and so on |
Access | Manages the liabilities and risks of the use and reuse of the asset by documenting any security and privacy considerations, information sharing arrangements, copyright and so on |
Storage Environment | Ensures the appropriate continuity and migration of the asset through business and technology changes by identifying physical and technological dependencies |
Reviewing and updating an information asset register
You need to maintain information asset registers to ensure they remain accurate and current. This should include reviewing and updating:
information assets listed in the register—ensuring the asset’s content is up to date
the information asset register itself—confirming and updating each attribute.
In addition to scheduled and regular reviews, you should consider reviewing information asset registers when events occur such as:
there are significant changes to business risks or operations
new business systems are implemented, or existing systems are updated
legacy paper-based processes are transitioned to digital workflows.