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Security-focused approach to public sector data will cause ‘more damage than good’
SAS, the leader in business analytics, and Chris Higson, visiting associate professor of accounting at London Business School, have published a best practice whitepaper entitled Valuing Information as an Asset warning public sector professionals that adopting a ‘security first’ approach to data management and blind-folded cost-cutting will cause further inefficiencies and damage to public confidence in Government.
The paper argues information is a critical strategic asset and must be treated and accounted for accordingly or public sector organisations run the risk of failure. Currently the public sector acts in the opposite way to the private sector by controlling the flow of information using a predominantly security-centric approach to information management. The result is organisations rarely succeed against their objectives because little value is placed on its information assets.
Key excerpts from the paper include:
The number of highly-publicised data breaches has negatively impacted public confidence in Government. However adopting a ‘security first’ approach by locking down the flow of information has had worse consequences demonstrated by recent high-profile cases such as Shipman and Baby P.
The current economic climate means resources are scarcer, the margin of error is slimmer and stakes are higher. Therefore its even more important informed decisions are made by approaching and exploiting information as an asset.
Slashing budgets is inevitable if Britain is to reduce its growing deficit. However wielding the cost-cutting axe blind-folded means a reduction in investments essential to the future survival of public sector organisations. Managers need to take a closer look at what is spent and discriminate between ‘good costs’, generating value, and ‘bad costs’, ones that should be reduced or eliminated, to make better budgetary decisions.
Chris Higson, co-author and professor of accounting at London Business School, says, “Valuing information as a strategic asset is essential to reducing Britain’s deficit and restoring public confidence. Applying accounting theory to the data held by public sector bodies will enable management to differentiate between essential expenditure adding value and dead costs. There is no doubt that public departments have struggled to look after their information but this is the first paper to outline specific recommendations on what processes should be followed to put talk into action and successfully address fundamental issues head-on.”
Dave Waltho, co-author and head of Government Affairs at SAS, says, “Simply preventing individuals from sharing information, even within the same department where it is legitimate and fully justified, will only lead to a break-down in public services. Cases including Baby P and Shipman are haunting examples of why a security-centric approach can hinder effectiveness. Information is the Government’s most strategic asset and we are confident that following these best practices will enable the departments to find an appropriate balance between streamlining operations and information security before it’s too late.”
Valuing Information as an Asset is based on an in-depth report written for the independent UK based Parliament-Industry group EURIM in November 2009. The full paper can be found here.
