Archives New Zealand, Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga has released a report on the results of its second annual survey, which monitors information management progress in the public sector.

Archives New Zealand (Archives NZ) is the regulator under the Public Records Act 2005, making sure that public sector information is well-managed.

“Publication of the findings report and data reflects Archives NZ’s commitment to greater public visibility over information management in central and local government,” says Chief Archivist Kaipupuri Matua, Stephen Clarke.

“Monitoring is a key regulatory tool for ensuring that public sector information is being well-managed. It is critical for maintaining confidence in the quality and stewardship of information, and for encouraging the public sector to lift its performance.”

The findings report complements the key indicators for the survey reported in the recently published Annual Report on the State of Government Recordkeeping. Both reports indicate that there is room for improvement in information management.

A key area for improvement is building IM requirements into new business information systems.

“This has been a mandatory requirement for over a decade. It is very disappointing that only half of the respondents could confirm they had done this.”

Actively maintaining the usability of digital information with long-term value, and making the pathway to regular, routine disposal easier are other areas needing improvement.

“For individual organisations looking to improve their IM, a good place to start is our new self-monitoring tool, the Information Management Maturity Assessment,” says Clarke.

“The findings from self-monitoring can then be used as the basis for an action plan.”

The survey was sent to 270 public sector agencies between 20 July and 7 August last year, including 192 public offices that were required to respond. Overall, there was an 80 percent response rate. 22 public offices did not respond to the survey and they have been named in the appendices to the report.

Archives will be engaging further with public sector organisations on the recent publications, to build awareness and communicate expectations.

The findings report can be viewed here.

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