Many organizations are currently undertaking initiatives to improve information governance systems and practice across the business. Good records management is a fundamental element of good information governance and good business. BS ISO 15489-1:2016 sets the best practice for records management and all organizations will benefit from reviewing their record management activities against this standard.
What is BS ISO 15489-1:2016?
BS ISO 15489-1 establishes the core concepts and principles for the creation, capture and management of records. It provides guidance on managing records of originating organizations, public or private, for internal and external clients.
BS ISO 15489-1 defines the concepts and principles relating to:
- Records, metadata for records and records systems
- Policies, assigned responsibilities, monitoring and training supporting the effective management of records
- Recurrent analysis of business context and the identification of records requirements• Records controls
- Processes for creating, capturing and managing records
Why was BS ISO 15489-1 revised?
A revision was necessary to ensure that BS ISO 15489-1:
- Continues to meet market requirements
- Keeps pace with the increasingly complex records management requirements demanded by evolving digital environments and business delivery models
- Takes account of the wide range of related standards and technical reports that have been issued since it was first published in 2001
The revision to BS ISO 15489-1 introduces the following principal changes:
- Focusses only on principles and concepts and no longer provides a prescribed implementation methodology
- Re-interprets the traditional term “appraisal” as a core activity for determining records requirements
- Greater emphasis on the importance of metadata as an essential part of managing records and on the need for independence of records metadata from specific systems and environments
- Broadened definition of the role of records as both enablers of business activity and information assets
- Highlights increased opportunities for records use and reuse in the digital environment
- Greater focus on the need to extend systems and rules for the creation, capture and management of records beyond traditional organizational boundaries, such as collaborative and multi-jurisdictional work
- Greater emphasis on the importance of risk management in devising strategies for managing records, and the management of records as a risk management strategy in itself
Why should you use BS ISO 15489-1:2016?
Implementing BS ISO 15489-1:2016 will enable organizations to develop policies, strategies and programmes which will ensure that:
- Adequate records are created and captured to meet requirements for delivering and evidencing organizational activity
- Appropriate action is taken to protect their authenticity, reliability and usability as their business context and requirements for their management change over time
- Records and the information they contain are stored, retrieved and shared effectively, efficiently and securely including where they are dispersed across different systems and locations
- Records are systematically and authoritatively disposed of when they cease to be of business value
These will benefit organizations on:
- Improved transparency and accountability
- Informed decision making
- Management of business risks
- Continuity in the event of disaster or business disruption
- The protection of rights and obligations of organisations and individuals
- Protections and support in litigation
- Compliance with legislation and regulations
- Reduction of costs through greater business efficiency
- Evidence-based research and development activities
- The protection of corporate, personal and collective memory
Who are the main users of BS ISO 15489-1:2016?
BS ISO 15489-1:2016 is relevant to:
- Information Risk & Governance Officers
- Records Managers
- Information Managers
- IT Managers
- Information Security Managers
- Enterprise Architects
- Chief Information Officers
- Archivists, Special Librarians
- Knowledge Management professionals
- Business Administrators
- Legal Advisors
- All individuals within organizations who are responsible for the oversight of record management and information governance practices
BS ISO 15489-1:2016 will help cross-sector organizations to comply with Data Protection legislation and in particular will help them meet the enhanced information governance obligations arising from the new General Data Protection Regulation.