What is an information strategy?

'Information was the lifeblood of Higher Education Institutions (HEI). It is a resource which needed to be managed on par with finance and human resources. Information must be considered to be part of the infrastructure of an HEI - whether it is information for teaching and learning, for research, or for management.'

Original JISC Guidelines - Orna, E (2004) Information strategy in practice. Gower Publishing Ltd.

An (information) strategy will need to embrace competition and collaboration in bringing about change. Such strategies should cover information resources, the facilitation of staff/student communication, the development (purchase or production) of learning and teaching materials and other content, and the development of effective management information systems in an integrated manner 'we recommend that all higher education institutions should have in place overarching Communications and Information Strategies by 1999/2000'. Dearing Report (1997)

The JISC Guidelines defined an Information Strategy as follows:

'An effective Information Strategy would ensure that investment in information, information technology, systems and services was efficient and effective; and that information produced within the Institution was exploited to the benefit of the Institution. It provided a focus for information issues and a forum for a wide range of people to consider the institution's information needs. The Information Strategy had to flow from the Strategic Plan of the Institution and would help to achieve its Mission by providing a link between the overall Strategic Plan and the operational requirements of the Institution. As such, it was a tool for management, a means by which changes could be brought about, and attitudes and culture changed. It was a central part of a hierarchy of strategies' (the Sequel).

The C&IT Chapter in the Corporate Plan provided a framework for a prioritised plan of work and a focus for development. It provided the means for the Information Strategy to be embedded within the planning priorities of the University and ensured that the direction taken supported the aims and objectives of the Corporate Plan

LEEDS Case Study

The Guidelines did not attempt to define an ideal strategy. They were designed to be flexible enough to allow for the diversity in the HE community, recognising that every institution had different requirements.

They were very clear that the type of Information Strategy that they were proposing was a process and not just a document and that the process should not only apply to computing or libraries, but needed to cover all types of information - not only management related information but also academic information that supported teaching, learning and research.

The Guidelines outlined a process for developing an Information Strategy that would seek to define and achieve a "set of attitudes" in which:

• Information that was available for sharing was defined and appropriately available
• The quality of the information was fit for purpose ( e.g. accuracy, currency, consistency, completeness - but only as far as necessary)
• All staff would know and exercise their responsibilities towards information
• There was a mechanism by which priorities were clearly identified and then acted on
• The aim of such a process was to change working practices and processes throughout the institution so as to enable it to achieve its mission more effectively. A change in attitudes and working practices would not be achieved by a top down hierarchically driven process; the process had to have a bottom up analysis within the context of the strategic direction of the institution. Consequently the process had to be an iterative learning process
• For clarity the Guidelines define an 'information system strategy' as the computer systems needed to support the Information Strategy; in turn, the 'information technology strategy' defines the technical infrastructure covering standards, hardware and software, operating systems, networks and technical policies