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A Matter of Trust: A Matter of Trust

A Matter of Trust
A Matter of Trust

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table of contents
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Copyright
  5. Contents
  6. Acknowledgements
  7. About the authors
  8. Introduction
    1. Background
  9. 1. Records as evidence for measuring sustainable development in Africa
    1. Breakdown of records systems in Africa
    2. Records management, structural adjustment, public sector reform and computerisation
    3. Consequences for Africa of losing control of records
    4. Open data and records management
    5. Conclusion
  10. 2. The state of data and statistics in sub-Saharan Africa in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals
    1. Defining the terms statistics and data
    2. Census data
    3. Statistical activities in Africa
    4. SWOT analysis
    5. Overcoming the challenges
    6. Conclusion
  11. 3. Data, information and records: exploring definitions and relationships
  12. 4. The potential – constructive and destructive – of information technology for records management: case studies from India
    1. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
    2. Aadhaar
      1. Leaks and the system’s vulnerability to penetration
      2. Coercive action by a government in a hurry
      3. ‘Inhuman and illegal’: malfunctions and denials of services cause hardships
      4. Curbing – and enabling – corruption
  13. 5. Statistical accuracy and reliable records: a case study of mortality statistics in The Gambia
    1. Background
    2. Mortality rates in The Gambia
      1. How are mortality rates calculated?
    3. Challenges for collecting reliable birth and death statistics in The Gambia
      1. How are deaths recorded?
      2. How are death rates estimated?
      3. The reliability of birth dates
    4. Efforts to strengthen official statistics in The Gambia
      1. The Gambia Bureau of Statistics
      2. The significance of records for mortality statistics and the contribution of the National Records Service
    5. The benefits of shared responsibility for the quality of statistics
    6. Summary and conclusion
  14. 6. Mainstreaming records and data management in sustainable development: lessons from the public and private sectors in Kenya
    1. The public sector experience in Kenya
    2. Mobile banking in Kenya
      1. Relationship to the SDGs
      2. How do data and records management support mobile banking?
    3. Building bridges between the sectors
    4. Conclusion
  15. 7. Open data and records management – activating public engagement to improve information: case studies from Sierra Leone and Cambodia
    1. Sierra Leone
      1. Open data in support of free and fair elections
      2. The potential records management contribution
    2. Lower Mekong, Cambodia: land investment mapping
      1. The open data initiative
      2. The potential for a records management contribution
    3. Key issues from the two case studies
    4. Conclusion
  16. 8. Assuring authenticity in public sector data: a case study of the Kenya Open Data Initiative
    1. Data authenticity
    2. The Kenya Open Data Initiative
    3. Land data
      1. Land information management
      2. Examining the land dataset
    4. Conclusion
  17. 9. Preserving the digital evidence base for measuring the Sustainable Development Goals
    1. Elements of a digital preservation capability
    2. Implementation options
      1. Doing nothing
      2. Using open source software
      3. Developing a bespoke solution
      4. Procuring a commercial solution
      5. Outsourcing the service
      6. Partnership approaches
      7. Hybrid approaches
      8. Using consultancy services
    3. Implementation and operational implications
      1. Implementing a digital preservation service
      2. Governance
      3. Roles and responsibilities
    4. Training
    5. Policies and procedures
    6. Conclusion
  18. 10. Preserving and using digitally encoded information as a foundation for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
    1. Requirements for SDG data to be fit for purpose
      1. Authenticity
      2. Longitudinal studies
      3. Combining data
      4. Errors
    2. Collecting and preserving data for SDGs
      1. Semantic issues
      2. Proportions
      3. Unclear metrics
      4. Rates
      5. Number of countries
      6. Money
      7. Prevalence
      8. Structural issues
      9. Virtual data
      10. Input data
    3. Digital preservation and exploiting digital data
      1. Basic concepts in digital preservation
      2. Types of digitally encoded information
      3. Digital preservation
      4. Active data management plans
    4. Is it really being preserved? The importance of certification
    5. Getting to where we need to be
    6. Conclusion
  19. 11. Transparency in the 21st century: the role of records in achieving public access to information, protecting fundamental freedoms and monitoring sustainable development
    1. Current transparency initiatives are undermined by weak records and information management
    2. Weakness in records and information management is a widespread and persistent problem
    3. New digital forms of communication and conducting government business have exacerbated earlier weaknesses in records and information management
    4. Weak control of digital records and information weakens transparency and public accountability mechanisms
    5. Persistent cultures of secrecy lead to oral government and avoidance of record-making and keeping
    6. Good data are needed on records and information management implementation in support of transparency
      1. Policy
      2. Standards
      3. Roles and responsibilities
      4. Systems and practices
      5. Capacity
      6. Policy
      7. Standards
      8. Roles and responsibilities
      9. Systems and practices
      10. Capacity
    7. Steps that can be taken to strengthen records and information management
      1. Strengthen laws and policies governing digital records management
      2. Introduce independent records and information management oversight
      3. Align incentives of public officials with RIM principles and transparency policies and laws
      4. Encourage collaboration
    8. Conclusion
  20. 12. Information management for international development: roles, responsibilities and competencies
    1. Quality information for international development
    2. Key players in records management, their roles and responsibilities
      1. Group 1: professionals with the necessary technical skills and qualifications (such as records, IT) to ensure information quality
      2. Group 2: managers (senior, programme, functional) who enable or facilitate the work of the professionals
      3. Group 3: all other stakeholders and users of the information, inside and outside the organisation
    3. Capacity for managing records
    4. Capacity Level 1
      1. (Poor quality records undermine SDG implementation)
      2. Group 1: professionals
      3. Group 2: managers
      4. Group 3: other stakeholders and users
    5. Capacity Level 2
      1. (Records enable SDG implementation at a basic level)
      2. Group 1: professionals
      3. Group 2: managers
      4. Group 3: other stakeholders and users
    6. Capacity Level 3
      1. (The quality of records makes it possible to measure SDGs effectively and supports government programme activities)
      2. Group 1: professionals
      3. Group 2: managers
      4. Group 3: other stakeholders and users
    7. Capacity Level 4
      1. (Well-managed records make it possible to measure SDG implementation effectively and consistently through time; data and statistics are of high enough quality and integrity to support government programme activities at the strategic level)
      2. Group 1: professionals
      3. Group 2: managers
      4. Group 3: other stakeholders and users
    8. Capacity Level 5
      1. (Processes generating records, and the framework for managing them, are designed to make it possible to exploit data, statistics and records, including the information used for measuring SDGs, in new and innovative ways)
      2. Group 1: professionals
      3. Group 2: managers
      4. Group 3: other stakeholders and users
    9. Determining and achieving the desired capacity level
      1. Employ staff with formal qualifications
      2. Train existing staff
      3. Contract expert staff short term as change makers
      4. Use standards to guide practice and inform staff recruitment
      5. Benchmark staff skills and knowledge against competency standards
    10. Conclusion
  21. 13. The quality of data, statistics and records used to measure progress towards achieving the SDGs: a fictional situation analysis
    1. Background
    2. Organisation of the report
    3. Methodology
    4. Definitions
    5. Analysis
    6. The government of Patria and the SDGs
    7. Data collection and analysis at the ministry level
      1. Survey data
      2. Registration and administrative data
      3. Scientific data
    8. Data and records issues at the ministry level7
    9. Data and records issues at the NBS
    10. Implications of the failure to establish a management framework
    11. Strategies for sustainable solutions
    12. Laws and policies
      1. Issues
      2. Strategies
    13. Standards and practices
      1. Issues
      2. Strategies
    14. Systems and technologies
      1. Issues
      2. Strategies
    15. People
      1. Issues
      2. Strategies
    16. Management and governance
      1. Issues
      2. Strategies
    17. Awareness
      1. Issues
      2. Strategies
    18. Implementing the strategies
    19. Capacity levels to guide the way forward
      1. Level 1: poor-quality data, statistics and records undermine SDG implementation
      2. Level 2: data, statistics and records enable basic SDG measurement
      3. Level 3: the quality of data, statistics and records makes it possible to measure SDGs effectively and supports government programme activities
      4. Level 4: well-managed data, statistics and records make it possible to measure SDG implementation effectively and consistently through time; data and statistics are of high enough quality and integrity to support government programme activities at the strategic level
      5. Level 5: processes generating data, statistics and records, and the framework for managing them, are designed to make it possible to exploit data, statistics and records, including those measuring SDGs, in new and innovative ways
    20. First steps
      1. Identify a leader and assemble a team
      2. Identify processes as examples
      3. Describe the selected processes
      4. Identify issues and implications
      5. Develop strategies for resolving issues
      6. Apply the experience to other processes and to the framework for managing data/statistics/records
  22. Index

Acknowledgements

In 2016, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London was awarded an Arts and Humanities Research Council grant (AHRC Networking Grant, AH/P006205/1) to enable me to explore, with a team of multidisciplinary experts, issues affecting how development is measured and the consequences. This involved examining the requirements for quality controls across the closely related disciplines of data, statistics and records, not only for reliably measuring the Sustainable Development Goals but for strengthening accountable governance. I greatly appreciated the Institute’s generous support throughout this process.

John McDonald’s help has also been invaluable. Not only has he been a point of reference for innumerable professional issues, but his patience and kindness have been remarkable. James Lowry, too, has been consistently generous and supportive, and the members of the multidisciplinary team have been outstanding collaborators.

I am pleased to dedicate this volume to the many colleagues around the world with whom I have explored the issues covered here. In particular, I want to express gratitude to Pino Akotia, whose openness, integrity and love of his country have always inspired me.

Anne Thurston, Editor

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