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Data Policy

Effective date

1. This policy takes effect on April 1, 2012

Application

2. This policy applies to data created, collected by or used by employees of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.

Context

3. This policy is implemented in the context of DFO/CCG Information Management Strategy: Supporting a Transformation to DFO/CCG 2.0 (IMS) [1], approved by the Departmental Management Committee on October 28, 2009. It responds both to the Government of Canada Information Management Problem Assessment [2] and the data management challenges as identified by DFO/CCG staff and described in the IM Strategy.

4. This policy is issued under the authority of the Chief Information Officer for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, as the senior executive designated responsible for Information Management by the Deputy Minister, pursuant to section 6.1 of the Directive on Information Management Roles and Responsibilities [3].

5. The Treasury Board Secretariat’s Policy on Information Management [4] and its related policy instruments are the authoritative departmental source of information for the DFO Information Management Program. This DFO/CCG policy applies the Treasury Board Policy on Information Management to the DFO/CCG data context.

6. A Policy Suite in support of this policy will be developed using Treasury Board development tools. This will include directives, standards and guidelines related to data with consideration of costs and mechanisms to ensure resources are available to support the policy.

7. This policy will be reviewed at the end of the initial three year implementation period of the IM Strategy (following FY 2012-2013). This policy will be reviewed every 2 years thereafter. This policy does not replace other sector specific data policies; rather it provides a unifying basis for all DFO sector specific data management policies.

8. The policy review will be completed by Information Management and Technology Services.

Definitions

9. Data is the embodiment of information into bits, bytes, drawings, text, etc, in various media. Data can be interpreted in different ways, mainly by relating it to other data or information, in order to generate new knowledge. Data and information are often treated synonymously; however, formally data includes consideration of the medium and form. Information is more abstract (i.e. the same information can be presented in different ways by different data).

10. Definitions to be used in the interpretation of this policy are in Appendix A.

Policy statement

5.1 Objective

The objective of this policy is to:

1. Achieve the DFO/CCG Vision for Information approved by the Departmental Management Committee in June 2008: Information used for decision-making and program delivery at DFO/CCG is accurate, relevant, comprehensive and timely.

2. Reduce risk to information for decision making.

3. Comply with Treasury Board policy and support Government of Canada directions.

5.2 Expected Results

It is expected that this policy will evolve DFO/CCG’s maturity, as reviewed annually against the IM Maturity Model detailed in the IM Strategy Action Plan. Expected results as they relate to data are:

1. Strong data stewardship and governance in a collaborative environment that is flexible, efficient and effective in delivering the data necessary to meet departmental objectives. Data stewards assume responsibility for data in the business units and the IM&TS organization.

2. An Information Architecture practise that supports the development of high quality, integrated data that ensures the coherent flow of knowledge throughout the enterprise.

3. Strategic Planning and Accountability with clear guidance as to who is responsible for particular aspects of the data environment and data functional specifications which reflect the needs of users to achieve departmental objectives. Furthermore, the data environment is founded on trust, sharing, common efforts/approaches, credibility and competency with strong performance in the areas of integrity, accessibility and privacy.

4. The evolution of data-centric policy instruments that leverage existing DFO/CCG instruments at the business unit, sector or enterprise levels while aligning with the Government of Canada policy suite.

5. The creation of department-wide monitoring systems for data quality, accessibility and timeliness to reduce the risk to information for decision making.

6. An Application Architecture that ensures strong collaboration in application design at the business, subject matter and information expert levels.

7. Information Systems developed with clear roles and responsibilities for application and content ownership and aligned with enterprise investment and project planning portfolios.

8. Data service definitions and business models that integrate IM and Applications services with IT services through a comprehensive service catalogue.

Policy Requirement

1 Principles

a) Data is a corporate asset to be managed strategically to meet DFO/CCG requirements.

b) Data shall be shared and managed throughout DFO/CCG as appropriate.

c) Data shall be created or acquired as needed to meet departmental objectives.

d) The integrity of DFO/CCG data shall be actively managed.

e) DFO/CCG data in all formats shall be safeguarded and secured based on recorded and approved requirements and compliance guidelines.

f) All strategic DFO/CCG data shall be organized, named and defined consistently across business lines (modeled).

g) All DFO/CCG data shall be created and maintained as close to the source as feasible.

h) DFO/CCG data and information about that data (meta-data) shall be readily accessible to all, except where determined to be restricted.

i) DFO/CCG information system development and integration projects will utilize approved DFO/CCG meta-data standards.

j) Individuals and organizations within DFO/CCG that are recognized data creators, managers and users will have designated Data Stewardship roles and responsibilities consistent with the management of the data life cycle and their job description

k) Data quality standards shall be defined, published, communicated, managed and applied according to approved reliability and risk levels as defined by the business units.

l) Data shall be stored in authoritative repositories that meet the accessibility requirements of its users.

m) Retention and disposition of data is managed.

2 Roles and Responsibilities

The Roles and Responsibilities for the positions/individuals identified below in sections 6.3-6.7 inclusive are established in the Treasury Board Secretariat’s (TBS) Policy on Information Management [4] and in policy instruments derived there from, including the Directive on IM Roles and Responsibilities [3]. These TBS policy instrument references use the term “information” to mean both data and information. DFO/CCG will develop its own policies/directives to supplement these Treasury Board Secretariat instruments.

3 The Deputy Minister is responsible for:

a) Undertaking the roles and responsibilities established in the Treasury Board Secretariat policy instruments referenced above.

4 The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is responsible for:

a) Undertaking, as “the senior executive designated responsible for Information Management”, the roles and responsibilities established in the Treasury Board Secretariat policy instruments referenced above.

5 Program Managers are responsible for:

a) Managing data as an integral part of their program and service delivery and as a strategic business resource by following the roles and responsibilities established in the Treasury Board Secretariat policy instruments referenced above.

6 All DFO staff are responsible for:

a) Managing the data they collect, create and use as a valuable asset to support not only the outcomes of the programs and services, but also the department's operational needs and accountabilities by following the roles and responsibilities established in the Treasury Board Secretariat policy instruments referenced above.

7 IM Functional Specialists are responsible for:

a) Supporting the effective management of departmental data throughout its life cycle by following the roles and responsibilities established in the Treasury Board Secretariat policy instruments referenced above.

Monitoring and Reporting Requirements

11. Performance reporting will be completed on an annual basis through the review of departmental maturity levels on IM Framework elements and meeting of Management Accountability Framework requirements.

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Compliance

12. Departmental staff in appropriate positions (as outlined in the Policy Requirements sections 6.2-6.7) are responsible for ensuring compliance

13. Consequences of non-compliance with any mandatory aspect of this Policy can vary from informal follow-up to formal direction on corrective measures.

References

1. Information Management Strategy (IMS) ( )

2. Government of Canada IM Problem Assessment ()

3. Directive on Information Management Roles and Responsibilities (tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=12754§ion=text#cha1)

4. Treasury Board Policy on Information Management ( )

Enquiries

14. Please direct enquiries about this policy to the Chief Information Officer (CIO).

Appendix A: Definitions

- Definitions for terms used are defined in the TBS Policy on Information Management [1] and associated Directives. Data is defined using TBITS 23 = ISO 2382-1 1993 Information technology -Vocabulary - Part 1: Fundamental terms. For the purpose of this policy these additional definitions apply:

TBITS/ISO Definitions

- Data - a reinterpretable representation of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing.

- Information representations - signal, discrete, numeric, digital, alphanumeric, analog, symbol, bit, byte, octet, character and digit representations

- Information (in information processing) - knowledge concerning objects, such as facts, events, things, processes, or ideas, including concepts that within a certain context has a particular meaning.

- Text - data in the form of characters, symbols, words, phrases, paragraphs, sentences, tables, or other character arrangements, intended to convey a meaning, and whose interpretation is essentially based upon the reader’s knowledge of some natural language or artificial language

Other Definitions

- Management of data - the activities needed to assemble, document, archive and provide access to the data assets of the department.

- Long term - long enough to be concerned with the impacts of changing technologies, including support for new media and data formats, or with changing needs or composition of user communities.

- Managed repositories - collections of data that have institutional rather than personal support to update and maintain their contents, undergo routine backup and recovery procedures, have institutional support to migrate data from older to more modern technology, and have facilities to provide access to the data they hold.

- Data Stewards - those individuals ultimately responsible for the definition, management, control, integrity or maintenance of Departmental data. This includes data users – those individuals who rely on access to data to achieve departmental objectives under their responsibility.

Appendix B: Proposed Policy Instruments to be Developed

The current list of proposed policy instruments to be developed in support of this Data Policy includes:

- Directive on Data Management Activities

- Directive on Data Access and Restrictions

- Directive on Retention and Disposition

- Directive on Data Governance

- Directive on Roles & Responsibilities

- Directive on Recordkeeping

- Directive on Data Quality

- Standard for Repositories

- Standard for Data Archiving

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