Eisenhower famously quipped “plans are worthless, but planning is everything.”  His point was that though a plan may not anticipate every contingency, the rigors of the planning process are essential for preparedness.  That’s true for everything from WWII to pandemic response and to managing information risks and opportunities. So, did the United States have a plan for pandemic response, and what were its key elements? Yes indeed, the Bush administration developed plans and recommendations for…

“If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus, rather than a war.  Not missiles, but microbes.”  That’s from Bill Gates’ 2015 TED Talk, in the midst of the Western African Ebola outbreak.  Gates added “W]e’re not ready for the next epidemic….  With Ebola, the problem was not that we had a system that didn’t work well enough.  The problem was that…

Management support is crucial for successful Information Governance initiatives. This is not merely a question of initial project and budget approvals. Most Information Governance initiatives involve behavioral changes in how data is handled, and in many instances, aspects of organizational culture may be impacted. No matter the ultimate benefits, any initiative involving behavioral change will require committed support by management to overcome initial push-back. And because effective Information Governance is an ongoing business process, rather…

Selecting the right initial project(s), determining outcomes and measures, and preparing the business case are important groundwork for your Information Governance initiative, as discussed in Part 1.  But to secure resilient management support for an ongoing initiative, you’ll also want to tie the individual projects to strategic objectives for Information Governance at your organization. Strategic IG Objectives While a single successful project is fine, higher-level strategic objectives are needed to foster an ongoing information…

As noted in Part 1, attention is always in short supply in organizations, and especially so for executive management. Amidst the distractions and complexity of today’s businesses, executives often use a relevance filter – “is what I’m asked to support relevant to what drives our organization to success?  Will it help move us ahead, or get in our way?” No matter the anticipated benefits of an IG initiative, if what is proposed does not…

Law firms, like most businesses today, have embraced the convenient but usually hidden technologies known as the “Internet of Things.”  This extension of internet connectivity into everyday objects and physical devices offers everything from constant video monitoring, to automatic locks, to dynamic heating and cooling adjustments.  IoT devices look, listen, transmit, and record trillions of data points, and a report by ForeScout Technologies suggests that the number of connected devices will reach more than 20…