1 . Policy Statement

This policy establishes the governance framework for information management and technology (IMT) for the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT).

2 . Principles

IMT governance will be guided by the following principles:

• All stakeholder needs should be considered in the development of the enterprise objectives.
• Benefits, risks and resources should be optimized in the pursuit of the objectives.
• Governance should be conducted in a spirit of openness and transparency.
• Governance processes should be implemented based on industry best practices.
• Governance (setting direction, holding accountable) should be kept separate from management (planning, doing).

3 . Scope

This policy applies to:

• All GNWT departments ;
• Any other entity that is within the GNWT’s data network;

4 . Definitions

• Enterprise (or Corporate) - Refers to the entire GNWT, including all departments, boards and agencies.
• Records – as defined in the Archives Act
• Information Management and Technology (IMT) – as referred to in the Financial Administration Act.
  • This also includes related risks, strategies, services and projects.  Information includes records, recorded information and data;
  • Technology also includes software, hardware, telecommunications and broadband.

5 . Authority and Accountability

General            

The Financial Management Board delegates to the Informatics Policy Council, through FAM 115, responsibility for oversight of the implementation of the IMT Governance Policy and overall leadership with respect to IMT and IMT policy execution in the GNWT.  The Financial Management Board delegates to the Chief Information Officer responsibility for establishing the management framework for IMT functions within the GNWT, and for providing administrative and management support to the Informatics Policy Council.

Authority and accountability is further defined as follows:

Deputy Minister, Department of Finance

Provides support, direction and assistance to Deputy Heads on this Policy and associated procedural and/or guideline issues.

Deputy Heads

Are accountable for:

• The management of information held by their department;
• Adherence to IMT policies in their department;
• Technology-enabled projects led by their department;
• IMT assets owned by their department.

And are responsible for ensuring:

• Departments contribute to setting enterprise objectives for IMT;
• Departments contribute to the monitoring and reporting on enterprise objectives for IMT;
• IMT is integrated into the overall business plans of departments;
• IMT policies are implemented in the departments.

Informatics Policy Council

Is accountable for:

• Supporting the FMB in fulfilling its responsibilities regarding oversight of information management and technology;
• Managing the portfolios of IMT-enabled investments, services and assets, ensuring that value is delivered and risk is managed.

And, is responsible for:

• Setting direction through prioritization, decision-making and policies;
• Establishing a set of balanced, agreed-upon enterprise objectives; and
• Monitoring performance and compliance against agreed-upon objectives.

Chief Information Officer

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is the senior manager authorized to lead the IMT function on behalf of IPC. The CIO is accountable to all Deputy Ministers for the overall management of the IMT function in pursuit of the agreed-upon enterprise objectives.

The CIO is authorized to establish the management framework for the IMT function.  The framework includes:

• Organizational structures and formal and informal reporting relationships;
• Roles and responsibilities;
• Advisory bodies;
• Directives, standards, and processes;
• Review of IMT budgets for alignment to the strategic direction set by IPC;
• Input into IMT leadership performance appraisals;
• Performance management (metrics monitoring and reporting).

6 . Provisions

• An evaluation of IMT governance as it relates to this policy will be presented to IPC by the CIO annually. The assessment will measure the health of the governance framework, as well as the degree of compliance with IMT policies. IPC will direct remedial actions to be taken by the CIO or Deputy Head(s).
• A review of this policy will be conducted every two to five years. The review will be carried out by the CIO but will also include an independent assessment.

7 . References

• FAA 7.1 (k)
• FAM 115
• Terms of Reference: Informatics Policy Council(IPC)