Guiding Principles

Founding Principle:

Collaboration between and within agencies for the common good is fundamental to delivering E-Government benefits, especially those of open government, streamlined services and reduced cost.

• Standardisation of policies within an agency and across agencies is beneficial to both the agency and to government as a whole.

• Agencies must manage data and business documents in ways that are both deliberate and explicit, based on the adoption of relevant international and industry standards and guidelines.

• Policies and standards should be straightforward and beneficial, applicable to any size of organisation and formulated to encourage good practice.

• Data and business documents owned by the Crown are strategic assets.

• Government agencies will be good corporate citizens, behaving responsibly with the data and business documents held by them.

• Treaty obligations and cultural awareness issues pertain to data and document management.

• Data and business documents will be publicly and equitably available and accessible unless explicit reasons preclude this.

• Privacy and confidentiality of individuals and commercial interests will be protected.

• Collection, use, retention and disposal of data and documents must be subject to legal and defined business requirements.

• Data and business documents must be controlled, defined, and have integrity so that they are fit for the purpose of their collection.

• Data and business documents should be collected or created once into a prime authoritative data source, then used many times.

• Data and document management policies apply irrespective of storage medium.