Information Governance review: executive summary

Key Points

• Many good things are happening in the information governance (IG) sphere in Scotland.
• We need to move forward from the idea that IG is a barrier – it is a facilitator.
• The government is listening to what people are saying and is working to make improvements and put better processes, tools and resources in place.
• 'Ownership' of IG and any challenges it presents does not lie exclusively with IG specialists – the wider system must recognise its own role and accountability for making IG work.
• This Review informs on options for evidence-based policy learned from the broad IG community and stakeholders in Scotland, as well as from other countries, and makes recommendations for the effective re-design of IG structures and associated processes, while empowering people to manage information and privacy risks and opportunities successfully.
• This Review has enabled clarification of the current IG landscape, its complexities and the needs of the stakeholders and the public. In turn, this has helped to prioritise a national programme of work for further co-design and implementation, along with a breath of stakeholders.
• Recent experiences with COVID have emphasised the importance of quick access to robust data. It also has shown the importance of leadership and a common purpose to make IG work better within complex data flows. This experience is consistent with the findings of the Review of IG in Scotland, and has demonstrated the urgency of implementing the recommendations in the main report.