As Iowans head to the primary ballot box I want you to ask yourself that ever important, "Ask not what governance can do for you, but ask what can you do for governance?" Information governance can impact everyone in an organization with higher efficiency, lowering risk and quicker information retrieval if they view information as a vital corporate asset and not just a tool needed to get a job done. For information governance to bring you these benefits you need to view yourself as a playing a role in information governance. My opponent on the ballot box will tell you to give him your records at the end of its life cycle and he will gladly see it through to disposition. If you elect information governance I ensure you that the information you are dealing with is never redundant, obsolete or trivial. If you are actively using a any information it should be governed to ensure that it is accurate, protected and reliable.
Even if you don't work in compliance you still follow compliance. Not everyone works in IT, but everyone uses IT. We should take the same view with information governance. Just because records management is not in your job description doesn't mean you shouldn't govern information. It's important to take note that information governance is not a job, but a framework in which information can be managed. If everyone chooses to operate within that framework many manual business processes can be automated. If people choose not to operate within the framework of information governance there is increased risk, cost associated with all aspects of information and slower business processes.
Not too sound an extreme, but a vote for my opponent is a vote for anarchy. Corporations need information governance just as society needs government. Without governance information lives in silos without the ability to integrate with systems and maximize its value. Information needs governance to have healthy systems and efficient processes so that information can be readily accessible to the right parties and secure from inappropriate hands.
As you ask yourself what can you do for information governance consider that the majority of data breaches can be prevented by proper information governance and users following best practices. Information governance is not about a tool, but about empowering the user to get the best value out of information. It will take training and learning new processes, but information governance is worth the effort. Information governance is not a project, but a process that is on going similar to finance and compliance. Information governance is not based on some fancy new tool we will bring in, but it's about we the people who use the tools and processes to make information our currency to better service our clients as well as ourselves.