Jinfo for Government
Jinfo Blog

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract

One of the challenges that government agencies face is cutting through policy and hierarchies so that the right people with the right expertise are involved in projects, another is carving out strategic thinking time to make information as valuable as possible. We identify highlights from recent Jinfo articles, Communities of Practice and current Research Focus which are of interest to those in government responsible for adapting information strategy to practice.

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Two types of institutions that are often considered as intractable as they are impenetrable are government agencies and IT departments.

So if even in government agencies, information staff have a hard time understanding their colleagues in IT, that can lead to significant confusion.

Jinfo's current Research Focus, "Strategic Alignment of Information Services (IS) and IT", offers plenty of practical tips and insight for shifting this important relationship.

A common challenge in government agencies is cutting through policy and hierarchies so that the right people with the right expertise are involved in projects. The tips provided in this article by Sally Roberts can help (with the proviso that it can take extra finesse and effort to make this work in a government setting).

If you don't get anywhere with getting the right people on the project, you can at least improve how you interact and work together with those who are there, as Scott Vine explains in "Working with People Who Think Fundamentally Differently to You".

Rethinking Current Awareness

One of the projects in which IT relationships are critical to success is delivery of current awareness. Increasingly, we're seeing agencies choosing to evaluate separately the content that drives current awareness from the technology needed to deliver it.

We see this as an emerging best practice, and we're offering a Communities of Practice session in March to help work through the challenges of these projects.

Whilst planning such a project, you'll also find helpful guidance in our Framework for Evaluating Sources and Curating Commodity Information.

Set Aside Time for Strategic Thinking

As is the case in so many environments, information services in government agencies are doing more with fewer resources. To help you make the most of the time you carve out for strategic thinking about the emerging needs of your stakeholders and making information as valuable as possible, use these shortcuts:

• What's New: Latest articles, reports, and listings for webinars and Communities of Practice

• Current, upcoming and past areas of Research Focus. We produce a thematic index report at the end of each quarterly focus; get the one from News, and Other Commodities here (or request your free copy here, if you don't yet have a Jinfo Subscription)

• Register for the Jinfo Newsletter for twice-monthly updates.

Take Action 

Check out the most recent Jinfo resources of particular use to government agencies - use the reference list of recent content below to jump to articles.

Then contact us to discuss how we can help adapt strategy to practice in your environment. 

Articles

• How Do You Ensure the Best Possible Relationship With Your IT Department?
• Creating the Right Organisational Culture
• Deep Dive on News Survey Results - Factiva vs Nexis
• DIY Content Aggregation - Emerging Alternatives to Traditional Databases
• Evaluating Factiva and Nexis
• Key Subscription Sources for Financial Information

Reports

• Product Review of Research Monitor
• Product Review of Cortera Pulse
• Product Review of EBSCO Business Source Corporate Plus
• Product Review of Eikon
• Product Review of Thomson Innovation
• Market Landscape - People Information

Webinars

• Shifting the Worldview around IS/IT Relationships: A First Step to Alignment - 8th March 2016

plus

• IS and IT Make Sense of the "Digital Workplace" - recording available
• DIY Content Aggregation: Benefits & Costs of Managing Your Own Platform - recording available

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