What are Information Assets?

Information Assets are real business assets and we must treat them as such.

There is a good English adage that if you only have a hummer, every screw is a nail! That’s pretty much the situation when people try to explain what an Information Asset is. The economist will try to define and calculate the value, the IT professionals will explain how to store and use data securely, the legal people how to protect it and so on. But an Information Asset is more than the sum of its parts...

Let me use a metaphor to make my point: the car I use! It is an asset to me because of two key factors: one, it can transport me to where I want to go and two, it is ready to be used when I need it without me having to assemble the engine or put the wheels on or go looking for the doors before using it. Yes it has a monetary value as well and yes I want it to be secure but these things do not justify its existance.

An Information Asset is no different than my car. When I put together a bundle of information (data and all), I want it to be complete, available, relevant and clearly defined. The last thing I want is to doubt my information when the time comes to use it and start searching for this and that or feeling unsure that I have the complete picture so I can draw a conclusion I trust.

So here is a pragmatic definition of an Information Asset:

“A complete collection of the information we have on a specific subject organised and presented in a timely fashion so the logic of activities is retained”

That might sound a bit scientific - let’s unpack it a bit…

• Complete collection. We need assurances that an Information Asset is not missing any relevant information,

• Presented in a timely fashion. This and the next point are super important. It is not sufficient to have all the components of an Information Asset retrieved from our data storage without order because the logical sequence of events holds information in its own right. How else would we know what triggered what and why soas to understand the result?

• Retaining the logic of the activities. This is the most important part because our brains ‘think’ in stories. When we try to build a picture, make the connections, associate events, draw conclusions and justify our actions, we recreate a ‘story’ in our minds. The Information Assets we use need to have this logical sequence of events embedded so we can recreate the story in our minds quickly and based on evidence.

So far, so good except there is a little problem hidden in plain sight! In the vast majority of cases, Information Assets represent 'verticals' within a business. For example, to the marketing department, an Information Assets represents a campaign, to the sales department, a customer, to the finance, a contract and so on. That's not good. A business (small or large) depends on good decisions based on complete awareness. But we will tackle this another time...

The i4cu platform solves these issues by enabling you to package your data and information into Information Assets that make sense, are always available, are complete and create value to your business.