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Effective planning and management relies upon a rapid understanding
of a few key facts. It follows that, to be effective, information
should convey simple, succinct messages which provide clarity in the
decision-making process. In an information-crowded world, timeliness is
also a vital factor in determining whether information will be
assessed, let alone used. The clearest, most relevant information will
have little impact if its message is received too late.
- Information provides decision-makers with the ability to
make guided choices. What is needed for these informed choices are
brief summaries of complex issues, presented in such a way that they
can be absorbed quickly without the need for special tools or expertise.
- Information can also be tailored to the needs of individual
users, this form of aggregated or interpreted information is often
termed an “information product”.
An information system is created to satisfy a user’s need for
information based upon a specific requirement, usually the need to make
a decision (i.e. decision driven information). When this information is
stored and made accessible for others, this can be termed knowledge
management. Knowledge management is a system of people, resources and
procedures that produces and distributes information to relevant
organisational members in a rapid, comprehensive, accurate and
cost-effective way.
Knowledge management requires that organisations and institutions
manage the organisation’s information resources - all of its collective
knowledge (institutional memory). Knowledge and information is to be
understood as a corporate resource.
As a first step towards achieving this institutional memory it is
necessary to determine what data and information is available, either
within the organisation or in other organisations. The data and
information assessment matrix’s objective is to systematically assess
the availability, accessibility and actual use being made of data and
information. For example the use could be for district planning,
regional planning, strategic planning, etc.
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