Information Governance (IG)
The organization-wide framework of policies, roles, accountability, and controls for managing all information as a strategic asset — uniting records, privacy, security, and e-discovery.
Information governance (IG) is the overarching framework through which an organization manages all of its information — treating it as both a strategic asset to be used and a liability to be controlled. It unites several functions that are often run separately: records management, privacy and data protection, information security, data management, e-discovery, and compliance.
Where records management focuses on records specifically, IG asks the broader question of how the whole organization makes consistent, accountable decisions about information so those functions reinforce one another. A working IG program rests on clear policy, defined accountability (often a cross-functional body with executive sponsorship), defensible retention and disposition, privacy and security controls, and litigation readiness. Records management is a pillar within it.