When folks talk about information governance, I often hear the tag line: “Treat information like an asset.” We also talk about “information as a service” and about utility models of computing. This got me to thinking about how we steward and govern natural resources (water, oil, crops, etc.) and I tried to think about how governed information is like (and unlike) a natural resource.
- Information can be transformed (grapes into wine!) into
something more powerful
- Information can be consumed
- Information can age and lose value (like crops in the field)
- Information can be polluted
- Information can be destroyed
On the “Not a Natural Resource” side of the ledger:
- Information seems to grow and grow, unlike other natural
resources (information as a weed?)
I can’t figure out if this is a useful metaphor or just the result of too much Amaretto Bread Pudding at the Range Cafe in Bernalillo, New Mexico. What do you think?
Ivan
