New ISO management system standards for records facilitate transparency in corporate governance
Date : 16 November 2011
n the wake of recent failures in corporate governance, two new ISO standards will help organizations to disclose corporate information quickly and effectively. Increased pressure by industry regulators obliges companies to provide such information because irregularities in financial management, ethical dealings, disclosure, and transparency of decisions have become common.
ISO 30300:2011, Information and documentation - Management systems for records - Fundamentals and vocabulary, and ISO 30301:2011, Information and documentation - Management systems for records - Requirements, distil the expertise of experts drawn from 27 countries on five continents.
hese standards have been developed to be compatible with and complementary to other management system standards (MSSs) developed by ISO, such as ISO 9001 (quality management), ISO 14001 (environmental management), and ISO/IEC 27001 (information security management).
ISO 30300 is the umbrella standard which includes the fundamentals and vocabulary common to the whole series, while ISO 30301 specifies requirements for an MSR (management system for records). Further standards in the ISO 30300 series are under development.
Judith Ellis and Carlota Bustelo, leaders of the working groups that developed the standards, underline that, "The ISO 30300 series offers the methodology for a systematic approach to the creation and management of records, aligned with organizational objectives and strategies. Managing records using an MSS supports cost-effective operational processes, such as storage, information retrieval, information re-use, litigation and due diligence."
The cost of developing an MSR depends on the scope of implementation within each organization and is determined by business needs and an assessment of risk, and can provide both short- and long-term returns on investment, as well as cost avoidance.
