Viva Otlet, viva!

In this period of leadership challenges, I would like to be the imbongi or praise singer to one of the forefathers and important (albeit almost forgotten) visionary of information management, Paul Otlet.

Otlet was born in Belgium in 1868, a lawyer turned information professional, he was the founding father of the documentation movement (in today's lingo, information science) and we can thank him for the Universal Decimal Library Classification System as well as 3X5 inch cards still in use today to index information and stuff.

The visionary elements of Otlet's Magnus Opus, "Trait'e de documentation", and other works included precursors of the World Wide Web, hyper text, information accessibility and search engines, social interaction technologies, classification and enterprise content management.

Otlet viewed documents as representations of ideas or of objects and devised a special workstation, a complex mechanical database consisting of rotating wheels, links and thousands of 3X5 index cards to assist with the functions of capturing and retrieving knowledge - a true mechanical Wikipedia. His life was dedicated to proper systems for capturing, storing, managing, preserving and delivering explicit knowledge on a worldwide scale.

Apart from the fact that Otlet should get more credit for knowledge and content management technologies (including the Microsofts, Googles and Facebooks of this world), I also believe that we should, very carefully, consider his philosophical view that information, well managed, would prevent wars and make the world a better place for all.

So, being his imbongi, I translate his vision, in a South African context, as follows:

Well-managed information will ensure better citizen service and service delivery in general.

Information management is at the heart of poverty alleviation, empowerment, dealing with the past, improved health services, streamlined justice, corruption prevention, the UN Millennium goals, the Gautrain, the 2010 Soccer World Cup and lots of other things.

Quality information management, the correct deployment (and use of) information technology tools and good information behaviours and values hold the key to improved (and automated) business processes.

Superior information management has tangible rand and cents benefits - it is not fuzzy strategic stuff.

'Good old' records management principles can be a weapon of mass destruction of corruption.

Bennie Kotze is manager of ECM Strategy Services at Nokusa Engineering Informatics.

We need to build houses: Imagine how we could benefit, if all documentation, all technical drawings, all approvals and all certificates related to this national initiative are captured, managed, stored, preserved and delivered electronically, anywhere at any time. Imagine speeding up the processes by having access to all relevant information by citizens, public servants and contractors. Imagine...

Justice for all: We are getting used to photos in the media of files and records lying in the corridors of justice. The justice system is driven by information; it is the lifeblood of the whole system. We can bring about enormous efficiencies by managing information, documents, e-mail, content, scanned images and records - integrating stuff from all the relevant departments and organisations. Let's forget about the death penalty and ensure better information processes.

Combating corruption is present on many agendas in the public and private sector - information management, again, is key and 'good old' records management principles can be a weapon of mass destruction of corruption.

Think of where we are today with information and communication technology in relation to progress of humanity. Then consider this statement made by Henri La Fontaine, a close associate of Otlet, 113 years ago in 1894: "It is no less than a question of creating a world depot where all human ideas can be automatically stored in order to be spread afterwards among people with a minimum of effort and a maximum of effectiveness a central institute where all those who hope to collaborate in the progress of humanity will be able, immediately and mechanically, to obtain the most detailed and complete information."

* Bennie Kotze is manager of ECM Strategy Services at Nokusa Engineering Informatics.