IMFC Monthly
- Jordan Reed (Deactivated)
May 18, 2022
Forms management policy removed from CPPM
The policy for ministries having a forms management program has been removed (it was one bullet). This means IMFC has nothing to point to when saying there should be some kind of forms management policy in place.
[Reference https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/policies-for-government/core-policy/policies/im-it-management ]
IMFC has frustration from trying to get forms management understood at a higher level across BC Gov.
They feel that data standards, design standards, records standards, etc comes under forms management and should overarch all of these subjects no matter what type of form (paper / electronic).
Comments on problems with not knowing who made the form, who owns it, and how to track updates, changes, removals.
With a ministry forms management policy it could be short, and touch on some key things: business capability (team or leads in an org), forms being tracked (standards and procedures), helping forms designers understand there is an operational piece to the forms creation process, so that when there is a need to change then others understand what the form is, why it exists and what business capability it facilitates.
IMFC wants to help fill this gap and bring suggestions to the table to help increase awareness and understanding into forms management policy. The group is thinking of forming a sub-committee to brainstorm ideas and approaches for creating the forms management guidance.
Archiving electronic forms
Unknown if there is any written standards. Some branches have an archivist (content managers). Version control may or may not be enough; need to know what versions were in use at what time and be ready for appeals or inquiries depending on the business area and public access.
What kind of information would someone want to see at a given time? Is it just content, or data ,or are they needing to see a fully functional form from a given time?
Court cases have brought up need to go through paper forms iterations to find a given question and content presented in a form at a given time. How can this be handled in electronic forms? What are the legal implications, needs and requirements?
Business continuity drives forms retention in format of blue prints so they can be recreated if/when needed.
Some business areas and branches delete forms or update and change them with no archiving policies or procedures.
A forms manager in Ministry of Health is scanning paper copies or saving PDFs in an archive folder where they are labeled 'obsolete' for future reference if needed. A content strategist in Courts Service Branch uses a spreadsheet for tracking status of forms that are paper or fillable PDF. An office manager in Vital Statistics uses a wiki for archiving forms in their org.
Apr 20, 2022
Indigenous names UNDRIP
News media mentioning need for indigenous fonts/characters. Birth certificate, passport, downstream affects?
Will the name act need to be adjusted to accommodate indigenous names? "Dances with wolves" scenario.
UNDRIP - UN reclamation, truth and reconciliation. BC has an official response. Legal name changes.
Data partners, up stream, down stream, what are the impacts?
Assumed names vs legal names, hyphenated names, Mastercard initiative.
Mononyms, surnames with 40+ characters
Breakdown in translating indigenous names when having face-to-face interactions.
Digital forms need new design patterns