What
is an Information Asset Register?
An
Information Asset Register (IAR) is a register of
unpublished information holdings i.e., information
or collections of information, held electronically or in
hard copy, which have (usually) not been published or made
publicly available.
The
IAR does not provide direct access to the information
holdings themselves. It is a means of alerting the public
to the existence of the unpublished information and who
to contact. Requests for the information will be dealt with
in accordance with the Code
of Practice on Access to Government Information.
DTI's
published information may be viewed either on this
website or if in hard copy, may be located using publications@dti.
Suggestions
about this initiative will be welcomed. Please e-mail Ann
Phillips
Why
create an Information Asset Register?
The
creation of an Information Asset Register is one of a series of initiatives designed
to facilitate greater openness in public life. The need
for an IAR was identified as a result of responses to the
Green Paper Crown
Copyright in the Information Age (Cm 3819). The
resulting White Paper The
Future Management of Crown Copyright (Cm 4300) proposed
a number of initiatives aimed at 'improving and encouraging
access to the broad range of public sector information'.
These include the IAR: see Chapter
8 of the White Paper.
The
Government's Information Asset Register
HMSO
has lead responsibility for the development and co-ordination
of the Government's IAR. Crown bodies make their IAR records
available on HMSO's Inforoute
website. Inforoute is designed to serve as a single point
of access for the public to identify unpublished government
information, to identify which Crown bodies hold that information,
and who to contact.
British
Trade International's IAR
British
Trade International have their own Information Asset Register.
This is available on their website (http://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/asset_register/asset_register/asset/part1.shtml)
in addition to being on Inforoute.
Further
Information
