Information Management in the Ministry of the Attorney General

1. Information Management in the Ministry of the Attorney General Presentation to:OPS IM Day Presented by: Stephen RhodesChief Administrative Officer and Assistant Deputy Attorney General Corporate Services Management DivisionMinistry of the Attorney General May 14, 2007

2. Information as a core government asset • Information critical in supporting Justice Sector service delivery • High quality information – accessible, accurate - required to efficiently and effectively conduct all aspects of government business: • Developing and delivering programs • Developing performance indicators • Assessing performance • Forecasting • Well managed information is foundation of successful service delivery

3. Success stories:Facilities Management Branch • Created an Access database for Leasing Information • Leases not tracked efficiently • Difficult to obtain accurate real-time listing of all MAG facilities • Data could not be easily reconciled with service providers • Service to clients adversely affected due to lack of reliable information

4. Success stories:Facilities Management Branch • Outcomes: • Improved accuracy in tracking MAG facilities • Up-to-date listings of facilities • Improved Customer Service • Requests for lease renewal information from clientscan be initiated sufficiently (18 months) in advance • Improved Relationships with Service Providers • Data can be reconciled • Improved Risk Management • No longer reliant on others for information about leases • Surpassed established Performance Measure • Leases on over hold down from 12% to 0% in 5 years

5. Success stories:Courts Service Division • Over 30 procedural manuals were revised and posted centrally to a new divisional Intranet site • Existing paper manuals in 183 base and satellite court locations across Ontario were not clearly written and were difficult to maintain • Confidence in reliability of content was low • Local variances in practice abounded • Online manuals feature: • Clean, consistent formatting • Clear, readable language and step-by-step instructions • Links to rules, legislation, electronic forms, other manuals • Highly searchable content • Reliable, accurate content, maintained by “Associates” in each business line

6. Success stories:Courts Services Division • Outcomes: • More consistent procedures from court to court across the province, resulting in improved service to the public • Reliable information is quickly and easily accessible to all court staff • Automatic e-mail notification of updates to manuals • Less time wasted searching for accurate information • Associates available to provide answers/clarification • Intranet site provides a vehicle for 2-way communication between “head office” and the field

7. Success stories:Freedom of Information (FOI) Office • Developed the FOI Tracking System to manage increasing volume in FOI requests • Justice Sector FOI office handles over 3,500 FOI requests per year • Increasing volume adversely affectedresponse compliance • Existing system was slow and produced limited reports • Staff had to manually create/track workflow and deadlines • New case management system was adapted from the Federal Government and 2 Ontario Ministries • Features include more power and flexibility for: • Capturing requests, appeals and complaints • Generating correspondence and reports • Conducting data searches • Calculating and collecting fees from requesters

8. Success stories:Freedom of Information (FOI) Office • Outcomes: • More efficient caseload management as work can be shared and reassigned to meet deadlines • Staff are under less stress since they work together as a team sharing the workloads • Fewer errors in caseload management as the system provides organizational assistance and superior management information • Overall complianceimproved by 37% over two years after installation