Information Professional Skills Framework

The UK Government National Archives issued a Government Knowledge and Information Management Professional Skills Framework in April 2009. This is intended for recruiting and developing knowledge and information management professionals in the UK government. It has been suggested as something I could use for defining skills for an Electronic Data Management Course.

The framework defines four levels of roles, from lowest to highest: Practitioner, Manager, Leader and Strategist.
SFIA has seven levels, from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest): 1. Follow, 2. Assist, 3. Apply, 4. Enable, 5. Ensure/advise, 6. Initiate/influence, 7. Set strategy/inspire/mobilise.

It would seem to be reasonable to match "Strategist" to SFIA 7, as the word "strategy" is in the SFIA description.

There are then six SFIA levels to match with three GKIMPS Roles. The simplest solution is to match each GKIMPS role with two SFIA Levels:

Proposed Alignment of SFIA Levels with GKIMPS Roles

SFIA Level	GKIMPS Roles
1. Follow	Practitioner
2. Assist
3. Apply	Manager
4. Enable
5. Ensure/advise	Leader
6. Initiate/influence
7. Set strategy/inspire/mobilise	Strategist

These may seem obvious, but on my first attempt I had for Practitioner matched to SFIA Levels 1 to 3, Manager Levels 4, 5 and for Leader just SFIA Level 6. But that then did not give SFIA Level 5 (which is the level of the course I am designing) enough responsibility. The new arrangement is not perfect as it suggests that managers should "apply", when that is really a job for a practitioners.

A diagram is provided showing the structure of the skills framework:

A one page Overview (PDF 17.6 KB) is provided, which expands on the structure giving more detail.

There are four categories of skills in the framework, each applying to all roles:

1. Strategic planning for knowledge and information management
2. Using and exploiting knowledge and information
3. Managing and organising information
4. Information governance

Previously I identified the four ASA/RMAA Knowledge Domains in their "Course Accreditation Check-list":

1. Purposes and characteristics of records and recordkeeping system
2. Context
   
3. Recordkeeping processes and practices
4. Underpinning Knowledge Domain: Recordkeeping theories and principles

Also I identified level 5 SFIA Skills relevant to records management:

1. Information management
2. Information policy formation
3. Information content publishing
4. Methods and tools
5. Business analysis
6. Data analysis
7. Database/repository design
8. Usability evaluation

This is not counting Procurement and the Quality management skills I was not sure about including. I am not sure how to reconcile these three views.

The Government KIM Professional Skills Framework – Full Version is 31 page (PDF, 321 KB).

Contents
Using the Government Knowledge and Information Management Professional Skills Framework .... i
Acknowledgements .... iii

1. Strategic planning for knowledge and information management ... 1
   1. Organisational planning for knowledge and information management .... 1
   2. Demonstrating the value of knowledge and information management .... 5
   3. Strategic development of knowledge and information management capability ... 6
   4. Selection and procurement of knowledge and information management resources ... 8
2. Using and exploiting knowledge and information 9
   1. Knowledge sharing and collaboration .... 9
   2. Information re-use and information sharing . 12
   3. Information analysis ... 14
   4. Integrating knowledge and information management capabilities into the business process ... 16
3. Managing and organising information .... 17
   1. Information architecture and information control.... 17
   2. Creation and maintenance of information and records .... 19
4. Information governance ... 22
   1. Information risk management... 22
   2. Compliance with information legislation, regulation and corporate standards ... 24
   3. Ethics.... 26

There is also a set of Frequently Asked Questions for the Knowledge and Information Management Function (121 KB).