Monday, January 16, 2006

System of record Wikipedia has this description: A system of record is an information storage system (likely to be a computer system) which is the data source, for a given data element or piece information. The need to identify the Systems of Record can become acute in large organisations, where Management Information (or MIS) systems have been built by taking copies of output data from multiple (source) systems, re-processing the data and then re-presenting it for their own business uses. Where the Integrity of the data (element) is vital, it must either be extracted directly from its System of Record or be linked directly to its System of Record. Where there is no direct link with the System of Record, the integrity, and hence validity, of the data is open to question. [System of Record, wikipedia] I'd argue that the term is really about how the age old records (births, deaths, deeds, citizenship) are parts of systems of recording. We rely on the paper document (the record) because we trust the system that created it and sustained it (the system of record). Now, in digital form, we think we have something new, something transient that we need to lock down. We do, but it's the system as much as the digital "record." The record - digital or paper or parchment - has little value unless we have a method to assure us and future participants that this record, created this day, about this event, by this person or persons is a reliable record through time. This need isn't new.   Even if the form is. 12:28:39 PM    comment []

btw, this is about.... I've been posting "news" items without much comment. I ponder why, resolve to comment more. Then don't. I can't really expect others to view this as a serious blog if all I do is re-headline what the prospective reader reads every where. So what do I add? The reality is that we, all of us, have a tendency to think about a problem in isolation. I'm trained to think about "systems" - but, still, systems in isolation. But we live in a world where no system is truly isolated. This winter's fresh fruit in the grocery store down the street comes from South America & the fresh shitake mushrooms from China. That's how global the economy has become. The health care system of the United States is not isolated from that of China, India or Europe. A decade ago I knew a German fellow who'd worked in the US nearly all of his adult life. He'd retired here. But once a year he went to Germany for a health checkup, even for a hip replacement. Now we expect Wal-Mart to be competitive but play by US rules, not by International economic reality. True, they helped create this economic reality, but to expect US companies to adhere to U.S.A. 20th century business models in a 21st century international market is to doom all of the USofA to 3rd class status in the coming decades. That's the comment for today. The Question: How do we adjust from being the "super power" to being a top tier competitor in an international market place? What do we do to adapt to the digital world - the world where market changes are instant and constant? What does environmentalism mean now? Does the term "organic" food mean anything? Does "universal" health care or "universal" social security have a place? As noted earlier today, we are now an Agent Nation, not an Owner Nation. So how do we have checks & balances on the agents for different systems? Not just those with narrow interests but with those that interact in complex ways to alter our life. It comes down to, I think, the intersections where we barely notice te interaction of systems. Or the resulting unintended consequences. 11:57:51 AM    comment []

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