CIP Information Governance and Strategy 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which element is most critical when establishing an information governance (IG) program's scope?
- Defining which information assets and business units fall under governance (Correct answer)
- Selecting the software platform for document management
- Hiring a Chief Information Officer
- Negotiating vendor contracts for storage
Correct answer: Defining which information assets and business units fall under governance
Scope definition determines which assets and organizational units IG policies apply to, forming the foundation of the program.
Question 2: An organization's IG policy conflicts with a newly enacted state privacy law. What is the correct first step?
- Continue using the existing policy until the next scheduled review
- Immediately update the IG policy to comply with the law (Correct answer)
- Seek a legal exemption from the regulation
- Delegate the conflict resolution to IT
Correct answer: Immediately update the IG policy to comply with the law
Legal compliance takes precedence; IG policies must be updated immediately when they conflict with applicable law.
Question 3: A Records Retention Schedule (RRS) primarily serves to:
- Define how long each record type must be kept before disposal (Correct answer)
- Establish the hierarchy of information custodians
- Set bandwidth limits for data transfers
- Track user access logs for audit purposes
Correct answer: Define how long each record type must be kept before disposal
An RRS specifies mandatory retention periods for each record category based on legal, regulatory, and business requirements.
Question 4: Which governance model places IG decision-making authority primarily at the departmental level rather than centrally?
- Federated governance model (Correct answer)
- Centralized governance model
- Hierarchical governance model
- Siloed governance model
Correct answer: Federated governance model
A federated model distributes governance authority to individual business units while maintaining some enterprise-wide standards.
Question 5: When conducting an information asset inventory, which attribute is LEAST relevant to capture?
- The personal preference of the data owner regarding storage format (Correct answer)
- The sensitivity classification of the information
- The location where the information is stored
- The regulatory requirements applicable to the information
Correct answer: The personal preference of the data owner regarding storage format
Personal preferences are subjective and do not drive governance decisions; classification, location, and regulatory context are all essential.
Question 6: The 'information life cycle' in IG typically ends with which phase?
- Disposition (destruction or archiving) (Correct answer)
- Creation or capture
- Distribution and use
- Storage and maintenance
Correct answer: Disposition (destruction or archiving)
Disposition — either secure destruction or transfer to an archive — marks the final phase of the information life cycle.
Question 7: Which metric best demonstrates the business value of an information governance program to executive stakeholders?
- Reduction in legal hold costs and e-discovery expenses (Correct answer)
- Number of new IG policies created per quarter
- Total gigabytes of data stored
- Average employee training session duration
Correct answer: Reduction in legal hold costs and e-discovery expenses
Tangible cost savings from reduced litigation and e-discovery expenses directly demonstrate ROI to executives.
CIP Information Governance and Strategy 2
Which element is most critical when establishing an information governance (IG) program's scope?