MANAGING INFORMATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY: CHALLENGES, ISSUES AND PROSPECT

Abstract

The importance of information in the life of any organization, public or private cannot be overlooked. Robertson (2005) noted that the works in an organization cannot be effectively and efficiently done in the absence of accurate and reliable information. It is imperative that information at the disposal of employees be accurate and complete since incomplete information is capable of leading to confusion and hindering performance as noted by Mhadi and Jafar (2013). Hence, it is vital that information need of an organization be met through effective management of information sources, process and architecture.
Meeting the information need of an organization to a large extent can influence its success. This is because according to Wilson (2002), information has to do with facts about an event or surrounding events. Controller and Auditor General Report (2017) noted that these facts if not made available to frontline officers in any organization may hinder the productivity of such organization. Consequently, all organization must be concern on how the information they need are collected, processed, stored and disseminated for easy access and use especially in this 21st century which is regarded as information age. It is for this reason that Abdulkarim (2019) noted that Information management (IM) from the broader perspective of an organization covers a wide range of activities that centre on the information need of the organization