Background

From 1 January 2005, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) will grant, for the first time, a statutory right of access to information held by UK Public Authorities. This will entitle any person to be informed whether the Public Authority holds particular information and, if it does, to have that information communicated to them within 20 working days, unless exemptions apply, e.g. on the grounds of National Security.

The MoD realised that FOI represented a mammoth task in terms of trying to ensure overall coherence and consistency in responding to the public. It knew it needed to achieve a balance between protecting its information assets, national security, commercial and international relationships, with the public's new right of greater access to Government information. The MoD turned to Atmaana for help because of the firm's proven record in information strategy and project management.

Atmaana's role

Atmaana produced a comprehensive scoping report that identified the strategic risks to the MoD, proposed a solution and verified the current capability gap. This proposed an FOI Toolkit (software application) based on a central repository of requests for information and MoD responses with standard templates would help ensure coherence and consistency.

Atmaana interviewed key personnel and produced a User Requirement Document for procuring an FOI tool. This was followed by visits to all major headquarters and the creation of a Concept of Operations report explaining how, in practical terms, the FOI Toolkit would be employed.

The decision to produce a toolkit and run a pilot study saw Atmaana conduct an extensive evaluation of potential software solutions. Atmaana's recommendation, and supporting business case, was accepted. Atmaana further managed the software development and pilot study, which was conducted with the Army in Northern Ireland and we are currently producing the business case for deploying and testing the Toolkit across the MoD.

Deliverables

To date, Atmaana's deliverables have included:

- An exploratory scoping report.

- A User Requirements Document and supporting Concept Operations.

- Development and delivery of communications and change management plans.

- Establishment of a project office and development and delivery of detailed project plans.

- Business cases for funding, including contract negotiation with suppliers.

- Detailed process flow diagrams and supporting documentation.

Client benefits

The implementation of FOI is a major task for the MoD because sensitive information could be inadvertently released, while it could face criminal charges for non-compliance.

Atmaana has been trusted to deliver this project on the MoD's behalf and has not only developed the solution, but taken the time to ensure all key personnel are in full support. Atmaana's involvement has been key to ensuring that the MoD made significant progress to achieving FOI compliance.

Furthermore, the project is on track to deliver a comprehensive toolkit which will integrate and protect the MoD's information assets and engender collaborative working across the whole MoD.

To find out more about this project, or Atmaana's extensive range of services, contact Ian Bliss