Trustworthy Information Systems Handbook: Section 3
What is a trustworthy information system?
Trustworthiness refers to an
1. "An electronic system for creating, generating, sending, receiving, storing, displaying, or otherwise processing information." (e)
2. "The organized collection, processing, transmission, and dissemination of information in accordance with defined procedures, whether automated or manual. . . . Most often refers to a system containing electronic records, which involves input or source documents, records on electronic media, and output records, along with related documentation and any indexes." (i)
information system's
accountability and its ability to produce reliable and authentic information and records.
We chose the term 1. An information system that produces reliable and authentic records. trustworthy because it denotes integrity, ability, faith, and confidence. We use trustworthiness to describe information system 1. The quality of being responsible, answerable; the obligation to report, explain, or justify an event or situation. accountability. We use the words 1. Reliability is the measure of a record's authority and is determined solely by the circumstances of the record's creation. reliable and 1. Authenticity is a function of a record's preservation and is a measure of a record's reliability over time. authentic when we talk about the 1. Data, text, images, sounds, codes, computer programs, software, databases, etc. (e) information and records that the information system creates. Reliability indicates a record's authority and is established when a record is created. Authenticity ensures that a record will be reliable throughout its life, whether that lifetime lasts six months, ten years, twenty years, or forever.
Government creates a lot of information and
1. "Information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form." (e)
2. Information created or received during the course of government business that becomes part of an official transaction.
3. "All cards, correspondence, discs, maps, memoranda, microfilms, papers, photographs, recordings, reports, tapes, writings and other data, information or documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, storage media or conditions of use, made or received by an officer or agency of the state and an officer or agency of a county, city, town, school district, municipal subdivision or corporation or other public authority or political entity within the state pursuant to state law or in connection with the transaction of public business by an officer or agency." Excluding "data and information that does not become part of an official transaction, library and museum material made or acquired and kept solely or reference or exhibit purposes, extra copies of documents kept only for convenience of reference and stock of publications and processed documents, and bonds, and coupons, or other obligations or evidence of indebtedness, the destruction or other disposition of which is governed by other laws." (g)
records, in a variety of ways and formats, and for a number of reasons. The most obvious reason that we create records is simply to do our business, whether that business means running the Governor's office, managing the state's welfare system, or keeping track of spending for a county, city, school district, or township.
There's another reason for creating records: government accountability. Information and records generated in the course of government business must reflect government's accountability. Government reports and is accountable to its elected officials and, ultimately, to the people. Government records document and provide evidence that government is going about its business wisely or unwisely. They indicate whether government business gets managed and conducted properly in accordance with laws, statutes, regulations, and other requirements. Government records also document the history of our state; they contain valuable information about Minnesota's citizens and the social, economic, political, and natural environments in which we live.
Government accountability needs to be considered as information systems are developed. Computer-based information systems can do any number of tasks quickly and efficiently, but we don't always know who is accountable for these systems and the information that they create. The computer, unlike a human being, does not bear accountability for itself; people in government make information systems accountable. It follows, then, that in building information systems, we need to establish and create procedures, system documentation, and descriptions of system information as a means to make the system accountable.
We need trustworthy information systems to ensure our accountability as government agencies.
What is the process for establishing trustworthiness? 
TIS Handbook last updated July 2002, Version 4.
