AI-enabled Information Governance and Discovery Supports Critical Government Functions
Government agencies operate in environments where information integrity, accessibility, and governance are fundamental to public trust, regulatory compliance, and the delivery of critical services. With rapidly growing volumes of digital and legacy content, agencies must balance transparency and discoverability with privacy, security, and legislative obligations. Informotion partnered with the Department to implement an AI‑enabled information governance and discovery capability using EncompaaS and Microsoft Azure technologies. The solution was designed to operate at enterprise scale, discover and govern information in place, strengthen compliance with the Archives Act 1983 and Whole‑of‑Government frameworks, and establish a trusted foundation for future AI‑driven government services.
5.05.26
Customer Background
The State Government Department (the Department) recognised that traditional, siloed approaches to records and information management were no longer sufficient. Increasing regulatory scrutiny, rising Right to Information (RTI) and inquiry demands, and limited enterprise‑wide visibility prompted the Department to seek a modern, intelligence‑led approach to information governance.
The Department plays a central role within State Government, supporting executive decision‑making, whole‑of‑government coordination, and sensitive policy and administrative functions. As a lead agency, it manages high‑risk, high‑value information across multiple platforms, repositories, and formats.
The Challenge
Over time, several challenges became increasingly pronounced.
Increasing compliance and inquiry pressure
The Department was subject to strict legislative and policy obligations, including the Archives Act 1983, RTI legislation, the Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF), and the State Government Information Management Framework. Responding to audits, inquiries, and commissions required rapid, defensible discovery of information across many systems—often under significant time pressure.
Fragmented information landscape
Information was fragmented across Content Manager, Microsoft 365 services (SharePoint, Teams, Exchange, OneDrive), file shares, and legacy repositories. This limited visibility, increased compliance and privacy risk, and made it difficult to quantify the Department’s information assets and liabilities.
Manual and resource-intensive processes
Records classification, retention, legal holds, and disposal relied heavily on manual intervention by information management specialists. These resource‑intensive processes increased operational overhead and introduced risk in high‑stakes scenarios such as RTI responses, litigation, and commissions of inquiry.
Limited insight into information risk
The Department also lacked consolidated insight into redundant, obsolete, and trivial (ROT) information, duplication, ownership, and lifecycle status—restricting its ability to reduce risk, optimise storage, and plan strategically.
Addressing these challenges required more than a technology solution. It demanded a coordinated uplift in governance capability, transparency, and organisational confidence in information.
Project Scope
The initial phase of the project was designed to meet the requirements of a Commission of Inquiry into a sensitive matter. The Commission mandated comprehensive discovery, classification, and ethical management of large volumes of structured and unstructured content across multiple systems.
Informotion deployed the EncompaaS platform to connect disparate repositories and uncover historical and contemporary information relevant to the inquiry. Using optical character recognition, machine learning, and Azure Cognitive Services, including GPT‑based capability, EncompaaS enabled The Department to rapidly identify and contextualise information regardless of format or location.
Following the successful delivery of Phase 1, Informotion worked with The Department to establish a sustainable, enterprise‑wide approach that aligned to Whole‑of‑Government policy, legislative requirements, and their long‑term information management strategy.
A key principle was a manage-in-place governance model—governing information where it is created and used rather than forcing business users into a single system. EncompaaS discovered and governed information across existing repositories while preserving source‑system security, business context, and user workflows.
The platform enabled secure enterprise discovery and eDiscovery capabilities, supporting RTI requests, audits, and future inquiries through AI‑driven indexing and permission‑based search. AI and Machine learning‑based automated classification aligned information to approved retention schedules and disposal authorities, significantly reducing reliance on manual recordkeeping.
Centralised policies and dashboards provided transparency across information volumes, growth trends, lifecycle status, duplication, and access patterns. Throughout the engagement, Informotion worked collaboratively with the Department’s Information Management, ICT, and governance teams to ensure capability uplift and long‑term sustainability.
Successful Outcomes and Value Delivered
The program delivered measurable outcomes across compliance, operational efficiency, and strategic readiness. Phase 1 yielded exceptional results in addressing the requirements of the Commission of Inquiry. The EncompaaS solution enabled the Department to discover, analyse, and deliver large volumes of information required by the Commission well within mandated timeframes. The depth of contextual insight allowed the scope of requests to be refined, significantly reducing irrelevant content and enabling the Commission to reach findings and recommendations more efficiently.
Beyond the inquiry, the Department achieved broader, lasting value.
Compliance and risk management were strengthened through improved alignment with legislative and policy obligations, faster and more defensible responses to RTI requests, and clear auditability across information lifecycles.
Enterprise‑wide visibility was established through secure discovery and AI‑enabled search across electronic and digitised content, providing a clearer understanding of information assets and associated risk.
Administrative overhead was reduced through automated classification and lifecycle management, enabling scalable governance without increasing resource burden.
Executive oversight and decision‑making were improved through consolidated reporting on ROT, duplication, ownership, and growth trends, increasing confidence in the integrity, availability, and defensibility of information.
Most importantly, The Department established a modern information governance capability that supports transparency, accountability, and the delivery of critical government services all while positioning The Department as a leader in enterprise‑scale information management.
Why This Matters
This initiative demonstrates how government agencies can modernise information governance without compromising security, usability, or legislative compliance. By combining EncompaaS’ AI‑driven discovery and governance capabilities with Informotion’s public‑sector expertise, the Department has established a sustainable, future‑focused capability that directly supports the delivery of critical government functions.
Ready to modernise your information governance and discovery capability?
Contact Informotion to schedule a call and explore how we can help your organisation unlock trusted information to support critical government services.
