Registers The New Frontier: A proposal for the development of a new target operating model for registers

We are delighted to share with you an insightful article originally authored by Foster Moore, a Teranet company, which outlines the benefits and key features of a proposed new target operating model for registers. As trusted leaders in registry solutions, we are excited about this innovative approach and the strategy for Best Practices for the industry as outlined in Foster Moore and Teranet’s latest white paper, Registers The New Frontier.

In this new white paper, the authors describe a Target Operating Model or TOM for all registers and urge the assembled domains and registry fora to seek to publish a registry-specific TOM best practice standard. 

Registries continue to digitize

You’re in the business of registries. You already know that over the last decade, the world has experienced a rapid digital transformation that has significantly impacted the public sector. Technological advancements have increased demand for end-to-end digital services, and citizens and businesses expect governments to deliver more convenient, accessible, and user-friendly services.  

COVID-19 has forced governments to provide public services in another way. Society’s general mantra has been that the ‘old normal won’t work anymore’. This is not only about where we perform our work, how we do our work and how we operate as an organization. However, the societal response to the pandemic highlights many federal orthodoxies.  

As a result, governments need to rethink their current operating models for registries and transform to fully digital services to meet the expectations of their customer base. In this latest white paper, we embrace an attempt at beginning this process for the benefit of all registers, and we argue for a ‘Best Practice Statement’.

It’s a changing world of registries

The registry domain has undergone significant changes in recent years, driven by the need for new operating structures, national and international regulatory changes, and various environmental factors reshaping how registries are created, managed, and used.   

The drivers of change are critical to the new vision of operating registers for government because they represent the factors shaping how we use technology to manage and access information, adjust our policy frameworks, and become more efficient and effective as progressive digital governments. In the last decade, we have witnessed some of the most influencing drivers of change, such as: 

• An ever-changing regulatory landscape
• The globalization of the registry domain in terms of interoperability
• Consolidation of more register types under a single register custodian
• Data-driven government perspectives – ongoing and expedited directives around open data and data stewardship.

In this latest paper, we’ve included a best practice statement guide that provides a framework for modernising, managing, and using registries in the “new frontier” that considers the latest trends, technologies, operating mandates, and regulations within the registry domain. They include new governance structures, operating models, data management practices, and technology frameworks that are tailored and adaptable to the specific needs of different types of registries.  

We also investigate some of the most significant elements in the framework offered by the authors for the TOM, including Data Integrity, Data Security and Privacy, Regular Audits and Standardization. The TOM allows the Register to be more adaptive and retain a resilient operating model concerning future changes within their domain. It is the destination of where the transformation efforts of a register should lead to.  

Is formal accreditation possible?

The authors note that a TOM is mainly absent from many register transformation projects. In addition, the authors believe it is possible to create a statement of best practice for registers of all types, from which a TOM may be derived, that makes the above possible. It is also the author’s contention that it would be possible to seek formal accreditation from ISO for a similar standard to the one approved for ISO 19135-1:2015 

Towards a Capability Maturity Model (CMM) for Registers

As always, we welcome feedback from readers. When we receive feedback or consensus on our best practice statement, the authors intend to refine the TOM and create a maturity assessment model or Capability Maturity Model (CMM) for registers to suggest a more efficient operating model. In our next instalment, the authors will also describe the architectural principles of a register system in terms of the technology element of the PPT framework in future papers derived from our best practice statement, so don’t forget to sign up for Foster Moore’s latest news.

Foreword

Julian Lamb
Executive Director and Registrar, JFSC, Jersey
Yves Gonner
Directeur, Luxembourg Business Registers, Luxembourg

Authors

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