The path to better managing document chaos

Cogniva, which currently has 14 employees, has been offering information and records management services for the past six years. Ever since designing and developing its ISIS software solution, the Gatineau firm has been recording marked growth.

“Barely had we begun operating when it became glaringly obvious that the conventional approaches to managing records and information within major corporations were extremely ineffective. So we launched a brainstorming process that resulted in the development of a method for organizing content based on a multidimensional information architecture. The main advantage is that it takes all technology platforms into account, regardless of the electronic records management (ERM) or information management (IM) tools used,” notes Cogniva President Yves Marleau.

It became clear early on that the very notion of information classification is a complex one. “We realized that the needs were considerably different and often incompatible, depending on whether the classification system was set up by the companies or by the individuals,” he explains.

This realization led Cogniva's research and development team to come up with the ISIS (Integrated Semantic Information Services) system. The solution integrates the concept of governed autonomy, meaning that users are free to organize information as they see fit, while in the background the ISIS system applies all of the corporate rules governing information compliance and life-cycle management. The ISIS system is able to store the organization's business processes in memory and has the necessary flexibility to integrate the varied and changing work methods of employees within a given team.

A fertile breeding ground

The public sector rapidly became a key client for Cogniva. “I'll give the example of an organization setting up a task force whose members are in different areas of the country. Whether the work is being conducted in English in British Columbia or in French in Quebec, ISIS makes it possible to consolidate all of the documents on a given subject, even when the search language is different from the language of the associated metadata,” adds the company's president.

What is unique about ISIS is that the classification system goes beyond the confines of records and language. Even years down the line, advanced searches can still be done to find out, for instance, who was doing what, when. ISIS allows relevant files and e-mails to be retrieved, even going so far as to identify who held what responsibilities within a particular committee.

With such a high level of data integration, this system makes it possible to save time and money, while offering the added value of efficiency and speed that far surpass conventional techniques.

From Gatineau to Strasbourg

Cogniva was quick to find a partner in Canada Economic Development for the implementation of its foreign marketing strategy. And the company's efforts have borne fruit. Indeed, with a client list including the likes of the International Monetary Fund, Cogniva recently conducted a successful pilot project with the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. “Whereas in Canada we might be talking about managing two languages, there we were working to integrate no less than 27 different languages,” explains Mr. Marleau.

The company's advanced research activities are carried out by the Cogniva Research Institute, in which are involved the National Research Council Canada, Université de Montréal, Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers in Paris and the Université de technologie de Troyes located in north-eastern France.

With its major research and development division, Cogniva is able to provide an array of consulting and support services. It is also a shareholder of Cogniva Europe, which not only contributes to the Gatineau firm's R&D activities but is also responsible for commercializing the ISIS platform on the European continent.

It is therefore of little surprise that Cogniva chose to centralize its operations within the Université du Québec en Outaouais'  Language Technologies Research Centre.

While information management may seem like a daunting task, it is nice to know that now it can be done virtually without our even realizing it!