Certified Information Manager (CIM®)

Certified Information Manager (CIM®)

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About Course

Certified Information Manager (CIM®) 

Foundation Certification

Course Overview

The Certified Information Manager (CIM®) is the foundation certification of the Institute of Information Management (IIM) Professional Global Network – the essential professional credential for everyone who works with information in any organisational role or sector.

In an era of regulatory complexity, digital transformation, and information abundance, organisations across the world face a growing challenge: managing information as the strategic asset it truly is. Poorly governed information creates legal exposure, operational inefficiency, reputational risk, and missed opportunity. The CIM® equips professionals with the foundational knowledge, frameworks, and competencies to address this challenge confidently in any organisational context.

The CIM® covers the full scope of information management: conceptual foundations, the information lifecycle, records and document management, data quality and metadata, information governance policy frameworks, international data protection legislation, information security, knowledge management, and enterprise information systems.

Upon successful completion, candidates are recognised as Certified Information Managers (CIM®) by the Institute of Information Management (IIM) and are eligible for the GMIIM (Graduate Member) membership grade.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this certification programme, participants will be able to:

  • Define information management and explain its strategic significance as a governance discipline in contemporary organisations
  • Apply the DIKW hierarchy (Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom) to organisational information challenges
  • Describe the six stages of the information lifecycle and the governance obligations at each stage
  • Develop and interpret a records retention schedule aligned to applicable legal requirements and sector-specific obligations across jurisdictions
  • Distinguish between records management and document management and explain when each applies
  • Apply the four properties of authentic records (Authenticity, Reliability, Integrity, Usability) to records governance
  • Assess data quality across its six dimensions and design quality improvement interventions
  • Design and implement a metadata schema for an information management system
  • Explain the structure and key obligations of international data protection legislation, including frameworks such as GDPR, NDPA 2023, POPIA, and equivalent national laws
  • Design an information governance policy framework with appropriate roles and responsibilities
  • Apply information security principles including the CIA Triad to protect organisational information assets
  • Explain the Nonaka SECI model and apply knowledge management principles in an organisational setting
  • Identify the information management implications of enterprise systems, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence
  • Plan Continuing Professional Development and navigate the IIM certification pathway
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What Will You Learn?

  • Information management principles and the DIKW hierarchy
  • Information lifecycle management and retention scheduling
  • Records and document management (ISO 15489)
  • Data quality dimensions and metadata standards
  • Information governance frameworks and maturity assessment
  • International data protection legislation and regulatory compliance
  • Information security and the CIA Triad
  • Knowledge management and the SECI model
  • Enterprise information systems and cloud governance
  • IIM certification pathway and CPD obligations

Course Content

Module 1: What is Information Management?
1) Defining information management 2) The DIKW hierarchy 3) Information management and related disciplines 4) Information as an organisational asset 5) The evolution of information management 6) The IIM Information Management Competency Framework (IMCF)

Module 2: The Information Lifecycle
1) The six lifecycle stages: Creation and Capture through Disposition 2) Records retention vs storage 3) Legal retention requirements: corporate, financial, employment, and sector-specific obligations across jurisdictions 4) Retention triggers and scheduling 5) Disposition: secure destruction, archival transfer, and permanent preservation 6) Vital records protection

Module 3: Records and Document Management
1) ISO 15489-1:2016 and the definition of a record 2) Four properties of authentic records 3) Records management vs document management 4) EDRMS architecture and selection (ISO 16175, MoReq2010) 5) Legal hold and eDiscovery 6) Electronic records admissibility: legal requirements and evidentiary standards across jurisdictions

Module 4: Data Quality and Metadata
1) Six dimensions of data quality: accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, uniqueness, validity 2) Data profiling and quality assessment 3) Metadata types: descriptive, administrative, structural, technical 4) Dublin Core (ISO 15836), ISO 23081, and PREMIS 5) Metadata schema design and governance

Module 5: Information Governance Frameworks
1) Defining information governance 2) The Gartner IGRM four-domain model 3) The information governance policy hierarchy 4) Roles: Information Governance Committee, Information Owner, Information Custodian 5) The IIM five-level maturity scale 6) The information audit and Information Asset Register

Module 6: Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
1) International data protection principles: key frameworks including GDPR, NDPA 2023, POPIA, PDPA, and equivalent national legislation 2) Data subject rights and supervisory authority oversight across jurisdictions 3) Records retention obligations: corporate, financial, and sector-specific legal requirements 4) Freedom of information and right of access legislation in public sector contexts 5) Cross-border data transfers and data sovereignty considerations 6) IIM Code of Professional Conduct and professional ethics

Module 7: Information Security Essentials
1) The CIA Triad: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability 2) Information classification levels and handling requirements 3) Access management: RBAC and least privilege 4) Information security risk: threats, vulnerabilities, and treatment 5) ISO 27001 overview

Module 8: Knowledge Management Fundamentals
1) Knowledge vs information: the tacit-explicit distinction 2) The Nonaka SECI model 3) Communities of practice 4) Knowledge retention and succession planning 5) KM systems and ISO 30401:2018

Module 9: Information Systems and Technology
1) Enterprise information systems: ERP, CRM, EDRMS, CMS 2) Cloud computing and the shared responsibility model 3) Data residency and sovereignty 4) IM requirements specifications for system procurement 5) Artificial intelligence and information governance

Module 10: The Information Management Professional
1) The IIM certification pathway from CIM to Fellowship 2) IIM membership grades (STIIM to FIIM) 3) CPD obligations: the 20-point annual requirement 4) The IIM Code of Professional Conduct 5) Career pathways in information management across global sectors and regions

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