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What is in this for me? Better still whats in it for you?

How far have we got to go? What is the standards do we as an industry do
we expect?
Why do we do it?
The concept of a social licence to operate (SLO) is not new. It has been
used widely in the mining and minerals industry for some 15 years.
The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has described SLO as representing
an unwritten social contract between companies and the communities in
which they operate.
Mining companies seem to understand the importance of being a good
neighbour and the link to their own ability to operate, and profit, from a
mining development.
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SLO can now be more widely applied (across various industries including
forestry, farming and wind energy among others) and by a broader range
of stakeholders (beyond the more localised company and community).
The language of SLO perhaps gained initial appeal within the industry
because it mirrored the language of the environmental licences issued
by governing authorities. However while the language itself might reflect
certain parallels, in practice the two are quite distinct.
Legal and social licences vary in nature; with the environmental licence
issued by government and as long as a company complies with the
relevant conditions, where a social licence is constantly being renewed
and negotiated; SLO reflects the fluctuations in the status and quality of
a relationship between a company and a community.
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An interesting example I would like to raise here..
A red and white kangaroo shown here is at the Malarrak site, Wellington
Range, Australia. This painting is beautifully preserved, with the discovery
of a significant uranium deposit nearby. This painting is in sandstone
galleries holding some of the oldest and most spectacular rock art on the
planet.
Cameco has reported the find in the Wellington Range, where thousands of
Aboriginal artworks can be found, include a painting of the extinct dog-like
creature, the thylacine, made in a style that is at least 15,000 years old.
"The importance of this art site is that it's like a library," Ronald Lamilami, a
traditional Aboriginal landowner. Lamilami said he fears if mining goes
ahead, the works of his ancestors will be damaged.
How do we capture the art and the decisions around these great pieces of
art for now and into the future?
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There is more than mining that has damages some of Australias heritage.
Can you guess where this photo was taken? Why is this so damaged. Who
is managing this now? What a loss!
Archaeologist and rock-art specialist Wayne Brennan examines a fire-
damaged and graffiti-covered rock art site in the Blue Mountains, Australia.
Djulirri, a magnificent complex where artwork ripples across cliffs, into
caves and beneath overhangs, contains more than 3,000 images, including
the oldest known "contact" art, a faded yellow ochre depiction of a south-
east Asian boat at least 350 years old.
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SLO emerged as a result of governance arrangements increasingly shifting
responsibility away from the state to other vectors, recently the Australian
government is now starting to adopt and use the SLO terms and language.
What role government is to play in this? As our industry perceives, the role
of government sits squarely with the regulation of industry practice. Is this
appropriate? But how does this apply to a SLO?
Legislating industrys relationship with community
An example of government regulation of company-community interactions
are the Queensland Governments guidelines for preparing a social impact
management plan (SIMP); a new requirement for all new or expanded
major resource development projects in the state.
An SLO which is described in the guidelines as world best practice
complements the regulatory licence issued by government and that
industry has a shared responsibility alongside government to facilitate the
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development of strong and sustainable communities.
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How do we capture the valuable records that the world would be poorer
for not capturing?
How do we capture how these records need to be managed?
Who gets access to these documents into the future?
What was the process?
Who manages all of the information. Should it be a government or
community based organisation? How should it be structured?
How can the information be managed after a mine closes? Who gets
access?
What are the costs? Who pays?
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A good model could be developed around a Facebook and LinkedIn, or
Twitter accounts with a database that advocates, raises awareness and
collates the data.
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TEN PRINCIPLES OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
There are a number of unique factors that need to be considered in the
management of information relating to the SLTO during the entire life-of-
mine:
1. Traditional IT systems provide support for individual activities within an
organisation.
Information relating to the SLTO should be collated and stored in a central
location
2. Information that is inconsistent, incorrect or difficult to find can result in
incorrect or inconsistent dissemination of this information Information
should be recorded once and stored in a single repository and vetted for its
accuracy. Staff should only be given access to this information
commensurate with the requirements of their position.
Companies should have a single point of contact in relation to matters
related to the SLTO. Companies
should appoint a SLTO officer. This officer should have access to all the
pertinent information and be the
only person to interact directly or indirectly with stakeholders.
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3. Companies or their representatives sometimes make greements with,
or promises to, stakeholders.
A blatant breach of an agreement or promise could mean that the
stakeholders expectations have not been met, which could lead to a
loss of trust and/or adverse publicity.
All agreements and promises should be recorded in the central repository
and staff made fully aware of their
obligation as a result of these agreements and promises.
4. Although SLTO is yet to be subject to legislation, certain requirements
can have an effect on the SLTO (eg environmental issues are subject to
legislation). Failure to comply with relevant
legislation, as well as causing damage to someone or something, can
have a significant adverse financial and legal impact on the company as
well as negative publicity.
The legal requirements for the operation of the company should be
recorded in the database and made available to both staff and the public
as well as what actions have been taken and what approvals have been
given for full compliance.
5. Loss of information relating to the SLTO can do irreparable damage to
the progress of a project at hand and the reputation of a company. This
loss could happen as a result of a system
failure, a damaged computer, company merger, company failure an
employee leaving or other unforeseen circumstances.
Information relating to the SLTO should be regularly backed up and
securely and safely managed by a third party.
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6. Often, employees have an incomplete view of the situation as the required information
is the property of other sections of the company. An information system must provide the
correct levels of security to allow selected information to be
protected, while at the same time allow information to be available that will support
decision-making. It is
not sufficient to simply give all users who have an interest in a project the same access
rights.
7. The job of maintaining a SLTO is unlike any other within the organisation. From the
stakeholders point of view, the company officer they are communicating with represents
the organisation and, therefore, they believe that the company officer can speak
authoritatively for the organisation.
The people responsible for maintaining the SLTO are likely to have interests in the
information that are not shared by the rest of the organisation so the genesis for the
introduction of a system may need to come from the SLTO officer. The other sections
should benefit by improved efficiencies.
8. Management of the SLTO is about managing information and relationships. There are a
number of issues that can affect a companys SLTO, such as environmental performance,
safety incidents and land disputes as these can cause delays in obtaining approvals,
damage corporate reputation and even prevent projects from proceeding. relationships. It
is not sufficient to simply know facts it is essential to know those facts in context
to be able to appreciate the effects and interactions.
An information system designed to support a SLTO must support the recording of
relationships and make
those relationships not only easy to record, but also easy to navigate and discover.
9. To maintain a SLTO, a company must maintain trust with those affected. Therefore, an
organisation
should have faith that the information in the system will not be used for inappropriate
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purposes
and that any advice given that relies on that information is consistent
and reliable.
The system must provide security, encourage accuracy and currency,
facilitate coordination of activities,
and be comprehensive. An organisation must develop a culture in which
recording of information is the
norm rather than the exception.
10. So that a company is not seen as harbouring secrets, information
must be easily accessible
by stakeholders through a variety of channels including personally,
online and traditional
media outlets.
Any view expressed by the company must be consistent and sourced
from a single trusted point of truth.
The information system must be capable of providing information to
support these views at different levels.
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From the previous slide the objectives, needs, media and goals can be set.
Information needs can be defined.
What is your purpose? No organisation can be all things to all people. Conversely aligning
organisational and other stakeholder purpose jump starts social licence satisfaction.
Develop information
Plot a life line of the social licence project as far back as possible.
Include specifics, milestones and key project changes.
X axis time, y is achievement positive or negative
It is not normal to know what we want. It is a rare and difficult psychological
achievement. Abraham Maslow
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However, some principles are necessary, including the establishment of
good relationships that are based on mutual respect, open and ongoing
communication, inclusion of all stakeholders, honesty, plain disclosure of
information and transparency of mining exploration and exploitation
processes. They also require mining companies to be sensitive to local
cultural norms, create realistic expectations, develop fair conflict resolution
mechanisms, be consistent and predictable regarding their ethical
behaviour but flexible enough to accommodate the needs of the
community and start the engagement process as early as possible.
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There are many software products out on the market that assist with the
framework for SLO data and information management.
Some of these include:
Primavera
Project
Trello
Document management systems
Borealis
Mipela
Spring
Please note, these are software packages and are only as smart or effective
as the users and the management system used.
Data access
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Internet and social media evolution
Data storage
Cloud
4 types of cloud storage:
Personal
Public
Private
Hybrid
On the surface, cloud storage has several advantages over traditional
data storage. For example, if data is stored on a cloud storage system, it
is accessible from any location that has internet access.
There is no need to carry a physical storage device or use the same
computer to save and retrieve information. With the right storage and
access system, other people can access the data, turning a personal
project into a collaborative effort.
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Access to information must be adequately protected from unauthorised or
inappropriate access. In order to protect the confidentiality, integrity and
availability of information each department or customer that is party to this
protocol must implement and maintain the security measures found in
your companys Data Protection Policy
Adopted security measures must be effectively communicated to all staff
and system users detailing individual roles and responsibilities. System
users must be provided with sufficiently detailed training to enable them to
undertake their duties and maintain information security.
Currently information is stored where? On peoples computers? In
spreadsheets? In files scattered across corporate and personal networks.
What implications are there for the use of cloud computing?
Currently information is stored where? On peoples computers? In
spreadsheets? In files scattered across corporate and personal networks.
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What implications are there for the use of cloud computing?
How is the information to be managed? How is it to be referenced?
What about sensitive data? Like names of people in health records?
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Thank you.
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