Information asset valuation is a difficult business. Add to that, in our line of work we not only have to understand the value but also recognize how much might be lost. Mark my words: IA value <> IA loss.

Slashdot is running with a story about Alaska "losing" $38 billion, then regaining it for $200,000 plus some change. Of course, it wasn’t really true, as some folks in the /. comments section brought up. As far as I can tell, the actual $38 billion fund was completely unaffected. What was "lost" were the records that determine distribution of the dividends.

One interesting note here is that the "custodian" in this case, the State of Alaska, didn’t even "lose" the $200k. At least according to this story, the $200k will likely be coming out of the dividends themselves. That means that barring any sort of fees or fines, the State makes out. They don’t even have to worry about brand value.

$200k in lost expenses paid by someone else, no lost revenue, no intellectual property lost, no information products lost, no legal fees/regulatory fines (?)… equals no losses for the State. About the only losses that might be interesting are the opportunity costs – i.e. the loss of productivity associated with the alternative products.