Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level:
the Italian proposal
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio
CINI - Università di Roma “La Sapienzaˮ
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Why specialize at a national level?
• Take into account national peculiarities to shape a more
effective offer
• Main issues:
-
National regulations
 Some countries have their own regulations in addition to
European regulations and International guidelines (e.g. OAIS)
-
Market peculiarity
 Triggered by regulations
 Identify and target relevant groups of potential CoE customers
-
Language
 Clear demand for training activities in the national language
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Digital Preservation in Italy
• National regulations date back to more than 20 years
• Strong drive toward digital records
•
•
 Legal validity of digital signature since 1997
 Need to preserve digitally signed records (no paper originals)
Early regulations mostly aimed at ensuring the integrity
 Digital signature of preserved packages
 Digital timestamps
Recent regulations address the quality of the process
 Standard file formats
 Reliability of preservation procedures
 Standard metadata set
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Digital registry system
• Traditionally all Italian public administrations maintain an
•
•
official registry (registro di protocollo)
 All incoming and outgoing mail must be registered
 Registered documents enter the archive
Since 1998 the registry system has become digital
 Registrations and document copies are kept in digital form
 Digital registry is mandatory for all public administrations
 Strong drive toward digital archives
Crucial information collected by the registry system
 Provenance, Context, Reference, Fixity (cfr. OAIS)
 Will contribute to the PDI (Preservation Description Information) of
archival packages
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
The Code of the Digital Administration
• Comprehensive corpus of regulations on the use of digital
technology in the public administration:
-
Digital signature
Digital registry system
Format and preservation of digital records
• Regulations apply to:
-
Public administrations
Private parties limited to records with legal value
• Includes detailed rules on digital preservation based on
OAIS reference model and ISO 16363
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Recent developments
• Extending e-gov services triggered by sharp budget cuts
(on ‘friendly German advice’)
• Generalizing digital interaction with the public administration
• All administrative procedures must become digital and
•
•
web-based … in a very short time
Becomes mandatory for all public administrations
Has set a digital tide on the move:
-
Large scale migration from paper to digital
Moving from traditional records to database content
• Introduces a new challenge: preserving databases
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Involved parties
• Public administration
-
All public administrations must comply with the regulations
Most records will be kept in digital form only
• Private companies
-
-
Budgets and other legal and fiscal documentation are
already kept in digital form only since many years
Strong drive towards e-invoicing (mandatory towards PA)
• Memory, scientific and cultural institutions
-
Libraries, museums, university institutional repositories
More sensitive to the quality of the process, not just to
compliance with regulations
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Certified providers
• Everyone can, in principle, manage his own preservation
•
•
•
process, under his sole responsibility
Very few would do so and take direct responsibility
Most would rely on third party services
Certified Providers are clearly envisaged by the law
-
Provide preservation as a service
Take legal responsibility for the preservation process
• Certification process is specified by the law
-
Certification is granted by a national agency DigitPA
The same agency issues the regulations
Certification metrics based on ISO 16363
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Is there any room for action?
• Involved parties (especially private companies) mostly care
•
•
about complying with the regulations
Reverting to a certified provider for preservation is the
easiest and safest way to achieve the goal
Memory and scientific institutions (and a few others) may
look for something more:
-
Understanding the preservation process
Maintaining direct control over quality
Managing the whole lifecycle of digital objects
• These may be an appropriate target for the CoE services
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Shaping the offer
• Training
 Understanding principles, technicalities and the cultural background
 Besides the scientific milieu many people are not familiar with English
and ask for training in Italian
• Setting up and managing the preservation process
•
 Important even when reverting to a certified provider
 Understanding the needs of the Designated Community
 Preservation is only a phase in the digital object lifecycle
Audit and certification
 Prepare and assist through the certification process
 Assess the adequacy and the quality of the current procedures
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Current actions: 1- Managing the community
• Setting up a qualified user group to:
-
Understand the needs and formulate proposals
Promote CoE activities to the target audience
Set the stage for appropriate dissemination actions
• Some crucial partners
-
-
National Archives
Libraries
Central administrations (e.g. Ministry of Cultural Heritage)
Universities (most are CINI members): need to manage their
institutional repositories
Quality minded private organizations
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Current actions: 2 - Training
• Several training courses in Italian already held:
-
Formal qualification (Ministry of Cultural Heritage)
Introductory courses (basic principles)
• Online training materials
-
Adapted from the above courses
Translation of APARSEN training materials (training pills)
Typical format: streamed slide-show with voice comment
Reference material for download
• Further actions
-
Standard e-learning courses (if appropriate support is found)
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Current actions: 3 - Consulting
• The National CoE, provides its own services, and acts as a
•
•
hub to the main CoE
Consulting may be of interest also for those who revert to
preservation services offered by Certified Providers
Planning the preservation process
-
Analyzing the needs of the Designated Community
Authenticity management of the whole digital object lifecycle
Appropriate design of the metadata set
-
Quantify reliability and availability
Devise and evaluate disaster recovery scenarios
• Assessing the quality of the process
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Current actions: 4 - Italian CoE Portal
• Run by CINI with moderated cooperation of the community
• Main reference point for the community
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News
Blogs
Documentation
• Access to the Italian CoE services
-
Online training courses
Face-to-face courses (customizable)
Consulting services
Documentation repository
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
Co-funded by the European Union under FP7-ICT-2009-6
Conclusions
• National CoE driven by national peculiarities (regulations,
•
•
market, language).
Understand and attract local communities
National CoE acts as a hub to the main CoE
-
Specific services provided by the National CoE
General services offered by the main CoE
• The Italian CoE has mostly been triggered by the peculiarity
of national regulations
• Preliminary experience provides quite a positive feedback
Deploying APARSEN Center of Excellence at a national level
Silvio Salza and Maria Guercio, CINI – Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
APA Conference – Bruxelles, October 22-23, 2014
aparsen.eu
#APARSEN
aparsen.eu
Network of Excellence
#APARSEN