Meeting the challenges of
digital recordkeeping
Minimising risks and maximising benefits
Kate Cumming
State Records NSW
Something to keep in the back of your mind…
• “Digital information
lasts forever, or five
years, whichever
comes first.”
 Jeff Rothenburg,
Scientific American
Big picture risks in NSW government
• lack of strategic vision
• lack of long term vision
• poor investment in
information
infrastructure
• new technologies that
make information
management difficult
• accumulating volumes
and silos of information
The digital recordkeeping challenges
1. Identifying and
managing records
2. Understanding
business systems
3. Communicating
requirements
4. Influencing new
business
environments
Challenge 1: Identifying records
• sadly not a piece of
paper anymore…
• needs to be
determined system
by system, process
by process
• case studies: online
training system,
personnel system
Risks: From non-identification
•
•
•
•
lack of record capture
poor management
threats to data longevity
costs of data maintenance
 ‘rapidly escalating out of
sight’
• volume control
 search, storage,
preservation and
management problems due
to overwhelming volumes
Tips for meeting this challenge
• prioritise
 focus on high risk,
significant business
• know the recordkeeping
requirements
• focus on business needs
 and augment with your
recordkeeping
knowledge
• look for the easy way out
• act now
Challenge 2: Understanding business systems
• most digital business systems
are not designed to make and
keep records
 dynamism vs redundancy
 short now vs long now
• specific examples:
 US Pacific Gas and Electric
Company
 databases, geographic
information systems
System functionality makes it a challenge to
manage records well
• need to maintain:




accessibility
integrity
accountability
evidentiality
 useability
 longevity
Key risks with business systems
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
identifying them
locating system owners
system change
system integration and de-integration
protecting important stuff before it’s too late
legacy systems
non-standardisation
 ‘commodification of information’
Tips for meeting this challenge
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
get involved
focus on information longevity
talk to users and understand
the business
contribute to system design
contribute IM tools and skills
focus on system migration and
decommissioning as high risk
points
focus on what you know
 use disposal as a tool
•
keep it simple
Challenge 3: Communicating requirements
• the difficulty of “getting a seat at the grown-ups’
table”:
 ARMA (US) survey (October 2011): records managers have
little or no input into strategic planning
• those who count don’t always want to hear from us:
 no ‘one size’ fits all answers
 solutions must be individually designed
• State Records 2010 ICT survey: some barriers in
communication between records and ICT staff
Risks: The perception of recordkeeping
• it is seen as operational
(which definitely
components of it are)
• but it is also highly strategic:
 well designed
recordkeeping enables
organisational objectives to
be achieved
 non strategic approach
creates risks
 strategic vision necessary
in times of change
Risks: Poor information practices
• systems that don’t meet
recordkeeping requirements
continue to be implemented
• significant records continue
to be at risk
• recordkeeping continues to
be marginalised
• users and clients suffer in
short and long term
• business suffers in short
and long term
Tips for meeting this challenge
•
•
•
•
•
•
pick your battles
get involved
be persistent
focus on the business
involve the users
present solutions, not
just problems
• take it one system at a
time
Challenge 4: Influencing new business
environments
• business is moving:
 to wikis
 to the cloud
 to multiple business
applications
• and leaving large
legacy system issues
behind…
Risks: Limited recordkeeping functionality
•
•
•
•
Wikis
Gmail
Google Docs
Sharepoint
 GREAT BUSINESS
APPS
 NONE NATIVELY
KEEP RECORDS
Risks: Geocities example
• web 2.0 data can just disappear…
 the ownership of the data on social media sites often
resides with the service provider, not the individual or
the organisation
Risks: Cloud ‘not yet sufficiently mature’
• CIO of ANZ Bank,
Anne Weatherston:
 cloud can’t currently
enable business
integrations and data
consistency ANZ
requires
Risks: Collaborative workspaces are completely
reliant on good information management frameworks
• information needs to be
created, well organised
and classified so that it
won’t be shared or
used inappropriately
 sharing of confidential
marketing plans and
budget documents via
LinkedIn
Risks: Legacy systems
•
•
•
•
ongoing responsibility
lack of accessibility
volumes of data
cost of ongoing
management
• cost of any
retrospective
management solution
• impact of admin
change on legacy
data…
Tips for meeting this challenge
• promote importance of
system configuration
and user training
• don’t let systems
become legacy
systems
• metadata
 become the metadata
champion in your
organisation
 standardisation,
integration and quality
Key tips for meeting all the challenges
• act and act now
• know what the
business and the users
want
• know recordkeeping
requirements
• prioritise based on risk
• engage
• trust your skills
State Records’ Standard on digital
recordkeeping
• designed to facilitate
recordkeeping in digital
environment in order
to:
 mitigate risk
 focus on high risk
 ensure that critical
business information is
created and available as
required
What does the Standard say?
• know where your business is being performed
• know what information you need to support business
 not just what information you have
• know how long this information needs to be kept
• know whether your business systems can make and
keep this information
• if they can’t, develop alternate solutions:
 system redesign
 system workarounds
 integration with records systems
“Do nothing, lose everything…”
•
•
•
•
be strategic with recordkeeping
design systems with recordkeeping capacities
build for both the short and long now
do it now
Future Proof blog
http://futureproof.records.nsw.gov.au
• for current information, case studies,
discussions on digital recordkeeping
issues
• we really value comment, feedback,
discussion!
Photo sources
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Nothing lasts forever - http://www.flickr.com/photos/bixentro/4076703146/
Tall building - http://www.flickr.com/photos/uggboy/4424044058/
Danger to cyclists - http://www.flickr.com/photos/64498037@N00/3841613511/
Letter - http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprilandrandy/29366804/
This is important - http://www.flickr.com/photos/r_rose/110152340/
This is very important - http://www.flickr.com/photos/valeriebb/290711738/
Beware of safety - http://www.flickr.com/photos/grahamtriggs/3846892124/
Blue high risk sign - http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardlake/5939827914/
Post its - http://www.flickr.com/photos/upsu_alexh/423349247/
Climber - http://www.flickr.com/photos/moogan/2628010999/
Falling sign - http://www.flickr.com/photos/yewenyi/3009412645/
Toy soldier - http://www.flickr.com/photos/zryan/5924637958/
Radiation risk - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredo/57971500/
Geocities - http://www.flickr.com/photos/tantek/4784387654/
Clouds - http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/2511369048/
Bike jump - http://www.flickr.com/photos/teadrinkingtim/4670395304/
Old PC - http://www.flickr.com/photos/luc/2849334538/
Baked beans - http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianfuller/205402306/
Blank can - http://www.flickr.com/photos/aliceskr/315475438/
Keys - http://www.flickr.com/photos/practicalowl/248282683/
Dangerous diamond - http://www.flickr.com/photos/shawnzlea/1677870357/
Great gift - http://www.flickr.com/photos/pmeidinger/3483485 /