Digital Information and Records Management
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A significant amount of government information created, received, stored and sent is in electronic form, such as email messages and their attachments, word processing or spreadsheet documents, web pages and databases. Even formal documents such as tax returns, licence and permit applications and other documents lodged with agencies, generally originate in electronic format. Much of this electronic information will only ever exist in digital form. Whilst electronic information is seemingly kept forever, national and international experience indicates digital information and records are disappearing at an alarming rate. Digital information and records are at high risk of degrading or being irretrievably lost within seven (7) years from creation, due to constantly changing technology. Government needs to be able to access information for much longer than this in order to review, evaluate and develop policy, to conduct day-to-day business, and to prepare for the future. Making information and records of government business accessible to citizens is the major function of a democracy. Digital records are an essential source of evidence that documents the democratic rights and entitlements of citizens, for instance births, deaths and marriage records, court decisions and lands title records. A proportion of digital records also documents Government's achievements and therefore constitutes our future history and heritage.
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'Information' is codified knowledge, which is transferred and stored by means of documents, records, publications, databases, tools, images, plans, sound/video recordings, etc. Information is an asset and a resource that State and Local Government agencies harness to meet their strategic, operational and legal needs. 'Records' are a special subset of 'information' deemed to have evidential, legal, administrative or historical value to an organisation and warranting special attention concerning retention, accessibility and retrieval. 'Official' records include information created, received, and maintained as evidence by an organisation or person (agency), in conduct/transaction of its business. Official records are identified as such because of the activity they document, not their format. Consequently official records will exist in a variety of digital formats.
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Legislative and regulatory compliance
There are a number of pieces of whole of government legislation and regulation that provide for the management, preservation of and/or access to digital records, including the: The State Records Act, 1997 covers the requirements and responsibilities of State and Local Government in South Australia in the management of 'official' records. To meet the requirements of the Act, the Adequate Records Management Standard establishes records management benchmarks for South Australian Government. The key components of the standard are that records must be: - made and captured
- disposed of systematically under proper authority
- authentic and reliable
- governed, and
- accessible and useable for as long as they are required.
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Legislative responsibilities
State Records of South AustraliaState Records has a wide range of mandated responsibilities, including: - being the 'principal repository for official records that are no longer required for current administrative purposes'
- preserving official records of enduring value regardless of format to ensure their security, integrity and authenticity
- making disposal determinations for official records
- providing public and agency access to official records in the custody of State Records
- providing information and records management advice and assistance to agencies, and
- issuing standards and promoting the observance of information and records management best practice by agencies.
Agency ResponsibilitiesEvery South Australian State and Local Government agency must: - ensure that the official records in its custody are maintained in good order and condition
- 'dispose of official records systematically' when they are no are longer required in government and have no enduring value to South Australian citizens, and
- transfer archival records into the custody of State Records.
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Benefits of effective management
By proactively managing digital information and records throughout the information spectrum, the following should occur: - information assets are managed as a government (corporate) resource
- transparency and accountability is maintained, and
- government is protected when faced with legal action.
Benefits of effective digital information and records management are difficult to quantify precisely. However, there is emerging consensus, both within Australia and internationally, that organisations with good information and records management governance, processes and practices are more effective in: - conducting business in an orderly, efficient and accountable manner so that activities and decisions are transparent to stakeholders, particularly citizens and taxpayers
- improving efficiency and productivity
- leveraging information and making better decisions
- facilitating easier and more timely access to required information
- delivering services consistently and equitably
- meeting obligations (legislative, regulatory, litigation and contractual)
- protecting the integrity and availability of business critical information thereby providing continuity of operations in an emergency or disaster
- preserving corporate history and memory, and
- reducing the use and dependency on paper leading to environmental savings.
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Risks of ineffective management
The consequences of ineffectively managing digital information and records are well documented and can be financially quantified. These include: - loss of productivity due to the inability to discover/retrieve and productively use business critical information on a daily or ad-hoc basis
- loss of strategic opportunities due to the inability to recognise or leverage valuable information. For instance an organisation might inadvertently destroy technical engineering documents that are costly to recreate
- increased costs of doing business due to inefficiencies related to disparate or inaccessible data. For instance the inability of an organisation to provide drawings, documents, wiring diagrams, plant dossiers etc
- inability to comply with:
- court orders - for instance the inability to produce a document that was later found elsewhere might be viewed as non-disclosure by the court
- requests by investigative authorities (Auditor-General, Police) for access to information, and
- government inquiries - a number of South Australian agencies spent significant time and money to discover documents for the South Australian Government Children in State Care Inquiry.
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Key drivers have been identified for establishing an electronic information management strategy for South Australian Government: - achieving South Australia's Strategic Plan
- legislative and regulatory compliance
- meeting the needs and expectations of key stakeholders including government agencies and citizens, and
- establishing a digital archives for South Australia to effectively preserve and access government digital archival records.
State Records is mandated by the State Records Act, 1997 to ensure South Australian Government official records of enduring evidential or informational value are preserved for future reference in accordance with best practice and to facilitate citizen and government accessibility.
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Key elements of the strategy
State Records intends to deliver an electronic information and records management strategy for State and Local Government in South Australia. The establishment of this strategy will ensure that digital information and records are: - securely managed and maintained for current business needs and future requirements, and
- preserved and accessible as archival records of the State.
The aims of the strategy are: - the establishment of a corporate governance framework for the management and preservation of digital information and records for government
- the delivery of a best practice program that establishes a set of consultancy services to assist agencies implementing information and records management best practice
- the establishment of a digital archives for South Australian Government digital archival records, and
- the development and delivery of accredited training in the management and preservation of digital information and records.
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In this section:
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