Digitizing Coporate Records and Information

DIGITISING CORPORATE RECORDS AND INFORMATION

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.”
Gertrude Stein, 1874-1946.

Since the invention of the Guttenberg press in 1495 there has been a permanent information revolution. In every year since there has been an exponential increase in the amount of information in the world, for example, in 2010 UK public organisations are estimated to store enough information in paper format to build a XXXX billion foot tower that could stretch upwards from London’s Tower Bridge to Jupiter’s fifth moon, Io.

The information society continues to struggle to adapt to this exploding universe of information. Paper and digital records are constantly produced during every part of our working and private lives. At work, predictions about the paperless office have been made ever since the IBM produced the first operational personal computer in 1954. Individuals within organisations continue to deal with a deluge of paper and digital records. Information that is ‘born digital’ is being managed by organisations, which still survive on a high-paper diet. This divided ‘information estate’ presents an array of risks and threats to the efficiency and operational ability of organisations to deliver high performance.

Previous promises to relieve the burden of paper records in offices were poorly supported by e-records technologies; this has changed. All organisations are in a period of transition with new digital technologies offering cheaper alternatives to the retention of all physical records including expensive paper records. There is now a critical decision for organisations to make - to digitise or not?

Digitisation is defined as being the conversion of analogue items into digital format for the purpose of improving access. It can also provide a crucial supporting to assist with preservation of records, where appropriate. Digitisation has many facets and the following are the main benefits of implementing enterprise digitisation projects:

Access; to enable current and potential information users wherever they are to use the organisation’s collections and to open up collections that cannot always be accessed physically by the public or regulatory bodies.

Enhance services; to satisfy end-user expectations as the World Wide Web is often the first resort of users and to create virtual collections and ‘restore’ dispersed collections through cooperation and partnership with other bodies.

Preservation of materials; to preserve the original materials by making the digital copy available and by reducing physical handling.

The demand to digitise is growing. The new ‘digital natives’ are a powerful group of customers and staffs expects information to be available in a digital format immediately. Digitisation is not an activity that can be seen in isolation. It is linked to all aspects of services provided by information and records professionals. Digitisation enhances the potential for synergies within business services with other digital collections through shared descriptive information in consolidated or federated online databases.

Digitising organisational records is a major project but can lead ultimately to cost savings, efficiencies and productivity gains, as staff or even customers can access information more swiftly and with greater ease. Creating and providing access to digital copies of material give an agency’s clients and customers the potential to pursue educational, cultural appreciation and commercial opportunities wherever they live or work.

This report will provide a step-by-step guide to corporate digitisation projects, from assessing the organisation’s needs relating to e-documents, through the technical digitisation process, to the end result of accessible, secure electronic records. The objective is to provide a complete toolkit for implementation within any organisation that is struggling with information overload.

This report consists of two parts. Part one provides an overview of enterprise digitisation projects. There is an overall digitisation development and implementation framework presented with a step-by-step process presented to help information and records professionals deliver high performance projects.

Part two consists of six case studies of a range of national and international organisations, both public and private, which have addressed digitisation projects via a series of implementation approaches.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robin Smith is Head of Information and Knowledge Services for the National Policing Improvement Agency in the UK. He is the author of the information risk and intelligence management model (IRIM) now being adopted within UK organisations to deliver high performance business intelligence.

He has worked extensively in the public and private sector as a change manager for information and digitisation projects, producing innovative solutions to legacy content and e-records issues.

He is an author, lecturer and biographer of the individuals who contributed to the ‘open information society’. He is about to release his new book, ‘Legacy Content Management; Strategies for Optimisation’ and is a member of the Operation Research Society.

Robin was formerly Marketing Director for the Records Management Society UK and chair of regional chair of the information and data quality network for IDEA.

Contents Overview

PART ONE – INTRODUCING ENTERPRISE DIGITISATION PROJECTS

CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION TO ENTERPRISE DIGITISATION DEVELOPEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK

CHAPTER TWO – BUILDING THE ENTERPRISE BUSINESS CASE FOR ENTERPRISE DIGITISATION PROJECTS

CHAPTER THREE – IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIES, POLICIES & STANDARDS FOR IMPROVEMENT

CHAPTER FOUR – PLANNING & DELIVERING THE ENTERPRISE DIGITISATION PROJECT

CHAPTER FIVE – EXPLORING TECHNOLOGY ACCELARATORS FOR ENTERPRISE DIGITISATION

CHAPTER SIX – UNDERSTANIDNG THE LEGAL AND REGULATORARY ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER SEVEN – IMPLEMENTING & REVIEWING QUALITY FOR ENTERPRISE DIGITISATION PROJECTS

CHAPTER EIGHT – ACHIEVING CORPORATE INTEGRATION AND HIGH PERFORMANCE


PART TWO – CASE STUDIES

CASE STUDY ONE – ‘PATIENT FIRST’; DIGITISING PATIENT RECORDS IN UK NHS

CASE STUDY TWO – ‘RIGHT FIRST TIME’; SELECTING THE RIGHT DIGITISATION TECHNOLOGIES AT UK BOOTS PLC

CASE STUDY THREE – ‘VIRTUAL HISTORIES’; DETERMINING LONG TERM PRESERVATION NEEDS AT THE UK NATIONAL ARCHIVE

CASE STUDY FOUR – ‘SECURITY, SECURITY, SECURITY’; ASTRA ZENCA’S MILLENIUM PROJECT TO CREATE A SEARCHABLE & SECURE DIGITAL UNIVERSE

CASE STUDY FIVE – ‘NIL BY PAPER’; EXPLORING BRITISH AIRWAYS INNOVATIVE DIGITISATION POLICY FOR A PAPER-LESS ORGANISATION

CASE STUDY SIX – ‘AFTER KATRINA’; ASSESSING THE US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE TO RECORDS DISASTERS